Visitor From Down Under

In February we had the opportunity to host Clare Bruggeman from South Australia. Clare is the first recipient of the Matthew George Young Stockman http://www.angusaustralia.com.au/Marketing/Angus_eNews/enews_09-09-30/MatthewGeorge.htm award.

She is spending several months touring farms and ranches across Canada. We were the first farm visit for her. Once Clare returns to Australia she will be asked to give a presentation on the management practices of beef herds in Canada.

It is always interesting to hear how others manage their operations. Although we may live on the other side of the world we often find that many of our challenges are the same. Whether it is drought, market conditions, consumer awareness or the high costs of production. We really enjoyed our week with Clare and are looking forward to visiting her stud when we travel to Australia in September for the World Simmental Congress.

During her week with us she wanted to experience what a Canadian lifestyle was really like. Now that took a bit of thinking.

What really is Canadian?

We decided to start with beverages first. Nothing like a Caesar. The next night was Pumpkin Pie. She is the first Australia visitor that liked this as a dessert not a vegetable.

Crystal requested Pumpkin Pie for her 25th Birthday

Of course there were Canadian Beef steaks. We also had to try Perogies, Pancakes and Maple Syrup along with bacon. I defiantly think this was a better breakfast than her toast and Vegemite. During the week we also took her to a Hutterite colony, a smaller dairy farm, the local auction market, learned about chuckwagon racing and to one of the largest Simmental bull sales in Canada.  We hope that she enjoyed her time with us and look forward to visitng the land down under this fall.