Bringing cattle to the classroom

Julie Mortenson grew up in the heart of cattle country. Today, she’s found a way to share some of that experience with students who don’t have the chance to spend time on farms and ranches.

Originally from north of Grand Prairie, Alta., Mortenson spent her childhood on the land as she helped on her parent’s operation of 50 head. She loved being around livestock so much that she ended up at the University of Saskatchewan with the hope of becoming a vet. Instead, she met her husband there and found a career she thinks is much better suited to her — that of a rancher.

“I really, really enjoy being out there with the cows,” Mortenson says. “I find it very relaxing to walk through the herd.”

Now, Mortenson lives near Nokomis, Sask., with her husband and their two daughters. They ranch alongside her husband’s parents, where they run a herd of 250 commercial cattle with another herd of 50 purebred polled Hereford, alongside a few purebred Simmental. They also have around 6,000 acres of grainland.

Classroom cattle

In 2020, Mortenson was on maternity leave and got the idea to start a project she called “Classroom Cattle.”

“I was scrolling on Facebook one day, and I saw that there was a dairy down in the States where they would offer to have people adopt a dairy calf on their farm,” she says. “And I thought that was a great idea.”

Mortenson based her program, Classroom Cattle, on the American version. But she saw potential to extend the program and include beef cattle. Classes from schools across the country joined her program, adopting a calf from the Mortenson’s ranch. As the calf grew, students followed along and learned about the process. Mortenson shepherded them through a virtual tour and answered any questions.

“We gave them some updates on how that calf was growing and the different production practices we use. We do band them at birth, we do brand at our farm, we do vaccinate, we do use growth implants.”

The program didn’t just teach about production practices, though. It also showed students the highs, and lows, of ranching.

“One of our calves in the program actually had gotten into an alfalfa bale and bloated and passed away. And I was open on what that process was like, and then explained to the kids how we usually try to prevent that and what kind of happens next.”

That commitment to transparency paid off.

“None of them were upset about it. They understood that yes, that was a hit to our bottom line, but also that we really cared about that animal. And I think that was a huge learning curve for a lot of the kids too.”

Teachers who became involved with the program enjoyed it as well. Mortenson says they even began to implement the things they were learning through Classroom Cattle into other subjects.

“So many other teachers did awesome things to build upon the program. They would use some of the pictures and different worksheets I’d passed on to them for their class. They would build on those and use their calf in different situations … because they found that was something that the kids really gravitated towards, really enjoyed talking about.”

Urban connections

People from urban centres are often generations removed from the farm, and so don’t fully understand what happens on a ranch and how their food is produced. This is why Mortenson thinks a program like Classroom Cattle is important.

“I think we’re most impressionable when we’re small, young, and we’re in school. And we usually trust what our teachers tell us even more than what our parents sometimes tell us.”

For Mortenson, it’s important that Classroom Cattle provides education for students — and teachers — in an accessible way. She says she hopes students forge a new link with the farm and where their food comes from through Classroom Cattle. She wants to not only connect directly with kids through the schools, but also give teachers resources so they can teach the facts about how beef cattle are raised in Saskatchewan, and Canada. That saves teachers the time searching for the truth about beef production, she adds.

“They just want to do the best thing for their students, and students are really receptive to that.”

After the trial of Classroom Cattle in 2020, Mortenson stopped offering the program so she could iron out all the wrinkles that appeared in the first year and receive feedback.

Now, however, she’s ready to relaunch the program for the fall of 2023.

For teachers interested in Classroom Cattle for their classes in the fall, Mortenson says to keep an eye out on her social media, where she will be posting updates. Readers can find Mortenson on Twitter (@JMort95) and Instagram (@JulieMarieMortenson).

Industry work

For Mortenson, it’s not just the cattle that make her love ranching.

“I really like the connections and the people part of the business.”

In addition to working on their ranch, Mortenson is involved with several industry organizations and boards. She is the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan rep for her rural municipality, the director of the Saskatchewan Hereford Association and the youth rep for the Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency and the Canadian Cattle Youth Council. She is also an alumnus of the Next Gen Agriculture Mentorship Program, was one of the Faces of Farming for the Saskatchewan government and has been a conference panellist.

She says it’s important to get involved with different organizations to build a network in the industry.

“I think it can be really intimidating to walk into some of those meetings, some of those rooms, some of those organizations. But I think the big thing is that, while it seems like it’s always the same people, it’s not because they don’t want new people. It’s because it’s hard to get new people involved. So, I think if someone’s willing enough to put themselves out there and make the first step and actually show up, there are more than enough people who are willing to take you under their wing and share their experiences with you and they really connect with you.”

Alongside Classroom Cattle, Mortenson will continue her industry work.

“I’ve been privileged to be a part of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off Agency as the youth rep. And it’s definitely a goal of mine to be involved both in the board of the Canadian Cattle Youth Council as the Saskatchewan rep one day and, long-term, become more involved as a board member of the Canadian Beef Cattle Check-Off Agency as well.”

– This article was originally published at Canadian Cattlemen.