Renee Ardill, who was featured in the March 5 issue of Farm & Family (powered by Country Guide), recounts her family’s ranch history below.

“My ranch started in 1920 when my grandfather, Jack Ardill, settled here,” says Renee Ardill, owner of Ardill Ranch which is 30 kilometres east of Hudson’s Hope in the Peace River region of British Columbia.

Ardill runs 350 Hereford cows in a cow-calf operation on 36 sections and maintains 30 head of working Quarter horses. 

“[My grandfather] was born in 1890 and came from Ireland to Canada in 1909 at the age of 19,” says Ardill. “He worked on the Bonaparte Ranch. He was there for a couple of years before going off to see more of the country and got a job as a surveyor’s helper, working in the Athabaskan area.”

With the onset of World War l in 1914, Jack joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Along with fellow soldiers, he was sent to England then served in the British Army in Europe.

He experienced fear as a prisoner of war and pain as an injured soldier. But beyond the disease-ridden, rat-infested, muddy trenches, the terrifying whizzbang of German howitzers, and soldiers’ cries of despair, Jack clung to his vision of a Canadian future.

“While recovering in Holland he met his future wife Betty, my grandmother, and together they returned to Canada,” says Ardill. “He had heard about the Peace River country from a friend who told him that if he survived the war he should go to the Peace.”

It was sage advice.

As war raged, the Peace region was undergoing its transformation into an agricultural heartland thanks to the geologic output of Ice Age cycles. For two million years, massive glaciers had ebbed and flowed across the landscape of hills, valleys, lakes, rivers, swamp and muskeg, grinding rocks and boulders into soil as fine as flour. This glacial loess (a fine-grained sediment formed during the Ice Age) became swaths of poplar, aspen and spruce interspersed with fertile grassland.

It was a farmer’s dream.

The promise of cattle and grain farming attracted settlers to the region. The Dominion government controlled what was called the Peace River Block, an area some 3.5 million acres. In 1912 it opened the region for homesteading. Settlers would receive a quarter-section of land for the nominal entry fee of $10.

There were further benefits for soldiers returning from the war. Under the Soldier Settlement Act, they received a free homestead entry plus access to very generous government loans to purchase livestock, equipment, supplies and home building materials.

Jack and Betty returned to Canada in 1919. When Betty became pregnant, she moved to Edmonton and stayed there until their first son, John, was born in February 1920. (John would be followed by Betty, Richard [Dick] and Tom. Dick is Renee’s father.)

Jack remained in B.C. He had never forgotten the advice from his friend about settling in the Peace. He scouted for land and found what he had dreamed of located on the banks of the Peace River near Farrell Creek just east of Hudson’s Hope. He filed for a Homestead and Soldier’s Grant and, in 1920, Jack, Betty and their young son, John, moved west to launch Ardill Ranch.

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At the Beef Farmers of Ontario’s (BFO) annual meeting in Toronto on Feb. 18, Brocklebank told Glacier FarmMedia her focus is on national delivery and stakeholder engagement, noting the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) is at a turning point following Dennis Laycraft’s retirement, after guiding the sector through crises for 30 years.

“With a change in leadership, it’s a good time to have that conversation,” said Brocklebank.

WHY IT MATTERS: Alberta’s July exit from the Canadian Cattle Association over fiscal transparency, governance, and communications issues would remove more than half of the CCA’s funding.

“CCA has a strong national and international voice built on sound principles and producer-led advocacy and policy,” she stated. “Producers who come to these boards really want to make sure the industry moves forward as a whole.”

She believes the Provincial Working Group’s unified approach supports that goal.

Provincial Working Group

The Working Group, a coalition of provincial beef associations, seeks to provide the CCA with insights to align with producers’ evolving needs while upholding national unity.

As a fourth-generation Alberta beef producer whose original farmstead was near the Toronto Airport, Brocklebank says she understands that Canadian beef production is diverse, with distinct challenges in cow-calf operations, backgrounders, feedlots, and processing.

