Two Protesters have been Sentenced from Protest Last Fall

Two people charged following a protest at a turkey farm in southern Alberta last September, received conditional discharges in court this week.

 

Maxwell Mah of Edmonton and Claire Buchanan of Calgary were each facing one count of break and enter to commit mischief. They both pleaded guilty and each received the conditional discharge, which includes no contact with the farm. They can't post anything publicly about the farm and can't come within 50 metres of any location where animals are kept. The third person charged, Kennedy Herbert of Pincher Creek will be in court on Friday. The trio was among about 60 people who held a protest at the Jumbo Valley Hutterite turkey farm near Fort McLeod. Some of the birds were set free. They were later recaptured but had to be destroyed. The protest led to new government regulations and fines against people who trespass on farms and ranches.

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.