A Rewarding November

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that November had been a very good month.  We always look forward to November as this is the start of the show and sale season.  We get to reconnect with our cattle "family", see how our genetics compare to others in the cattle industry and meet some new people.  It's kinda like an early Christmas for us.

We had a great show at our National Show in Edmonton.  All of the cattle we exhibited placed well and the interest we had at the stall was one of the best years ever.  Along with the National Simmental Show, was the AGM for the Canadian Simmental Association. There was some really good information shared about our breed and the initiatives that are happening to advance our breed and the beef industry.  Along with all of the usual information that is given out they also induct a few breeders each year into the Canadian Simmental Hall of Fame.  This year there were 4 inductees.  My dad - Chuck Groeneveld along with Lewis Farms,

Rodney James of Transcon, and Lazy S Simmentals were all awarded this honor.  It usually pretty hard to keep a secret from dad but he didn't figure it out until right before the awards. 

Mom and Dad operated Highwood Land and Cattle at High River.  They started to AI our commercial Hereford herd to Simmentals in the early 1970's.  The F1 cross were amazing cattle and the thought was to continue to upgrade.  But they were impatient and so a herd of 150 purebreds from the original SBL herd (home of Parisian) were purchased. 

Through the years that they were in the business, dad was the Alberta Simmental President, on the Canadian Simmental Board and traveled across Canada and the US to many shows and sales. We showed at all the major Canadian shows as well as Denver, Houston, Ft. Worth, and Portland.  He is currently the fieldman of the Alberta Simmental Association.

What was really nice about all of these inductees is that they were there to receive their awards.  Congratulations to all of them and for what you have contributed to our breed.  You have join a very elite group of individuals.