Tiffin Conference shaping up
LETHBRIDGE COLLEGE HOSTING ANNUAL EVENT
Lethbridge College is gearing up for its 20th annual Tiffin Conference, which is Alberta’s leading conference on issues and trends within the red meat industry. The theme for the Jan. 17 event follows entrepreneurship, opportunity, risk and creative distribution. Five guest speakers will be touching on topics ranging from digital cow vetting, to feedlot health management, to a keynote speech focused on the need for a future-focused vision for the agriculture industry.
“This year, our committee worked hard to create an outstanding lineup of speakers to inspire and encourage everyone in our audience to take bold steps to innovate and advance the red meat industry in our region,” says Megan Shapka, conference organizer and Agriculture Entrepreneur in Residence co-ordinator.
Three of the day’s guest speakers are home-grown Alberta success stories such as Dr. Cody Creelman who is known as the “Cow Vet” on YouTube. He has found success in combining new technologies with traditional veterinary methods. John-Jeffery Ball will be speaking about his simple cattle feeding operation that grew into an international corporation, and Dr. G. Kee Jim will be speaking about his extensive and award-winning career as a veterinarian and how to capitalize on opportunities in feedlot management.
“The Tiffin Conference has been a fixture in our community for 20 years,” says Bryne Cook, Lethbridge College Collaborative Centre of Excellence in Agriculture coordinator.
“Our committee is excited to continue to offer this day of learning and networking right here in Lethbridge. There are a lot of great agriculture conferences across Canada, but not everyone can get away from their day-to-day operations to attend them. Our one-day local conference brings significant value to the community.”
Other speakers at the conference include Dr. Ty E. Lawrence, a professor of animal science from West Texas A&M University, who will speak to the positives of distribution in the beef industry, and Bruce Vincent, a third generation logger from Libby, Mont., whose keynote speech is titled “With vision, there is hope.”
The theme of this year's conference ties into Lethbridge College’s focus on producing the agricultural leaders of the future. The college’s Agriculture Entrepreneur in Residence (AgENT) extracurricular program is in its inaugural year and has more than 30 students working directly with industry mentors to help solve real-world problems the agriculture industry faces.
“In the AgENT program, we're teaching students about innovation and entrepreneurship and this is generating a lot of interest in our agricultural community,” says Shapka. “We saw an incredible opportunity to provide similar learning opportunities to a wider audience through the Tiffin Conference this year.”
Lethbridge College annual Tiffin Conference will be held on Thursday, Jan. 17, at the Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge. Tickets are $110 each and include the program, lunch and dinner. This event sells out every year so those interested in attending are encouraged to purchase their tickets early at lethbridgecollege.ca/tiffin.
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