News

By Emma Geldart

Ellen Crane wasn’t sure if what she had read was real. It all seemed very much like a dream- her dream.

A Masters student at Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, Ellen was selected this past spring as one of the 16 post-secondary students from across Canada to participate in the Cattleman’s Young Leaders mentorship program.

The annual program is offered to beef enthusiasts, age 18-35, with an extensive background in the beef industry who are interested in learning more. Selected candidates are paired with leaders within the beef industry from all across Canada to act as mentors. Mentees are also awarded a $2,000 bursary for travel expenses to industry and program related events.

“My mentor could be someone such as a researcher or a producer that is currently involved in the industry,” Ellen explains. “With my mentor we’ll make goals together as to what we would like the mentorship to look like. I would like to work on networking and improving the communication of research in the beef industry to the producers that can make use of it.”

In addition to the mentorship program, Ellen was also selected as a recipient for the Keith Gilmore Prize for Beef Innovation. While Ellen is the very first recipient of the award, the Keith Gilmore Foundation (KGF) will award this scholarship annually to post-graduate youth based on academic excellence and leadership in the beef industry. Through this award, Ellen will receive $10,000 towards completing her master’s degree focusing on feed efficiency in beef cattle.

Originally from Cardigan, PEI, Ellen grew up immersed in the beef industry. Her family owned a beef farm of about 20 cow-calf pairs of purebred Hereford cattle. Since the age of nine, Ellen was involved in 4-H and showing beef cattle. She then went on to the University of Prince Edward Island where she did her undergrad degree in biology. She is now working on her first year of her Master’s degree under orientation of Dr. Yuri Montanholi (Industry Research on Beef Cattle Husbandry). Ellen is studying the residual feed intake and sexual maturity in beef heifers with an additional focus on indirect assessments of feed efficiency, as part of the multidisciplinary research program lead by Dr. Montanholi on energy metabolism. She will graduate from Dal AC in 2016.

“My ultimate goal is to eventually work in the beef industry,” Ellen explains. “Ideally, it would be within the Maritimes.”

So far through the program, Ellen has participated in the spring forum where the selections were held. She travelled to the University of Saskatchewan with 23 other semifinalists to participate in a three day session to narrow down the candidates to the final mentees. She joined in on five roundtable discussions on agricultural related topics, such as antimicrobial use and resistance on marketing beef in a global world.

“There were four to five students at each table,” Ellen explains. “Plus two to three judges to keep score and keep the debates on track. I didn’t want to be too strongly opinionated but I wanted to have my say. I just tried to be myself and do my best.”

Although not yet paired with her mentor, Ellen is excited to get started in the program. She expects to be paired with her mentor very soon.

“I really hope to improve the network I have so far with people involved in the beef industry,” she says. “I hope to learn as much as I possibly can, but if I could narrow it down to one thing I hope to gain, it would be career advice.”

Ellen explains that she has always known about the program and was always interested in what it had to offer.

“I've always had some interest in the program,” she says. “A graduate from last year said I'd be a good fit and that I should apply this year. Since it fit in so well with the timing of my master’s program, I thought I should apply.”

For Ellen, this experience will help her further her career in the beef industry. She will meet new people, connect with industry partners, and gain valuable insight and experience. For Ellen, it truly is a once in a lifetime experience.