It’s sometimes easier to describe a thing by what it isn’t than by what it is.
Such is the case for the Cowgirl Cattle Company, which is holding their annual get-together Back in the Saddle Rendezvous on May 13 at the Madden Community Hall – come one, come all.
The Cowgirl Cattle Company is not about cowgirls, though they still play a prominent role.
It’s also not all about cattle – though it is about agriculture.
And it’s not actually a company, even though it does provide participants with lots of company.
So maybe they need a new name.
“We are not like a real company, we are not registered with the government, we don’t have bylaws, we don’t have directors, all that nonsense, because we want to get something done,” said organizer Jill Richards, with obvious pride. “We’re not a club. The government knows diddly about us – we don’t file anything.”
They meet once a year. This will be it.
And while they have a goal in mind, they don’t take themselves all that seriously.
“We get together and enjoy each other’s company,” Richards said.
Their serious intent, in Richards’ view, is about respect. Their core values wrap around the feeling that agriculture doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.
“Agriculture’s not revered as it used to be, as it should be,” she said. “We don’t want to lose our history. It used to be, most people in western Canada had an aunt or a grandma or grandpa somewhere on the farm or a ranch, but it’s not like that anymore.”
Richards is hardly hyperbolizing. A report from the Royal Bank of Canada and University of Guelph last week said more than 40 per cent of farm operators will retire over the next decade, leaving Canada with a shortage of 24,000 general farm, nursery, and greenhouse operators.
The report also estimated that 66 per cent of producers do not have a succession plan in place. To address the shortage and lack of succession plans, Canada will need to accept 30,000 permanent immigrants by 2033 to take over existing farms and greenhouses or establish their own.
Whereas the Cowgirl Cattle Company started out with a requirement that members had to have a registered cattle brand, that kind of restriction has long since gone by the wayside – some connection to agriculture is all that’s needed.
Even that isn’t really a strict prerequisite to attend the upcoming rendezvous, according to Richards, who said it’s not like they check credentials at the door.
But when asked if pulling up to the hall in an electrical vehicle would be advised, she didn’t pause.
“Absolutely not,” she replied with a laugh.
This is the 23rd year for the Cowgirl Cattle Company. Richards describes it as a group of “ranch, farming, rodeo women, that want to keep our heritage and western roots alive.”
It’s also not a charity – registered or otherwise – though they do give away any money over and above their costs to put on their annual event to a deserving non-profit group of choice. They vote on the recipient at the end of the evening.
Past Rendezvous (Rendezvouses?) have donated profits to breast cancer research organizations, the Alberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary Firefighters Burn Treatment Society, and Children’s Wish Foundation, among others.
It’s an evening that will feature entertainment, refreshments and a catered roast beef dinner. Many businesses come to showcase their products, and there will be a silent auction for further fundraising.
What kind of beef?
“Alberta Beef – the only kind,” Richards said.
Anyone attending the Rendezvous is also invited to learn more about and contribute to a major project – a Cowgirls Almanac.
“You know, like the Farmers Almanac? We’re doing a Cowgirls Almanac.” Richards said, adding the almanac will contain such things as colourful quotes, sayings, remedies, – essentially anything to do with the agricultural life.
The almanac will be called Ranch Wisdom, Remedies and Recipes and is being done in partnership with Canadian Cowboy Country magazine.
The almanac is not just for Alberta cowgirls, however. Anyone from the prairie provinces involved in agriculture is invited to contribute.
Doors open at 4 p.m. for the Rendezvous at the Madden Community Hall on May 13. Tickets are $100, and are available by emailing [email protected].
For more information on the Cowgirl Cattle Company, including how to contribute to the almanac, go to cowgirlcattlecompany.com.