Brocklebank noted that even though the conversations can be difficult, openness to solutions and change fosters collaboration and results.

“We’ve experienced that in the past, with policy discussion, that there isn’t always consensus,” she explained. “Generally, it comes (down to) what’s best for the long term and what’s best for the industry.”

Craig McLaughlin, BFO’s past president, sits on the working group with BFO president Jason Leblond. McLaughlin said Brocklebank’s approach to the Working Group’s concerns regarding fiscal transparency, governance, and communications is positive.

“Andrea’s a breath of fresh air. She’s open to change, and she’s certainly been having dialogue with Alberta beef producers,” he said. “She’s optimistic. The Provincial Working Group is optimistic. When you have people with that kind of mindset, you overcome barriers.”

Despite this optimism, BFO members still voiced concerns about how Alberta’s exit from the national organization could affect their CCA check-off payments.

McLaughlin suggested CCA reserves could ease transition costs, but he remains optimistic that Alberta will stay.

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“A market of almost 300 million people is obviously an important one for Canadian producers. That’s why this step in diversifying Canada’s pork export markets is so crucial,” said Canadian Pork Council chair René Roy in a federal news release.

Indonesia has opened its market to Canadian pork and pork products. It will also now accept over-thirty-month bone-in beef and beef offal. Previously, Canadian producers could only export boneless beef.

Indonesian authorities also audited and approved more Canadian meat and livestock facilities.

Canada and Indonesia signed the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in September. The agreement will eliminate “nearly all” tariffs on Canadian beef and pork, the Feb. 23 news release said.

Indonesia is Canada’s sixth-largest agri-food and seafood export market, the federal government said.

“Indonesia is a dynamic and fast-growing economy,” said Albert Aringfield, vice president of international market development and promotion with Canada Beef International.

“This opportunity strengthens our relationships in Southeast Asia and supports the long-term sustainability and diversification of Canada’s beef sector.”

The federal government said it continues to negotiate export certificates for live breeding cattle, live swine, genetic material and bovine embryos.

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The tariff will be “over and above our normal tariffs already being charged,” Trump said in a media briefing.

“The Supreme Court did not overrule tariffs. They merely overruled a particular use of IEEPA for tariffs.”

Trump said his administration would also launch several investigations “to protect our country from unfair trading practices of other countries and companies.”

WHY IT MATTERS: While Canadian agricultural goods largely escaped tariffs under the CUSMA trade agreement, U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs created significant uncertainty.

Trump signed an executive order later Friday imposing a 10 per cent ad valorem tariff to take effect on articles imported into the U.S. starting Tuesday (Feb. 24).

Section 122 allows the president to impose duties up to 15 per cent or quotas for up to 150 days, the Retail Industry Leaders Association explained in a post.

“Specifically, Section 122 allows the President to impose duties of up to 15 per cent or quotas for up to 150 days on imports from all countries, or selectively against countries that maintain unjustifiable or unreasonable restrictions on U.S. commerce.”

The new 10 per cent tariff will not be imposed on any CUSMA-compliant “goods of Canada and Mexico,” the White House said in a fact sheet later Friday.

Nor will it be imposed on “certain agricultural products, including beef, tomatoes, and oranges.”

Other imports exempt from the new tariff will include “natural resources and fertilizers that cannot be grown, mined, or otherwise produced in the United States or grown, mined, or otherwise produced in sufficient quantities to meet domestic demand” as well as “certain critical minerals, metals used in currency and bullion, energy and energy products.”

Among other specific goods, pharmaceuticals and electronics, it will also not apply to “passenger vehicles, certain light trucks, certain medium and heavy-duty vehicles, buses, and certain parts of passenger vehicles, light trucks, heavy-duty vehicles and buses.”

Trump on Friday separately announced the continued suspension, first imposed on Feb. 1 last year, of duty-free de minimis treatment for low-value shipments, including goods shipped through the international postal system. Those goods will also be subject to the new 10 per cent tariff.

