On 18/19 July I spent two days at Highland Feeders at Vegreville (about an hour from Edmonton). I am extremely grateful to Mike Kotelko for allowing me to visit the feedlot, as well as the Growing Power Biorefinery and their Spring Creek Ranch.
Highland Feeders is amongst Canada’s largest feedlot operations and has received several awards for industry leadership and environmental practices. Highland Feeders has capacity for up to 36,000 cattle, and specialises in feeding 270-400kg animals to a market ready weight of 540-585kgs. It was great to get an understanding of the feedlot operations and look at their design and how they are set up for maximum efficiency. I got to help with processing some of the steers that were going through the feedlot. The next day I rode out with the pen riders to check the stock and water in the feedlot pens. They were shipping some cattle out to the processors on this day, so I was able to see how this was done, the paperwork involved, weighing and shipping etc.
I was also given a tour of the integrated Bio-refinery, the first of its kind in Canada. Cattle manure from Highland Feeders' feedlot is processed through an anaerobic digester, which produces biogas. This biogas is burned as fuel to produce electricity and steam, which are used to produce ethanol from grain such as high starch wheat. The grain by-products from the ethanol production are then fed back to the cattle. Because the bio-refinery gets most of its energy from the anaerobic digestion of cattle manure from the feedlot, it is a cost and energy efficient method of producing fuel ethanol. The bio-refinery will generate an annual 40 million litres of fuel ethanol & 10 thousand tonnes of premium biofertilizer.
Finally I toured Spring Creek Ranch, where they raise premium beef without hormones or antibiotics. Spring Creek ‘s emphasis in on pure food production, the well being of their cattle, and environmental sustainability. I had a chance to learn about their operations, including their health practices, how they source their cattle & market their product. Next Wednesday, I will be visiting Spring Creek’s office in Edmonton and attend a beef promotion they are holding at a restaurant, which will be great to see.
