The secrets behind 52 years of raising cattle in Alberta's freezing winters

When talk turns to raising cattle in a real world environment, it doesn't come more genuine than what the Wildman family of Towaw Cattle Company in Alberta, Canada, are doing.

In country where the winter temperatures can dip to minus 40 degrees Celsius and the ground stays frozen for six months, then summer brings days of 35 degrees, cattle have to be able to perform.

They say it's a long game that requires some serious discipline and is probably never going to make the breeder rich quickly.

They've been at it for 52 years and served hundreds of clients, so they've probably got a decent amount of cattle know-how.

With record cattle prices in Canada right now and great enthusiasm around the beef cattle business, times are good.

But raising cattle like this hasn't always been cool and exciting, the Wildmans say.

You have to believe in what you do and have pride in it to last.

The Towaw story

Towaw is a purebred red and black Angus operation owned and operated by the Wildman family of Sangudo, Alberta.

It started as a purebred operation in 1971 by David and Gail Wildman, who are now retired but still live on the ranch. It is today run by their son Kirk and his wife Jill Wildman, and their children Thomas, Reese and Ryder.

With 445 hectares of deeded land and 728ha of rented and leased pasture, the ranch is west of Edmonton in country ideally suited to pasture and hay production with some cropping options available.

"When we moved to this area, from southern Alberta, in 1974 the county had the most beef cows per acre in the province," Kirk Wildman said.

"My parents felt that was a good place as any to have a purebred cattle operation. The Wildman family has been continually ranching in Alberta since homesteading in Alberta in 1887."

Summer rainfall is in the 760mm range and the ranch relies on snow, and subsequent spring runoff, throughout the winter months to have good soil moisture in the spring and to fill water reservoirs.

Towaw calves out 50 cows in the winter, from mid-January to mid-March, and 175 cows in the summer, from mid-May to mid-July.

The winter herd starts artificial insemination in April. Summer bulls go out in August and are pulled in October, with mostly natural breeding in the summer group.

It is basically all purebred stock.

Mr Wildman said they will breed bottom-end cows they deem not purebred worthy to exotic bulls for the terminal market and put embryos in some of those cows as well.

"We raise maternal type, low maintenance Angus cattle that are expected to perform on grass and hay with a minimum of supplemental feed," he said.

"We breed for easy fleshing, moderate framed, structurally correct cattle that are fertile with moderate birthweight and very good calving ease. We aim for the middle-of-the-road cattle in growth and carcass traits and stay away from extremes and outliers."

A few females and bulls each year are sold to purebred breeders but the main marketing focus is commercial customers.

More than 70 per cent of bulls sell to commercial producers within 100 miles of the ranch.

"Our customers rely on our genetics in crossbred programs and for raising their own replacement females," Mr Wildman said.

"Over the years we have sold genetics to many countries in Europe, South America, Australia and the United States."

Fuctional

The ground at Towaw stays frozen from November until April and the cattle are overwintered outside.

The only time they would come inside is for a few days at calving to keep the ears from freezing on newborn calves, Mr Wildman said.

"We rarely get rain in the winter so the cattle stay dry and warm outside," he said.

"Our cattle must be able to have a good hair coat in the winter to withstand the temperatures but also shed that hair coat in the spring as summers can get to 35 degrees.

"Our best, most functionally adapted cattle are our best haired but also the earliest shedders in the spring."

US boost

Canadian beef producers are experiencing the same demand and price boost as Australians courtesy of the low cow numbers in the US.

Mr Wildman said beef was the protein of choice with a majority of Canadian consumers so demand was also very high, against a backdrop of low supply in North America.

Challenges, however, are plenty - and also similar to those in Australia.

"Our challenges center around pasture land being swallowed up by urban sprawl and being put into cash crop production," Mr Wildman said.

"We are also fighting government intervention with a carbon tax that is punitive and not achieving their goal.

"I think the biggest opportunities lie in telling our story to consumers and letting them see that grazing livestock is good for the environment. The cow was created with four stomachs for a reason; so she can convert forage from marginal land into a protein source for human consumption.

"There is a huge opportunity for cattle that thrive on marginal land and utilise crops that humans can not consume."

Mr Wildman said Canadian ranchers hear a bit about methane emissions but it was not a big issue in Alberta yet.

"Mostly beef cattle ranchers are stewards of the land and have a pretty good reputation with the general public," he said.

Various members of the Wildman family have attended World Angus Forums over the years.

"We always learn a lot about the culture and cattle business in each country but the best part is visiting with like-minded breeders and making relationships that last for generations," Mr Wildman said.

"Because of meeting people at forums we have had business dealings with people from Argentina, Denmark, Portugal, Czechia, Australia, the United Kindgom and across North America.

"Some of our best friends are people we see every two years at these events."

Australia will host the Neogen World Angus Forum in Brisbane from May 6 to 8. ACM Agri is a media partner for the event. See here.