In a separate social media post Saturday (Feb. 21), Trump said he would instead set his new Section 122 tariff “effective immediately” at “the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15 per cent level,” but as of Sunday (Feb. 22) had not yet issued a new or updated proclamation or executive order to that effect.

Canadian groups react

Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Keith Currie told Glacier FarmMedia in a text that he hoped the Supreme Court’s decision would bring back some stability to cross-border trade. However, he noted that we’d have to wait and see what other tools the Trump administration utilizes.

“Obviously this court decision supports what we’ve been saying about the tariffs not being justified,” Currie said.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling that the IEEPA tariffs are unlawful is welcome news for equipment manufacturers, which have spent the last year navigating higher input costs and mounting trade uncertainty,” said Kip Eideberg, senior vice-president of industry and government relations for the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, in a statement.

“What equipment manufacturers need most is certainty so they can make long-term decisions that benefit their workers, their customers, and the broader economy.”

Following Trump’s vow to impose other tariffs, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers reiterated equipment manufacturers’ need for certainty while making longterm decisions.

The justices, in a 6-3 ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, upheld a lower court’s decision that the Republican president’s use of this 1977 law exceeded his authority.

Trump says he’s “ashamed” of SCOTUS members

Trump, in comments at the White House, condemned the ruling as “terrible” and lashed out at the six justices who ruled against him.

“I’m ashamed of certain members of the court – absolutely ashamed – for not having the courage to do what’s right for our country,” Trump said.

Trump has leveraged tariffs – taxes on imported goods – as a key economic and foreign policy tool.

“Our task today is to decide only whether the power to “regulate … importation,” as granted to the president in IEEPA, embraces the power to impose tariffs. It does not,” Roberts wrote in the ruling, quoting the statute’s text that Trump claimed had justified his sweeping tariffs.

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the authority to issue taxes and tariffs.

Tariffs have been central to a global trade war that Trump initiated after he began his second term as president, one that has alienated trading partners, affected financial markets and caused global economic uncertainty.

Trump has called his tariffs vital for U.S. economic security, predicting that the country would be defenseless and ruined without them.

“Foreign countries that have been ripping us off for years are ecstatic,” Trump said on Friday. “They’re so happy, and they’re dancing in the streets, but they won’t be dancing for long that, I can assure you.”

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, had allowed Trump’s expansive exertion of presidential powers in other areas in a series of rulings issued on an emergency basis, and Friday’s ruling represented the biggest setback it has dealt him since he returned to office in January 2025.

“It’s my opinion that the court has been swayed by foreign interests and a political movement that is far smaller than people would ever think,” Trump said.

“He cannot”

Roberts, citing a prior Supreme Court ruling, wrote that “the president must ‘point to clear congressional authorization’ to justify his extraordinary assertion of the power to impose tariffs,” adding: “He cannot.”

Trump has leveraged tariffs – taxes on imported goods – as a key economic and foreign policy tool. They have been central to a global trade war that Trump initiated after he began his second term as president, one that has alienated trading partners, affected financial markets and caused global economic uncertainty.

The Supreme Court reached its conclusion in a legal challenge by businesses affected by the tariffs and 12 U.S. states, most of them Democratic-governed, against Trump’s unprecedented use of this law to unilaterally impose the import taxes.

Trump’s tariffs were forecast to generate over the next decade trillions of dollars in revenue for the United States, which possesses the world’s largest economy.

Tariffs will likely need to be refunded

Trump’s administration has not provided tariffs collection data since December 14. But Penn-Wharton Budget Model economists estimated on Friday that the amount collected in Trump’s tariffs based on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act stood at more than $175 billion (C$239.4 billion). And that amount likely would need to be refunded with a Supreme Court ruling against the IEEPA-based tariffs.

