Southeast Zone comprises those lands that are located within the following areas:
Nanita Blomquist and her family operate in the Big Valley area, where she represents the fourth generation of cattle producers.
Nanita is excited to return to ABP to be serve on behalf of producers in her area. She’s passionate about the industry and wants to ensure that it is promoted in an ever-changing marketplace and that we continue to tell our story and stay in the forefront.
Brodie Haugan is a fifth-generation rancher, and Chair of Alberta Beef Producers. Brodie attended the University of Saskatchewan, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in AgriBusiness. Along with his parents and fiancé, Brodie manages a commercial cow-calf herd in the southeast corner of Alberta near Orion. He also works with several feedlots, backgrounding and finishing both home-raised and purchased cattle. Brodie is a graduate of the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders program, a past board member of the Canadian Cattle Youth Council, and past Finance Chair of ABP.
Kent Holowath operates a grain and cow-calf operation with his wife, Jill, and three kids near Rumsey. They have both purebred and commercial black Angus cattle, as well as a backgrounding operation. Currently he is the head leader of the Rumsey 4-H Beef Club and a director at the Big Valley Feeder Association.
Craig Lehr was born and raised on his family farm, Short Grass Ranches, near Medicine Hat. After three years at Olds College he returned to the farm where he lives with his wife, Nicole, and their two kids, who are the fourth generation on the farm. Short Grass Ranches consists of a cow-calf operation and backgrounding feedlot, along with irrigation and dryland farming.
Scott Schiffner and his wife Brandy have built their herd from a modest 50 head to 250, and settled onto their current ranch in 2011. After 21 years of professional bull riding, Scott has devoted this next chapter to the ranch. The Schiffner family maintains a western heritage, ranching off of horseback, and prioritizing good land and animal stewardship.
Southwest Zone comprises those lands that are located within the following areas:
Jim Bowhay, along with his wife, Nola, and their family, operates a mixed farm operation near Sundre. The mixed operation includes cow-calf, meat goats, butcher turkeys, and laying hens. Jim often refers to it as a mixed-up operation. Jim has been involved in both the cattle industry and government while being on the provincial board of the Alberta Feeder Association for 12 years, on the LIS board for six years, and also worked in the field as a Brand Inspector for several years. Jim has a real passion for our youth in the industry, which is demonstrated by close to 50 years of 4-H involvement.
Jana Harman and her young family recently moved to Cardston, Alberta from British Columbia, where they lived on a family farm outside of Lillooet. While in B.C., Jana was a member of the Lillooet Livestock Association, and sat on a committee for Education and Communications with B.C. Cattleman’s Association.
Jana has her Bachelor’s of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and work experience with Luxury Wilderness Resort, one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World.
In her spare time, Jana loves to hike with their family and dogs, or head out on the trails with one of the horses.
In addition to her role as Zone Coordinator, Jana is also an Alberta representative to the Canadian Cattle Association.
Sheila Hillmer and her family have a farming and ranching operation near Del Bonita, and her two sons are beginning the process of succession in the family business. Sheila is a Key Account Manager with Elanco Canada, a global animal health company. Sheila works with corporate feedyards and is based in southern Alberta. She also spends a significant amount of time developing and executing Learning and Development, both internally within Elanco and externally to customers.
Lee Irvine and his family have recently set up a grass backgrounding operation in the Cochrane area. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to market cattle through TEAM and Calgary Stockyards, to sit in the boardroom of multinational pharmaceutical companies and to run the auction market and feedlot software for ViewTrak Technologies. He has been an auditor for the Verified Beef Production Plus program and sat on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Framework Committee.
Kyle Lemmer and his wife operate a cow calf operation east of Calgary, while also working off farm. Their cow herd is solid black angus focusing on efficiency, calving ease and raising cattle that work for them. They use regenerative agricultural practices as much as possible as they believe these practices allow greater soil health minimizing our initial inputs costs.
Fred Lozeman operates a farm near Claresholm. Along with family members and dedicated employees, they produce cattle, grains, oilseed, and forage. Fred has been an ABP delegate for the past four years, including four years as a Director, three years as the Chair of the Research Committee, three years on the Governance Committee, and two years as an ABP representative for BCRC.
