17th annual Tiffin Conference focuses on red meat

LETHBRIDGE – The 17th annual Tiffin Conference took place at the Lethbridge Lodge Thursday.  Lethbridge College hosted the event, which saw over 350 agriculture producers, business people, students and experts attend a day of information sessions and guest speakers.

This year’s focus was on the role of red meat in the agriculture industry.  The featured speaker was noted futurist Bob Treadway, who has spent nearly three decades analyzing trends in hundreds of industries to forecast how future environments will affect those in the field.  His work has often focused on farming and ranching, an area that holds a special place in his heart.

“If I could restart an education and career, I could easily choose agriculture,” said Treadway. “It appeals to the boy still in me.”

Fawn Jackson, the manager of Environment and Sustainability for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Executive Director of the Canadian Round table for Sustainable Beef, spoke about the environmental issues facing the industry.

Jackson says consumers want to know where their meat is coming from and it’s a generation who cares about what they put on their plate.

“Consumers today are very interested in where their food comes from. We have eight million millenials in north america and they are very interested in knowing their food was raised sustainably, and speaking about their food and making it part of their culture,” said Jackson.

The Tiffin Conference is made possible through the Ronald Tiffin Agricultural Endowment Fund administered by Lethbridge College.  The fund was established in honour of Ronald W. Tiffin, who spent his life working in agriculture in both grain and livestock production in southern Alberta.  The goal of the endowment is to provide world-class learning opportunities to primary producers, agribusiness and agriculture students.