2005 Saskatchewan Purebred Breeder of the Year
Young Dale Angus

Here at Young Dale we are very much a family run operation with 150 plus purebred females. Everyone has many duties. Marj is always busy with answering the phones, and looking after the paperwork. Our daughter Angie is the one we seem to all turn to for help with advertising, sale catalogues and pictures. If you were to ask her, she would tell you it was always on short notice. Her husband Dan gets called on quite often when something doesn’t want to run, or when we might need some heavy equipment work done, as he works for Day Construction out of Carnduff, SK.

Life would seem rather dull around here if it weren’t for the grandchildren. Kassandra now 16, Shandelle 14, Damian 10 and Cordell 7. You definitely need some bounce in your step if you are going to keep up to these guys, and we love them all so dearly.

We also have Robb back working with us full time. Robb takes special pride and interest in showing and getting the cattle ready to go wherever we might be going to. It is a huge job and very important to us. Showing and competing has always been a way of life for us here at Young Dale Angus.

The year 2004 will be one that will be remembered by us all forever. The loss of our home due to fire was devastating, but when you see the television with pictures of the Iraq War, and the destruction in New Orleans it is all far beyond awful so we consider ourselves here very fortunate to live where we do; there is no doubt about that.

To win this award - Saskatchewan Purebred Breeder of the Year in 2005 is indeed an honour for our family.

We have now come through our second year of selling our bulls, with friends Chad and Kim Levesque of Chopper K Red Angus, at our Bull Sale which is held in Alameda, SK in April of every year. We are proud of our Fall Finale Sale Group and our association with them. Our goal has been to offer top quality replacement females to our customers for 12 years. This sale has had many sale features over the years. Last years highlights were Young Dale Peg 68M selling ½ interest to Ross and Layne Douglas of Carnduff, SK. Young Dale Grace 62N a Young Dale Gabriel 7L daughter selling to Larry and Kim Mann of Pure Black Acres of Carievale, SK. Larry also stepped up to the plate and purchased our high selling bull at the 100th Anniversary Regina Bull Sale in 2005. The bull was Young Dale Balboa 7P.

Over the years we have raised several bulls that we are very proud of. They have sired progeny all over the world through semen sales etcetera. Without a doubt the most recent sire that has impacted our herd is Young Dale Touch Down 36M. His legacy will be a huge factor siring progeny all over the world of both sexes. Young Dale Tilda 4P, his first daughter to sell through the Masterpiece Sale at Canadian Western Agribtion went to Mr. Tony Miller of Bowood Angus, England. She has been in the winners circle many times already. All of these highlights are very rewarding.

It is also very rewarding for us to have top commercial operations like the Artz’s of Lyleton, MB or the Franken’s of Rapid City, MB step up and purchase three or four bulls at our Bull Sale. Also having Northline Angus stepping up and purchasing Young Dale Double T 106P, New Force Angus purchasing Young Dale Bonus 86P, Ramrod Cattle Company purchasing Young Dale T.D. 89P, Freyburn Angus purchasing Young Dale Expedition 10P and R7 Ranch for purchasing our high selling bull Young Dale T.D. 6P. Thanks for all your support.

Last but not least Philip Riddell, where their entire purebred herd has come from our genetics. Thanks to them - Robb and Philip work together at the shows, and his help and personality is second to none here at our operation.

I must mention Young Dale Pollyanna 22P winning the Little Lady Classic in Brandon Ag-Ex overall breeds and then selling at the Angus Pride Sale - ½ interest to Philip Riddell and Mr. Tony Miller of England. This summer Pollyanna 22P was also named all breed Jackpot Heifer Champion at Calgary Stampede.

Embryo transplanting has been a very important part of the survival here at Young Dale Angus. An embryo heifer calf sired by Young Dale Touch Down 36M and the dam being Young Dale Elba 18L has won Supreme Champion over all breeds at a competition in Ireland. When news like this comes it makes all the effort worthwhile.

It is very rewarding to watch your program grow and be accepted by others. As Angus breeders our family accepts all the challenges of today with tomorrow in mind. We must not become complacent; our breed is growing and our cattle must continue to grow and improve so they will go out and do well for their new owners.

My involvement as a director on several boards – Saskatchewan Angus, Canadian Angus, Canadian Western Agribition and the Regina Bull Sale Committee is all very time consuming, but very rewarding with meeting all the great people that are involved.