Central Zone comprises those lands that are located within the following areas:
Martin Clausen, together with his fiance and parents, run Hazel Bluff Angus near Westlock. Having grown up on a cattle operation, the beef industry has become an important part of Martin’s life. Martin hopes to be a positive voice for young producers who are looking to join the agriculture industry.
John Doherty owns and operates a mixed farm with his wife and family near Wildwood in Yellowhead County. They run a cow/calf operation with some backgrounding and grass-finishing, along with meat chickens, laying hens, turkeys, pigs, and a small market garden.
John grew up on a small cow/calf operation in southern Alberta, where his love of farming and animals was first cultivated.
John has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Scientists, from University of Lethbridge, and 10 years of experience in the oil industry.
Colin Rice received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Alberta, and has worked as an agronomist, as well as on a strawberry farm in England. Today he farms alongside his dad, cousin, and uncle. In addition to grain farming, the Rice family runs a cow-calf operation, as well as a feedlot. Colin enjoys curling and golf, though he says he’s not very good at either.
Brenda Rosadiuk and her husband, Anthony, live on a family farm just north of Evansburg, where they operate a cow/calf operation with their two adult sons. Brenda comes from a strong farm background, and believes the younger generation of their farm bring a positive perspective of progressive farming, which creates a positive outlook for the cattle industry.
Brenda brings governance and community engagement skills as well as financial knowledge from her work in public service.
Doug Roxburgh lives near Bentley, where he and his wife run a first-generation cattle operation. In addition to backgrounding their calves, they also market bulls and females, and raise commercial bred heifers. Doug is a senior nutrition consultant who helps producers develop year-round nutritional programs.
Northeast Zone comprises those lands that are located within the following areas:
Kaylee Chizawsky and her family farm near Vegreville, with a mixture of commercial cows as well as purebred Simmentals. Kaylee graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Animal Science.
Kaylee currently works with Trouw Nutrition, and is in the processing of completing her Professional Agrologist Cerficiation. She’s also a graduate of Cattlemen’s Young Leaders, and currently serves as the Alberta representative on the Canadian Cattle Youth Council.
Emil Dmytriw is a fourth-generation grain and cattle farmer northeast of Innisfree. Emil feels that he is a beef producer dealing with the same issues, and has the same concerns, as most other producers. As such, he looks forward to continuing to work hard for the beef industry to keep it sustainable for years to come.
Jay Hager and his family run a 400 head cow-calf operation near Provost. They also operate a welding business that fabricates cattle handling and feeding equipment, and custom fence in the summer. Jay is an active 4-H leader for the Stainsleigh club and is involved at district and regional levels.
George L’Heureux operates a ranch near Lac La Biche. As he reaches retirement, he is downsizing to a 60 head cow-calf operation, which will allow him to dedicate more time to ABP to assist the industry in going forward. He has previously served as county councillor, and currents sits as chair of the Athabasca Heifer Co-op and vice-chair of the Lac La Biche Ag Society.
Josie Pashulka lives in the County of Two Hills, near Derwent. She farms with her husband, Ken, and three sons, operating the Rusylvia Cattle Co. They raise 400 cows and farm 2,000 acres of grain, silage, hay, and grazing corn. Josie was a 4-H beef leader for 14 years, and currently teaches the Beef Artificial Insemination course at Lakeland College.
Miles Wowk, along with his family, runs a commercial cow/calf operation in the Northeast Zone.
Miles grew up in the beef industry. He participated in 4-H for 10 years, and has served as an Alberta representative with the Canadian Cattle Association for the past six years. He’s currently chair of the Animal Health and Care Committee.
Miles believes that a strong voice will move the beef industry forward, and is constantly striving to develop a sustainable future for the next generation of ranchers.
Northwest Zone comprises those lands that are located within the following areas:
Bernie Doerksen and his family run a cow-calf operation with commercial angus cross cows near La Crete. In addition to his role on the operation, Bernie also works in public bookkeeping and accounting, and keeps busy through local clubs and family commitments like skating, camping, and fishing.
Gary These, together with his wife and son, operate a cow-calf and backgrounding operation north of Peace River. Gary has been an ABP delegate for the last two years and was previously a director for Peace County Forage and Beef. At ABP, he was on the Cow-Calf Council and found risk management very interesting.