WestGen is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2014 WestGen Education Awards. Each of these selected students will receive $2000 to assist them with their post-secondary agriculture studies. The selection committee was extremely pleased with the quality of applicants this year and encourages those not selected to apply again next year. Supporting youth and the development of the Western Canadian cattle industry are mandates of WestGen’s Endowment Fund and we look forward to watching these students become successful in each of their chosen career paths.
My time at UCVM has equiped me with the skills and knowledge to practice good bovine medicine. When I graduate in 2016, I hope to use my education to work in a rural community as a mixed animal practitioner where I will be able to specialize and refine my skills in dairy medicine. I hope to provide veterinary services that will help to maintain the viability of the dairy industry in Alberta well into the future. In my professional career, I will strive to give back to an industry that has provided so much for me and my family.
Thank you WestGen for contributing to my post-secondary education. I am currently enrolled in the University of the Fraser Valley in the Livestock Production Program. After University, I plan to continue working on my family’s dairy farm. Also, I would like to continue clipping and preparing dairy animals for the show ring and become a 4-H leader so that I can teach other young people how to do the same. A future goal of mine is to help the public better understand how their food is produced, specifically dairy products. How I plan to do this is by processing our own milk into ice cream and possibly other products, on our family’s dairy farm, then invite the public to come and see where their food comes from in a hands-on experience.
I hope to make an impression on the dairy industry through genetic improvement, help the Jersey breed strive towards excellence and increase numbers in the west. Our family operation has already had bulls that have contributed to genetic improvement, and I hope to carry that on. I would like to breed show champions out west and down east that fill the milk bucket back at home. I am attending auctioneering school down in Montana in June. With this I would like to market high genetic cattle and promote Western Canadian genetics of all breeds.
I would like to thank WestGen for choosing me as a recipient for this award. Upon graduating from the agriculture diploma program at the University of Manitoba, I will continue my education with a degree in animal science where I plan to focus my study on ruminant nutrition. A career as an animal nutritionist will be my goal outcome. I have always believed that along with genetics, nutrition is one of the things farmers look at improving to increase production and health in their herds. In addition to this, I would like to continue in having a role on my family farm.