Ag For Life In The Running For Stampede Western Legacy Award

Oct 30, 2019

A provincial organization dedicated to providing Albertans with agriculture education farm safety programming is in the running for a Calgary Stampede Western Legacy Award.

Agriculture for Life is one of three finalists in the Sustained Contribution by a Group category along with Calgary Reads and Cornerstone Youth Centre.

The Stampede says through the group's engagement with more than 300 communities each year, they bridge rural and urban communities, build connections and trust, and educate people about the importance of Alberta’s agriculture industry.

Ag for Life CEO, Luree Williamson, says the awards are to recognize people's work preserving and promoting the core values of the Calgary Stampede.

"At Ag for Life, with the delivery of agriculture education and youth rural and farm safety, we were thrilled," she said. "Through the years, we've done some partnerships with the Calgary Stampede, so we were honoured to be one of the groups that was nominated."

Williamson says a lot of their work is done through collaborations.

"It's really a nomination that celebrates the entire industry because we don't do this work alone, we do it with all of our partners and our volunteers."

She says it's been a fun experience getting to know the other 11 finalists nominated in various categories through networking events, adding they were also treated to a custom Smithbilt hat.

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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.