More than 200 people, including dozens of students, attended the one-day Ranching Opportunities Conference at Olds College on Feb. 6, exploring and discussing ways to improve and promote the region's and nation's agriculture industry.
The conference included talks on manure management, a hands-on breakout session on the beef information exchange system, a talk on analyzing forage quality, a livestock handling demonstration, and producers panel discussion of the pros and cons of different calving times and strategies.
The conference, which also included a trade show, concluded with an address by keynote speaker and market researcher Theresa Dietrich.
The title of Dietrich's talk was "What do consumers want?î where she discussed opportunities for agriculture, including the beef industry, moving forward.
The growing and increasingly influential millennial demographic ñ people born in the 1980s to 2000s ñ will be a key consumer base for agricultural products in coming years, she said.
With many millennials being heavily involved in using social media such as Facebook and Twitter in their day-to-day lives, the agriculture industry will want to make use of those platforms to promote its products and services.
"The beef industry has an opportunity to capitalize on where the market is going,î said Dietrich. "The beef and agriculture industry at large has the potential to really connect with this consumer who wants real, authentic relationships with the people and companies they do business with.
"Let them (consumers) get to know you better. Use the tools of social media and let them get to know you better. The millennial consumer needs to see and hear from the beef industry, and I believe social media is the way to make this connection. Social media provides a great opportunity to make this connection one person at a time.î
Social media can be an important tool in building the agriculture brand, she said.
"It will be those that take on this challenge that will be able to sustain their business long term,î she said.
Other speakers at the conference included Fallon Sherlock, Trevor Wallace, Jennifer Woods, Holly LaBrie and Barry Yaremico.
Grant Lastiwka, livestock and forage business specialist with Alberta Agriculture, was the moderator on the expert panel, which was made up of producers Jack Imler from Okotoks, Brian Rodger from Acme, and Ian Murray from Acme.
Lastiwka, who also spoke on feed sampling and grading, called the Ranching Opportunities Conference a worthwhile and informative undertaking.
"We are very, very pleased how it turned out and really liked how Theresa really pulled it all together at the end of the day,î said Lastiwka. "It showcased that it is so true that what are the ranching opportunities and the fact is you make them. And part of making them, as she talked about, is through social media. The opportunities are there for us to create.î
Sponsors of the conference included Olds College, Red Deer County, Mountain View County, and the Foothills Forage and Grazing Association.