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress, not the president, the authority to issue taxes and tariffs. But Trump instead turned to a statutory authority by invoking IEEPA to impose the tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner without the approval of Congress. Trump has imposed some additional tariffs under other laws that are not at issue in this case. Based on government data from October to mid-December, those represent about third of the revenue from Trump-imposed tariffs.

IEEPA lets a president regulate commerce in a national emergency. Trump became the first president to use IEEPA to impose tariffs, one of the many ways he has aggressively pushed the boundaries of executive authority since he returned to office in areas as varied as his crackdown on immigration, the firing of federal agency officials, domestic military deployments and military operations overseas.

Trump described the tariffs as vital for U.S. economic security, predicting that the country would be defenseless and ruined without them. Trump in November told reporters that without his tariffs “the rest of the world would laugh at us because they’ve used tariffs against us for years and took advantage of us.” Trump said the United States was abused by other countries including China, the second-largest economy.

U.S. could invoke other legal justifications: Bessent

After the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case in November, Trump said he would consider alternatives if it ruled against him on tariffs, telling reporters that “we’ll have to develop a ‘game two’ plan.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other administration officials said the United States would invoke other legal justifications to retain as many of Trump’s tariffs as possible. Among others, these include a statutory provision that permits tariffs on imported goods that threaten U.S. national security and another that allows retaliatory actions including tariffs against trading partners that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative determines have used unfair trade practices against American exporters.

None of these alternatives offered the flexibility and blunt-force dynamics that IEEPA provided Trump, and may not be able to replicate the full scope of his tariffs in a timely fashion.

Trump’s ability to impose tariffs instantaneously on any trading partner’s goods under the aegis of some form of declared national emergency raised his leverage over other countries. It brought world leaders scrambling to Washington to secure trade deals that often included pledges of billions of dollars in investments or other offers of enhanced market access for U.S. companies.

But Trump’s use of tariffs as a cudgel in U.S. foreign policy has succeeded in antagonizing numerous countries, including those long considered among the closest U.S. allies.

IEEPA historically had been used for imposing sanctions on enemies or freezing their assets, not to impose tariffs. The law does not specifically mention the word tariffs. Trump’s Justice Department had argued that IEEPA allows tariffs by authorizing the president to “regulate” imports to address emergencies.

Tariffs generated $195 billion

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that if all current tariffs stay in place, including the IEEPA-based duties, they would generate about $300 billion annually over the next decade.

Total U.S. net customs duty receipts reached a record $195 billion (C$266.8 billion) in fiscal 2025, which ended on September 30, according to U.S. Treasury Department data.

On April 2 on a date Trump labeled “Liberation Day,” the president announced what he called “reciprocal” tariffs on goods imported from most U.S. trading partners, invoking IEEPA to address what he called a national emergency related to U.S. trade deficits, though the United States already had run trade deficits for decades.

In February and March of 2025, Trump invoked IEEPA to impose tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico, citing the trafficking of the often-abused painkiller fentanyl and illicit drugs into the United States as a national emergency.

Trump has wielded his tariffs to extract concessions and renegotiate trade deals, and as a weapon to punish countries that draw his ire on non-trade political matters. These have ranged from Brazil’s prosecution of former president Jair Bolsonaro, India’s purchases of Russian oil that help fund Russia’s war in Ukraine, and an anti-tariffs ad by Canada’s Ontario province.

IEEPA was passed by Congress and signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. In passing the measure, Congress placed additional limits on the president’s authority compared to a predecessor law.

The cases on tariffs before the justices involved three lawsuits.

The Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with five small businesses that import goods in one challenge, and the states of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Vermont in another.

Separately, a Washington-based federal judge sided with a family-owned toy company called Learning Resources.

— Additional reporting by David Lawder and John Kruzel. With files from Jonah Grignon and Geralyn Wichers.

