More than 200 people attended the 25th annual Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) conference at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites in Olds on March 14-15.
The conference saw industry experts, producers, college students and others take part in workshops, panel discussions and lectures.
Started in 1993, AFAC is an industry organization that promotes livestock welfare in Alberta.
Dr. Temple Grandin, an internationally renowned professor and pioneer in animal welfare, spoke about trends in beef and other livestock handling.
She called on producers and other livestock industry stakeholders to work diligently on improving communication with the public.
“I’ve been in this industry and there has been so much improvement,” said Grandin. “We’ve done a lot of great things and nobody knows about it. This really concerns me. We got to do a better job of communicating.”
Current work on sustainable agriculture in Alberta is groundbreaking, she said.
“That’s way ahead of what other people are doing,” she said. “Bringing all these stakeholders together and getting them talking, you are setting the standard for the world.”
During the question-and-answer portion of her address, Grandin was asked for her views on synthetic meat.
“I think there are going to be some energy issues with that,” she said. “It is going to take a lot of energy to make that. It is going to be a lot of interesting times.”
Jamie Curran is the assistant deputy minister of the Livestock and Crop Division of Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.
“It is not always easy to balance consumer expectations with industry practices, which is why AFAC continues to be such an important contributor to our province,” Curran told the conference.
“As well, AFAC’s continued presence as a united voice on animal welfare issues says a lot about our province and the importance we place on the welfare of our livestock.
“From your membership’s expertise and first-hand knowledge of existing and emerging issues, that knowledge has ensured that our province has continued to be an example for other jurisdictions.”
The government looks forward to seeing the results of AFAC’s livestock welfare engagement project and other current undertakings, he said.
He commended AFAC for its communication efforts with the public and for its promotion of agricultural education.
Other speakers at the two-day conference included Dr. Egan Brockhoff, Dr. Jennifer Brown, Dr. Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein, Dr. Jeffrey Rushen, Dr. Melissa Moggy, Dr. Paula Menzies, Dr. Clover Bench, Levi Hofer, Cheri Copithorne-Barnes, Shannon Ruzicka and Joanne Lemke.
The East Olds Dairy Farmer group was selected as the recipient of the 2018 AFAC Awards of Distinction for Communications during the conference.
