Reach Agriculture Strategies

12/10/2026

I've gone a bit quiet on here for a couple weeks.. with good reason.

Moving from estate home, to basement couch, to shoe box sized hotel rooms, to caravan parks, with many planes trains and automobiles in between, makes it difficult to focus on any form of posting!

The main lesson I'm taking from all of this travel is that it all comes back to people.

If we're talking about responsible land management of heather fields in England or figuring out who is in charge of getting the flowers to a wedding on the Murray River, it comes back to the people involved.

I have a million things I could type out (I'm very grateful for my Remarkable e-notebook to absorb this brain) but for now I'll chuck up some photos and show some of the incredible landscapes I've seen over the last 4 weeks.

1. Dairy cows in Hampshire
2. Oak trees in Dorset
3. Boats in Cornwall
4. Limo's in Devon
5. Me at Diddly Squat (how could I not?)

23/09/2026

18/09/2026

This week is all about Ag journalism at the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists. Spending the week in Osijek, Croatia.

Lots of talk about Croatian ag, EU intervention, AI, w**e and the Yugoslav Wars.

It's a stoic place that has a wild recent history. Being in the eastern part of the country has given a new view on the coastal assumptions of Croatia. While still beautiful, it carries itself in a different way.

Thank you to the Alberta Farm Writers' | AFWA for sponsoring my trip!

16/09/2026

Nuffield Grand Tour Stop 1

18 hours in London condensed in a 17 second reel.

(Accurate walking speed)

Nothing to do with human management systems in ah, but stay tuned 👀

02/09/2026

Sometimes life imitates art...

I always talk about "Seagull Leaders" when I'm on stage.

A Seagull Leader is one who hovers over the action, waits for the fries to come out, swoops down, steals your fries, sh*ts on everything and leaves.

Now.

This week I had a day off from the PNE beef booth. I took that chance to rent a bike and go see what Vancouver has to offer. I got a bagel with lox, sat beside the water on Granville Island and became a VICTIM of my own analogy!

A seagull, pictured, decided that the bagel and it's smoked salmon filling was just the treat he deserved that fine afternoon. He came down from on high, taking an attack angle over my shoulder so I could not defend my sandwich, and took a hard swipe. As the knowing locals snickered at my misfortune, I couldn't help but appreciate the irony.

Now, had the seagull joined my afternoon, participated in the enjoyment of the ocean view and was alongside me in the journey, he may have gotten a little bit of bagel.

Instead, he got cussed out and I ate the rest of the bagel with my head on a swivel.

(Not picture, my cut thumb. These west coast seagulls don't screw around and they're HUGE)

30/08/2026

"But what about the cost?"

Hot take, I think agriculture is doing a great job 'telling our story'. The general public has any number of podcasts, documentaries, hand outs and TikToks to peruse and learn from.

Spending time talking to the public at the PNE in Vancouver, I would say that people are typically in support of the beef industry. The messaging, from groups like the Canadian Cattle Association, is incredibly effective at maintaining public trust.

But.

At the end of the day, the consumer still has their own priorities.

Talking to a person yesterday I gave the full spiel, "here is the Beef Advocacy Canada gateway, look at all the work CCA is doing for grasslands preservation, we are setting the global standard for sustainability."

Their response, "But what about the cost?"

It was a little jarring. Here is all the good we're doing, but the bottom dollar still over rides all.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the lesson is here. I guess it's to control the controllables?

No amount of public trust will control the price at the grocery store, but it will, at least, help them to feel confident in their decisions.

Anyways.. back to the booth!

(Shout out to Nuffield Canada for the super subtle vest. If you're gunna share the brand, share it BIG 😎)

13/08/2026

"Take the feed truck, there's the silage bags, feed those cows to the north."

Simple instructions.

A million follow up questions.

Can I drive the truck? How much feed? How many cows? Are they bred, open, culls? Where is the diesel for the loader to fill the truck to feed the cows? WHICH WAY IS NORTH?!

A relatively simple task becomes a source of stress, worry, frustration, broken equipment (that transmission never stood a chance..) and failure.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Assumed knowledge is agricultures greatest strength and weakness.

Historically, operations were pretty straightforward. We didn't have the nuance of complex nutrition programs, high tech equipment, confusing software and logitistically difficult locations. "Feeding the cows" was a task on it's own, now it's a task that is integrated with decisions made months ahead with data in the cloud.

The fact of the matter is, our communication needs to come back to basics.

This can look like:
- Morning meetings
- Task lists
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's)
- Staff training (combined with professional development, not 1 and done)

You might think this is too basic, but it's a real problem how many operations can't get on top of these things.

It's not complex (when done well), just like "feeding the cows" is not complex (when done well)

16/07/2026

Hot damn, what a ride.

Stampede 2026 brought with it new responsibilities and new opportunities.

Stepping into the executive role for the Agri-Food Committee was a real jump from answering questions about feedlot rations. I got to see the inner workings of the greatest outdoor show on earth and gain much deeper understanding of what it takes to pull this off.

With new exhibits in the Agriculture Zone and the familiar favourites, we were able to reach a massive audience and deliver the positive message of production in our country.

I’m particularly proud of the Passport program we launched this year in the Ag Zone. The goal of this program was education through inclusion. Guests had to answer questions and they would earn a stamp in return, once they filled their passport there was a milk and cookies coupon waiting for them! After chatting with youth, parents and volunteers, I can confidently say that the Passport increased engagement by not just displaying information for folks, but including them in the learning process.

Huge shout to Mason Brookwell, Holly Nicoll and Aly Price for showing me the ropes and helping me balance the nuances of volunteer leadership.

Excited to start planning soon for the next one!

YAHOO!

08/07/2026

As much as is about getting out into the world, some of my highlights so far have been bringing people into my neck of the woods.

Over the weekend I got to tour around a group of scholars from the UK to give them a glimpse into the beef industry in Alberta.

We started at Rimrock Feeders with , learning the importance of animal health and data metrics in the feedlot industry. We also spent a lot of time focusing on public trust and engagement, highlighting the fact that the Canadian feeder industry is quite open to the public about our practices. A unique approach to creating consumer trust in their products.

We then chased a storm north and headed to WA Ranches at the University of Calgary. General Manager, Jonny Bennett, gave us the history of the ranch, talked about maternal genetic selection and got to spend some time just looking at cows and crops (every Nuffield scholars favourite past time)
This visit was extra special for myself, last time I was at the ranch I was an employee. With time and funding there has been massive facility changes at the ranch, some of the ideas we sketched on a piece of blue shop towel several years ago are now completed projects.

Huge thanks to the scholars who took the time to come visit and learn about how we do things in the Foothills.

Special shout out to our youngest visiting scholar, Gilbert, who took all the visits in stride (that stride accompanied by his brand new sparkly cowboy boots)

30/06/2026

It's that time again!!

Come visit on the grounds and see the results of the hard work put in by the committee. I'll be there all of Stampede so make sure to come say hi!