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• The February live cattle contract gained 2.525 cents per pound at 234.900 cents. Feeder cattle were up 0.900 cents in the March contract at 360.175 cents per pound.  
• Extreme cold temperatures and precipitation ranging from snow in the north to freezing rain in the south may disrupt cattle markets heading into next week, accounting for some of Friday’s activity as participants squared positions. 
• Positioning ahead of the monthly cattle on feed report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was another feature. The report was released after the markets closed, with placements of 1.55 million head in December down five per cent from the same month a year ago. 
• There were a total of 11.5 million head of cattle and calves on feed in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2026. That was down three per cent from the previous year. 
• The USDA reported wholesale boxed beef prices were mixed, with choice boxes up $1.25 at $368.70 per hundredweight and select boxes down $0.43 at $361.30/cwt in the morning report. 
• Lean hog prices were weaker Friday, backing away from nearby highs with the nearby February futures down 0.125 cents per pound at 88.350 cents per pound and the April futures down 0.175 cents at 96.175 cents per pound.  

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• The February live cattle contract lost 0.725 cents per pound at 232.375 cents. Feeder cattle were down 0.100 cents in the March contract at 359.275 cents per pound.
• The United States Department of Agriculture’s monthly cattle on feed report will be released after the markets close on Friday. Analysts are expecting declines in both new placements and the total amount of cattle in feedlots.
• Tight cattle supplies in the U.S. and expectations for rising beef demand remained supportive, according to analysts.
• Extreme cold in the forecast for much of the U.S. Plains may stress livestock in the region. Ice and snow is also expected to disrupt transportation.
• The USDA reported wholesale boxed beef prices were mixed, with choice boxes up $1.34 at $367.45 per hundredweight and select boxes down $0.72 at $361.73/cwt.
• Lean hog prices were stronger on Thursday, hitting new contract highs in some of the deferred months. The nearby February futures were up 0.625 cents per pound at 88.475 cents per pound, while the April futures were up 0.750 cents at 96.350 cents per pound.

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Macdonald said the news that China would lift its ban on Canadian beef came abruptly.

“When the door opened, it opened,” he said.

Macdonald announced on social media on Monday that China had lifted its ban on Canadian beef, which had been in place since December 2021.

This followed the Jan. 16 news that China and Canada had reached an agreement to lower tariffs on Canadian products like canola seed and meal. A federal explainer at the time said Canada also expected China to “accelerate the resumption” of imports of Canadian beef.

MacDonald addresses pork tariffs

MacDonald also said Chinese tariffs on Canadian pork were on the agenda in Beijing despite no movement on the levies.

“Those discussion are going to have to be further approached,” he said.

“One of the issues we face with pork in China is that they produce over 90 per cent themselves,” the minister added. “There still is a market there for us, and we’ll continue to pursue that.”

Trade to return to 2021 levels: AAFC

Canadian Cattle Association president Tyler Fulton said the re-opening comes after years of advocacy.

Fulton said the CCA learned that beef trade would resume with China when Prime Minister Carney and MacDonald were in China.

As of Tuesday morning Fulton had no details about the deal — including what kind of beef will be allowed into the Chinese market, and what volume of beef will be allowed in.

An Agriculture Agri-Food Canada official told Glacier FarmMedia on Tuesday afternoon that beef trade will return to 2021 levels. Mainland China was Canada’s fourth-largest customer for beef in 2021, importing a bit more than 20,000 tons according to Canada Beef statistics.

Canadian beef has not been exported to China since December 2021 when China shut its borders due to an atypical case of BSE in Alberta. Prior to the halt in trade, Canadian beef was seeing “continued growth” in the Chinese market, the CCA said in a news release.

Next steps for CCA

“Just to remind everyone that the issue relates to an atypical case of BSE that was found in 2021. It’s a naturally occurring variant that we found. All the other markets that we shipped to stayed open,” said Fulton, who runs a cow-calf operation near Birtle, Man.

Fulton said the Canadian Cattle Association will need to learn about new safeguards, since they haven’t shipped beef to China since 2021.

“We’re optimistic that there will be space for us, and that we can pursue material access that will make a difference for beef producers,” he said.