The people in our industry are truly the salt of the earth. Canadian Western Agribition is truly a place to showcase what we do as breeders. It is an event we all need to take personal pride in. I believe we also need to strive and maintain the passion for coming to town with our cattle and programs for sale.

The importance of keeping our youth interested in our industry is very important but difficult. As profit margins in Agriculture continue to decline, the incentive for our youth to stay involved is dropping off and who can blame them for looking elsewhere. I hope we can somehow create a industry that will allow them to stay and prosper. Ethanol plants and feedlots like Red Coat Feeders, and Keith Kaufmann’s are just a beginning. These ideas just don’t happen, someone has to take charge and make them happen. For us we are living our dream, not everyone gets to say that.

One of my favorite sayings at calving time is “It’s Christmas time each and every day.” When you first see a new calf after its dam has worked her magic, when that newborn stands up and stretches and says “hey, look at me,” you visualize a future moment in the winners circle. Those moments put us all on the same level. The richest men or women in the world have nothing on us then.

We will always cherish this award as a family achievement to be proud of and look forward to the future with you in our great industry.

Thank you all,
Barry, Marj, & Robb

Congratulations Young Dale,
from the Saskatchewan Angus Association!

2005 Saskatchewan Commercial Producer of the Year
Tee Two Land & Cattle Company
written by Laird Senft
Tee Two as it is know locally around Kelliher and surrounding district is owned and operated by the Thompson family. Partners in the operation are David and his wife Carol and their son Duane and his wife Paula.

David began building the present land base in 1951. After he received his Diploma in Agriculture from the U of S in 1954, he married his sweetheart Carol Church. Together they raised four children and worked at building the farm. Carol helped with the income by teaching school and later working in the Home Care field, while David spent countless hours with the land and cattle. Both have spent many hours involved in community activities such as 4-H leadership roles, coaching sports, service clubs and committees. David was the Reeve for the RM of Kellross for ten years and has also been the driving force in the effort to build the Carlton Trail Pelleting Plant. Dave also received an Honorarium from the Agriculture grads Association for his commitment to the agriculture industry.

Duane earned his Agriculture Diploma in 1987 and then returned to his roots on the family farm. In 1991, he married Paula Sommerville and they now have four children. Paula is a nurse and also a very busy house wife and mother being involved in the children’s many activities as well as sitting on a number of committees. Duane devotes his time to the land and cattle, as well as juggling time spent with his young family and being community minded. He is a member of the Carlton Trail Rodeo Association as well as a past SSGA Director for Zone 5. As of late Duane is sharpening his entrepreneurial skills and has joined forces with three other operations to form a company called Tee Creek Premium Meats, it is through this that they are marketing their Angus beef. In the past year Duane and Paula have teamed up with neighbors Martin and Louise Catto (a local sheep producer) to launch a new meat shop called Select Meats and it is through here that some of their local product is also marketed.

Duane says the Angus cross cattle are natural for their operation which hinges on low maintenance, easy keeping cows - cows with longevity that give you calves with the will to live and the ability to grow without a lot of human intervention. The seven hundred plus cow herd starts calving the latter part of April with the bulk of the calving completed in thirty days. The cows are put on a rotational grazing system of alfalfa grass as soon as the plants are big enough to graze. The Thompson’s have always practiced effective low cost feeding of crop residues and silage in the winter and rotational grazing in the summer and have been leaders in this field. So much so that Duane has been a guest speaker at many seminars expounding the virtues of a penny saved is a penny earned in the cattle feeding business and this way of thinking is applied to all aspects of the enterprise on their six thousand acre operation.

The calves are weaned and put in their own feedlot and the cows are sent back to the fields to forage on chaff piles and swath grazing until the snow is too deep. The calves are fed to slaughter weights then tendered in semi lots to various packing plants, except for those marketed through their own facility.

Both David and Duane are accomplished cattle judges, judging many 4-H functions and summer fairs. It was in 2002 that the father son combo teamed up to sort the cattle at the Canadian Western Agribition Commercial Cattle Show.

The Thompson family exemplifies dedication to an industry, a community and a way of life that could be a beacon in the dark. But most of all it is the Angus influence that we as breeders can be proud of that has helped make this the successful operation it is.

Both men’s philosophy is “it’s not so much what you make; it’s what you leave for future generations that count”. That is likely what led to their nomination for the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Land Stewardship Award.

The Saskatchewan Angus Association congratulates the Thompson family of Tee Two Land & Cattle of Kelliher, Saskatchewan on being chosen as the 2005 Commercial Producer of the Year.