***Original published in South Mountain Press, February 1, 2019***
Clanwilliam Farming Family Wins Conservation District Award
Recently, local Clanwilliam cattle ranchers Adele and John Popp, were presented with the 2018 Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District Award in recognition of their land stewardship practices. The Popp family received the award during the Manitoba Conservation Districts Association Awards Banquet held in Brandon on December 11.
The Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District was created in 1999 with the mandate to ‘facilitate and support integrated development and stewardship of water and land resources within watersheds, in ways that assure ecosystem health and sustainability through engagement of local citizens.’
Since the Conservation District’s inception, they have recognized families and organizations who have made contributions that align with the CD’s vision of stakeholders focused upon the land, the water and the other natural resources within its watersheds.
John Popp, who originally emigrated from Germany with his family, has over 20 years of experience in the livestock industry and has a Ph. D. in Ruminant Nutrition. In 1998, he and the family moved back to the Clanwilliam family farm to take it over from his parents. Since then, he and his family have been active stewards of their land and promoting sustainable farming management practices.
Along with ranching, John runs the company Big Bear Genetics Ltd. John’s late father, Werner Popp, had the dream of introducing the Bavarian Fleckvieh cattle breed to North America and started the process in 1999. Today, John continues his father’s vision of promoting Fleckvieh lines to North American beef and dairy producers. Part of the couple’s herd of 170 Red Angus acts as a recipient herd for top quality Fleckvieh dairy embryos.
Adele, who hails from a Saskatchewan grain farm, is an active partner with her husband and runs the farm while John is away on company business. From the fall of 1992 to the spring of 1993, she was with the International Agriculture Exchange Association in Australia. As a trainee, Adele was placed into the home of a host family in the town of Marysville, Victoria (approximately 1.5 hours from Melbourne). She chose a livestock exchange and was matched up with a beef cattle operation that did a lot of rotational grazing of yearlings and cow calf.
Adele has taken her knowledge and overseas farming experience and has since applied it to the running of their own cattle operation. She is very active in studying their farm’s soil nutrition and exploring different methods of land regeneration.
The couple’s children, Viktor and Hanna, also shared the Award with their parents. Both kids have been active with running the farm. Viktor is in his third year of Engineering at the University of Manitoba in the faculty of Biosystems Engineering. He took an 8 month work experience job with MacDon Industries as a test technician. His position involved the operation of prototype combine header out in the field, collecting data, writing reports, and acting as a liaison between the cooperating farmer and company.
Hanna is a high school student at Erickson Collegiate. Along with helping out on the farm, she is active in the local 4-H Beef Club. Through 4H public speaking competitions Hanna qualified to speak at the 2018 Royal Winter Fair at the Canadian Young Speakers Association competition.
The Popp family is well deserving of their recognition in light of their contributions to agriculture and land stewardship. They are happy to share their knowledge and experience and welcome visitors to ask questions and tour their Clanwilliam operation.
Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.