Young rancher gains mentor insights

Kaitlyn McMurphy recently completed the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders (CYL) Mentorship Program.

The program, provided through the Canadian Cattleman’s Association provides industry-specific training and interest-specific mentorship to assist the Beef industry into the future.

“It hooks young producers up with established producers,” McMurphy told Yorkton This Week.

“Young producers between the ages of 18 and 35 have the opportunity to engage with industry leaders and participate in many events and meetings, pertaining to the cattle industry both at home and on a global scale,” further detailed the program’s website.

The focus of the program was a great fit for McMurphy who was raised on a mixed grain and commercial cow/calf operation near Jedburgh, SK. Her love for cattle developed early as she enjoyed checking cows with her grandpa and watching the calves in the pastures. Joining the local 4-H club at the age of six, she was a member of for 12 years. At the age of 15 she began to build her own purebred Hereford herd and joined the junior association. She has completed a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree from the University of Saskatchewan majoring in Animal Science. Her undergrad thesis was entitled, “Minimizing the Stress of Weaning on Beef Calves”.

McMurphy, who recently married husband Mark, said it was an extensive process to be accepted into the national program, starting with her being one of 75 to submit a written application.

From those applicants 24 were chosen to attend the Canadian Beef Industry Conference where they took part in round table discussions which lead to the final 16 participants being selected to move on.

The finalists came from across Canada, with nine being women.

“Then we were paired up with a mentor,” said McMurphy, adding they found mentors with expertise in areas the participants had noted through the application process they were most interested in. In her case priorities included learning more about intergenerational transfer of a farm, and how to best balance a career and running a cattle operation.

“One was balancing a successful career in industry and cattle,” she said, adding she has definite plans on both sides of the equation.

McMurphy is an inspector with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and together with her husband Mark, they are ranching alongside her parents Allan and Juanita Polegi who operates Sorefoot Creek Farms (Herefords).

In her case the mentor was Jill Harvie.

Harvie ranches with her husband Cole and his family near Olds, AB., under the name Harvie Ranching and is a partner in her parent’s operation called OVHF. She has a strong passion for the purebred industry.

McMurphy said Harvie being involved in the purebred Hereford business, and having a job off farm was a great match in terms of what she sees in her future.

Currently, McMurphy and her husband own three-quarters of land, and help her parents in the overall management of 135 cows.

“They’re starting to step away a little more each year,” she said, adding in five or six years they plan to be the sole operators.

Her parents operation, started by grandfather Emil, was originally a mixed-farm, but has since been converted to just a cattle ranch.

McMurphy said while both she and her husband will maintain off-farm jobs, they will also look to grow the herd to 200-300 cows, while focusing on “the management of the land as sustainability as we can.”

Through the program participants were given $2000, as a budget to allow the mentor and mentee to meet through the year long process.

McMurphy said the trip to Denver put her into “round table talks between the Canadian young producers and American young producers,” a process she said helped both sides build farm allies, who she remains in contact with. Those connections, producer-to-producer, are critical in building cross border understanding in the face of issues such as US president Donald Trump’s position on trade.

McMurphy said often the best information she learned was not about how Harvie found success, but how she responded to adversity.

“It was how she failed and learned from that,” said McMurphy.

While the two did meet, most of the mentorship relied on the telephone.

“There were lots and lots of phone calls,” said McMurphy.

Overall, McMurphy said the program was all she had expected, although she said more time would have been great as it was always an issue working in time for the program.

“I think it surpassed expectations,” she said, in particular building her confidence to meet people and talk about the industry. Even Harvie herself was someone McMurphy said she “would not have had the confidence to go up and talk to her” before the program.

“To have her building me up does wonders for my confidence.”

Still time was a factor.

“There are only so many holidays at work,” she said.

That said McMurphy said being a farmer’s daughter has made her pretty good at balancing her time.

“All my life I’ve been waking up early, doing chores, getting on the bus for school, getting home, homework, more chores,” she said.

In terms of a key lesson, McMurphy said it came down to a philosophy; how to maximize the opportunities rather than dwelling on the impact of challenges.

And Harvie will always be just a telephone call away.

“Jill will be a lifelong mentorship,” she said.