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Young cattle producers hone skills at Beef Expo

The Saskatchewan Beef Expo provides meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities that prepare young producers for success in the beef industry

The event equipped 78 participants with proven techniques and tips on selection, showmanship, and safe handling practices for livestock provided by returning clinician, Kirk Stierwalt. Through a series of demonstrations, the producers learned about the basics and equipment, clipping, and grooming.

Also, a special educational session was provided by Shelby Robinson, a Master’s student at the University of Saskatchewan who is studying Ruminant Nutrition. She led an ultrasound demonstration, teaching participants how to measure rib and rump fat which is a valuable tool for assessing cattle body condition.

The hands-on clinics were an opportunity for participants to take what they learned from the demonstrations and put it into practice with his guidance.

Saturday concluded with a showmanship demonstration and show. The last day of the Expo consisted of the Heifer and Steer shows, providing participants the opportunity to showcase their 4-H and junior show projects.

Prairieland Agriculture Manager Leigh Ann Hurlburt said more than 90 head of yearling heifers and steers were showcased.

“We were excited to welcome Kirk Stierwalt back to the Saskatchewan Beef Expo for our 11th year. His expertise and passion for the industry continue to make a lasting impact,” she said. “This year’s event gave participants another incredible opportunity to gain hands-on experience and learn directly from one of the best in the business.”

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Selling Hay for 40 Years: Fritz Trauttmansdorff, Dunlea Farms

Video: Selling Hay for 40 Years: Fritz Trauttmansdorff, Dunlea Farms



Fritz Trauttmansdorff came to Canada from Austria in 1980, bought a 45-cow dairy farm at Jerseyville, and within two years had more hay than he knew what to do with. He sold the quota in 1986, went debt-free, and built a hay business that has kept some of the same customers for forty years. Today Dunlea Farms runs about 2,500 acres — roughly 600 of it hay, the rest IP soybeans and grain corn — and Fritz makes the case that hay isn't the crop you grow when grain doesn't work. It's the crop that makes the grain work.

"If you grow corn, soybeans and wheat, you're on a three-wheeler. If you put hay in the rotation, you're on a four-wheeler."

WHAT WE COVER • Why the hay market moves independently of the Chicago Board — and what that does for farm-level risk
• The real cost of a mistake: five bushels in grain, versus the whole crop in hay
• Getting a second job out of the same iron — planting tractors that mow all summer, tillage tractors that bale
• How a grain farmer can get hay into the rotation without buying a single piece of hay equipment
• Drilling Timothy in the fall and double-cropping soybeans into it the next June
• What it actually takes to go all-in: roughly 500 acres, good sheds, and a baler you didn't buy used
• Local, regional and international hay markets — and choosing which one you're building for
• Why 40-year customer relationships are the asset, not the equipment