KEE JIM HASN’T ALWAYS BEENthe most popular person in the Canadian livestock industry, but he is well known and respected. He’s a relatively young big-picture thinker, and over his
27 years of developing a successful feedlot consulting service, he has never shied from controversy.
In fact, as the hint of mischief in his smile suggests, he may even like to stir the pot on occasion.
But you can’t take away the fact he is a smart, bright, successful businessman with a strong entrepreneurial sense and a sincere commitment to seeing the Canadian livestock industry do well. He not only helps others feed cattle, he has himself become one of the largest cattle feeders in North America. He still manages the family ranch in B.C., owns thousands of feeder cattle, has extensive grasser cattle holdings in Saskatchewan, and has several thousand head of sheep on feed, too. And he has been active in a number of industry associations. Overall he says, if the industry is well, that also helps his various business interests do well, which boils down to a win/win situation for everyone.
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Jim, who turned 50 last year and is looking ahead to the “second half” of his career, has never stood still or looked back, after being one of the youngest graduates from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Sask. in 1983.
He was born and raised on the family ranch at Little Fort in B.C.’s central interior. He still manages a cow-calf and purebred Hereford cattle operation from that location. But, soon after graduating as a large animal veterinarian, he launched a new business concept called Feedlot Health Management Services.
“The timing was right,” Jim says. “The livestock feeding industry was just shifting to Alberta, and I saw an opportunity to provide management services to a rapidly growing industry.” Using the tools of research and data analysis, Jim developed a management model which has evolved and expanded over the years to involve much more than just veterinary care.
With a focus on helping cattle feeders be as efficient and profitable as possible, he now has a staff of 15 professionals and 30 support staff spanning disciplines from animal science to statistics, epidemiology, nutrition and animal welfare. They work with dozens of feedlots across North America with an annual throughput of 1.5 million to two million head of cattle.
While the company works with feeders ranging in size from 1,000 to 100,000 head of cattle, its services help well-managed feedlots to make incremental improvements in overall production and feeding efficiency. Rather than managing pens of cattle on an all-in/all-out basis, Jim’s approach is to recognize the genetic potential of each animal, shipping cattle when they are “finished,” optimizing their marketability and reducing feeding costs.
But managing feedlots is just one component of Jim’s far-reaching business interests. While he has partial ownership in a number of feedlots, his principle interest has been in cattle ownership. He is one of North America’s largest cattle feeders with several thousand cattle on feed from Western Canada to Nebraska, Colorado and Texas. He won’t say how many he owns at any given time, other than “there’s a lot.” He’s not interested in owning bunks and boards and getting involved in the infrastructure side of the business.
Working within a North American marketplace, he buys cattle at the best price he can, and then has them fed on a custom basis where it is most profitable.
“I am a cattle investor,” Jim says. “From the very beginning I made a conscious decision not to get involved in the farming end and owning infrastructure. I own cattle and feed them where they are the most profitable. I am not committed to any physical facility or geographic area. I may buy cattle in Manitoba and have them fed in Nebraska, or buy in Mississippi and feed them in Colorado. My business is based on owning cattle. I am a renter of infrastructure.”
At one time his main focus was on owning cattle in finishing feedlots, but as the profitability of finishing cattle declined, he has put more emphasis on feeder cattle — buying lighter cattle, grass cattle, backgrounding. He runs his successful cattle-feeding activities through G.K. Jim Farms. “It is a very low-overhead operation,” Jim says. “With a staff of only eight people looking after that many cattle, it is very efficient.”
Aside from feedlots and feeding, Jim has served on the board of Alberta Livestock Identification Services Ltd. and was a founding board member of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency. He has served too with the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, the Alberta Beef Producers, Alberta Cattle Feeders and Canadian Cattleman’s Association.
In each case, he left his mark, often one that others have found hard to forget.
Another longtime livestock industry player, also known for speaking plainly, Dr. David Chalack, one of the principals of Alta Genetics and chair of the ALMA board, praises Jim’s contribution to agriculture.
“Canada and the ag sector and specifically the beef sector are very, very lucky to have someone like Dr. Kee Jim working on their behalf,” says Chalack. “He is bright, innovative, entrepreneurial and he just makes things happen.
“He has been somewhat transformational in his approach to the feedlot business. He is not afraid to take risks, comes from those ranching roots in B.C. and he lives the life.”
Chalack agrees that Jim has his critics. “That’s easy to explain,” he says. “Look, you can’t be friends with everyone when you are making things happen. Some people stand around and look over their shoulder, and can’t figure out why someone went past them… they’re jealous.”
Jim says he doesn’t let controversy get in his way. In fact, he admits to sometimes seeking it out. “I like being told I can’t do something,” Jim says. “When I first came to Alberta they said I would never be a successful cattle investor, and I said I would. I like stepping into controversial issues.”
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“ I am not committed to any physical facility or geographic area.”
— Kee Jim