“We think there’s some unallocated quota that would be available in China that isn’t currently connected to a specific country, and so we’ll pursue that initially. One of the critical aspects here is that some of the cuts coming off a beef carcass can see significant premium in that market,” said Fulton.

Hopes for added value

“Our hope really is to add extra value to the carcasses here in Canada, by greater access to the big market of China,” he said.

The cattle market benefits when more of the carcass is used, since there are many cuts that aren’t in high demand in North America.

“We can add significant value to the carcass when we have access to some of these markets that desire the niche type products,” he said.

The CCA are pleased with the new trade agreements between Canada and China.

“We’re supportive. We know the bread and butter of the beef industry in Canada is really based on market access. We acknowledge and rely on our biggest trading partner, the U.S. And so, we remain focussed on the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) and ensuring that we can maintain tariff free access,” said Fulton.

-With files from Jonah Grignon

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• The February live cattle contract lost 3.900 cents per pound at 232.150 cents. Feeder cattle were down 8.100 cents in the March contract at 356.450 cents per pound.
• Tight cattle supplies in the U.S. and expectations for rising beef demand should remain supportive for cattle prices going forward, said analysts.
• Mexico confirmed eight new cases of New World screwworm near the Texas border.
• The USDA reported wholesale boxed beef prices were higher, with choice boxes up $1.61 at $362.38 per hundredweight and select boxes up $0.48 at $360.19/cwt.
• Lean hog prices were up 0.475 cents per pound in the February contract at 88.275 cents per pound. Rising carcass cutout prices were tied to the strength.

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“We’ve always been practical,” says Melinda McArthur, store manager and part of the family behind Heatherlea Farm in Caledon, Ont.

“But for a long time, like many farms, our record-keeping was pen and paper, with the occasional Excel sheet.”

The farm was originally a cattle business, but as the family added a butcher shop, café and online store, the McArthurs realized they needed to modernize to sustain growth. The business supports multiple generations of the family, including the store and farm owners, Pat and Gord McArthur, their son and daughter-in-law, Melinda and Don McArthur, and their three children, Kayleigh, Chloe and James.

These days, beneath that homespun charm hums a quiet current of modern technology, blending tradition with innovation.

Heatherlea uses digital systems to track every detail of their herd from weight gain and feed efficiency to fat content and lineage. Their operation is as data-driven as it is down to earth.

Don, who runs 90 head of Angus cattle on the 125-acre farm, says that his methods were traditional until he attended a Beef Farmers of Ontario feedlot tour several years ago. His main takeaway from the event was, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

That advice sparked a quiet tech revolution at Heatherlea. The farm invested in a Gallagher scanner system and an updated handling setup with built-in scales. Today, they can track weight gain and adjust feed programs with precision, ensuring both butcher-ready cattle and breeding stock maintain healthy growth.

“With the increasing number of cattle in our operation, we needed to adjust our handling facility from a few wood gates in a barn and a simple squeeze (chute) to a proper cattle-handling system with the ability to ship cattle simply, easily and more safely,” Don said.

“Our main reason for adopting the technology was to handle larger amounts of animals in a safe and ethical way. It’s good business and good for animal welfare.”

During a recent visit to the farm, Don demonstrated the system and his chosen cow moved through the chute like it was part of her everyday routine. She was calm and relaxed. Eleven-year-old James scratched the cow’s ears as Don completed a full health scan, including a pregnancy check and data on her weight and body composition. Each animal’s tag integrates with the Gallagher electronic identification and weighing system. The information collected from each EID tag is automatically sent to the herd management software.

“This system not only ensures the highest standards of animal care and handler safety but also gives us accurate, real-time insights into growth and performance,” Don said.

“It helps us make informed decisions to maintain the quality and consistency our customers expect from Heatherlea beef.”

“It’s not outrageously high-tech,” Melinda said. “But the difference is massive. Even small improvements in information and efficiency ripple across everything else we do.”

