Planning for rural community building

Oct 21, 2019

Rural residents can connect virtually to strategize about rural youth engagement

By Joe Callahan

A two-year-old company committed to building community using online conferencing technology is set to host another session in its series of gatherings on Wednesday.

Rural on Purpose invites participants to discuss a range of topics in its online gathering called Murmurations-Heart to Heart. October’s focus is Rural Youth Engagement.

The first session on Wednesday will feature presentations from Melissa Wyatt and Jodi Cooper, representing a Hastings and Prince Edward County organization called YOUTH2YOUTH. The organization is supported by the United Way of Hastings Prince-Edward.

In the next session, Brandon and Britney Schielack will discuss the PlatForum Academy’s Rural Youth Entrepreneurship Program, out of the Austin, Texas area. Finally, Wayne Kelly from Brandon University will highlight digital tools and skills used by rural youth.

Mary Doyle, co-founder of Rural On Purpose, has organized numerous activities designed to bring people together, share ideas and then move forward with planned outcomes.

Doyle works with smaller communities to promote entrepreneurship mindsets, create opportunities and define new ways forward, she says.

“We work with the willing,” says Doyle.

Participation in these forums is free of charge.

For more information or to register go to: https://www.ruralonpurpose.com/home

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.