Annual Report | Stakeholder Relations

The stakeholder relations portfolio encompasses a diverse range of activities aimed at keeping cattle producers informed and engaged in our work. This includes regular updates on ABP initiatives, effective media relations, and dedicated efforts in portfolios such as youth engagement and the Environmental Stewardship Award.

Producer Communications

In 2021, ABP launched a site dedicated to sharing industry news and events with cattle producers. In the last year, ABP Daily saw over 81K viewers, with the most popular content being the daily cattle report followed by the home page, current markets and forecasts, staff information, events, and the Alberta VBP+ Incentive.

While our Monthly Minute e-newsletters saw a slight decrease in open rate, successful deliveries are up and unsubscribes are down. We currently send to just under 2,000 recipients (up from 1,786 in October 2023).

In addition to the Monthly Minute, we started sending regular emails to delegates and directors. These targeted emails see an open rate around 74 percent on average, compared to 50 percent for the Monthly Minute.

In addition to ABP Daily and our regular e-mail communications, we are also continuing to utilize Social Media and our regular Cattle Country radio spots. We also re-launched our podcast, The Bovine, which we hope to continue to grow and evolve in 2025.

Events

From October 2023 to October 2024, ABP hosted five Engagement Sessions and 11 Producer Meetings across the province. The 2024 Producer Meetings re-incorporated dinner, which saw wide support in registrations and feedback.

We also had the opportunity to host our Annual General Meeting alongside the Alberta Beef Industry Conference (ABIC) in Calgary. This allowed producers to attend multiple events over the course of the week. We also offered a virtual stream via DLMS, and were excited to see over 470 attendees join online the first day, and nearly 160 the second day.

We are planning another collaboration with ABIC for 2025, using insights from 2024 to guide the development of the AGM.

Register to attend the 2025 AGM

Environmental Stewardship Award

In July, we were excited to announce Taylor Ranches, owned and operated by Robert and Audrey Taylor and their family, as recipients of the 2024 Environmental Stewardship Award. Robert and Audrey, along with two of their children – Courtney and Clayton – live and work along the Milk River Ridge, southwest of Warner, Alberta.

Read: Home on the Milk River Ridge 

On a related note – this year’s ESA video, created in collaboration with Peakline Films, was selected as a finalist in Canadian Agri-Food Marketing Association’s Best of CAMA Awards!

Media

Since January, we’ve facilitated over 30 media requests. These requests have covered a range of topics including drought, Product of USA labeling, agricultural plastics, AFSC Next Generation Loan, cattle inventory numbers, uninspected meat, wildlife, Bill C-282, the rail strike, technology in cattle production, highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle, and the Verified Beef Production Plus Incentive.

Youth Engagement

This year, in collaboration with Canadian Cattle Association staff, we developed an expectations document for Canadian Cattle Youth Council members. The document formalizes some of the asks from ABP as part of our sponsorship of the program. New Alberta Youth Council representatives will be expected to provide regular updates to the Board of Directors, attend specific events, and communicate their work more broadly (by joining our podcast or writing an article for ABP Daily).

We are excited to see these pieces come together as we welcome Alberta’s newest representative to the Youth Council, Brayden Schmidt.

This article was originally posted in Alberta Beef Producers’ 2024 Annual Report. Find the full report here.