That mindset travels from the field to the store, where managing inventory, sales and staff is done with modern point of sale (POS) systems, cloud-based documents and an e-commerce presence.

“We look for practical tools that let us work smarter, not harder,” Melinda said. “You can’t cling to the horse and cart when everyone else is driving a tractor.”

Melinda wears multiple hats at Heatherlea: farmer, store operator, HR, IT support and more. She says artificial intelligence (AI) is a practical solution for handling repetitive or time-consuming tasks.

“We use it for everything from coming up with product names and writing marketing copy to troubleshooting printer errors and creating staff training materials,” she said. “It’s especially useful for writing policies or summarizing meetings — things that take hours but don’t require a human touch for decision-making.”

But she doesn’t put blind trust in AI. “It doesn’t replace people. You still need to guide it. If you just let it write, it shows — either by saying a lot without really saying anything or overdoing the punctuation. You have to steer it to get good results.”

Looking ahead, Heatherlea sees tech being increasingly integrated into every facet of farm life. AI will quietly work in the background of tools such as Gmail, Google Analytics and note-taking apps, pulling insights and simplifying decisions. But the family is also keenly aware that authentic, human storytelling will remain vital.

“As AI content multiplies, real experiences and voices will matter even more,” Melinda said.

“As a small farm, we are grateful for technology and AI to help humankind, but it’s the humans that still bring the value,” Pat said.

Heatherlea Farm demonstrates that embracing technology doesn’t mean abandoning tradition. Tech and AI allow the family to focus on what truly matters: their animals, their customers and the people who make the farm run.

The family believes that small farms like Heatherlea may not need autonomous tractors or AI-driven drones to thrive, but thoughtful adoption of tech can transform how they manage, market and grow.

As for what’s next on the technological horizon at Heatherlea, Don says, “I’ve got my eyes on Ranch Bot. It’s a remote water management system that gives you all kinds of stats and control. It sends alerts if you’re low or out of water, because even being low can affect the cattle and takes them time to recover. It’s all about working smarter, measuring what matters and letting the tools handle the rest so we can get back to the heart of the farm. And for us, that’s raising the best Angus in the area.”

Gord adds, “I might not be the most tech-savvy, but I’m enjoying watching the evolution of agriculture.”

The post Where convention and innovation meet appeared first on Country Guide.

Brocklebank is currently the executive director of the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC), a division of the Canadian Cattle Association.

Brocklebank will be replacing executive vice president Dennis Laycraft, who is retiring. Laycraft will be maintaining business as usual until the leadership transition takes place in March.

Brockleback was chosen based on the reccomendation of an executive recruitment firm.

“She’s been leading the BCRC for about 20 years and it’s grown tremendously over that time, including building a reputation for being a very trusted, credible organization that keeps producers at the centre of all its decisions,” said BCRC communications director Tracy Herbert.

During that time, the research council has funded important research and collaborated with many other groups.

“Our extension and knowledge mobilization portfolio started under Andrea’s leadership and has grown tremendously as well,” Herbert said.

“Andrea was born and raised on a beef operation and manages it now with her husband, so she’s very grounded in the realities of production and takes a very pragmatic approach and strategic forward-thinking approach to her leadership.”

“Working with Andrea for the past 15 years, I’ve watched and been inspired by her qualities, which are integrity, resilience, humility and clarity, and she has led a fantastic culture here at the BCRC,” Herbert said.

”It’s a culture of pragmatism, respectfulness and curiosity, and those are some of the qualities that have contributed to her success, her positive impact and her collaboration. Those will serve her very well at the CCA.”

The CEO role is new to the Canadian Cattle Association. CCA president Tyler Fulton said it was chosen because it more accurately represents the role of the senior staff member.

Herbert will be BCRC’s interim executive director. She has led the BCRC’s knowledge mobilization and communications program since 2011.

Herbert lives in Lloydminster. Her family operates a mixed farm between Neilburg and Maidstone, Sask.

-Updated Jan. 7

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