Banff, AB (February 8, 2016) – Feedlot operators Shane and Kristin Schooten of Diamond City, AB, were named the 2016 Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF) for the Alberta and Northwest Territories Region at the annual awards event on February 5.
Shane and Kristin work alongside his family operating Schooten & Sons Custom Feedyard Ltd., consisting of four feed yards, a cow-calf herd and crop land, along with managing a separate trucking and custom silaging company.
“The Alberta/N.W.T. Regional event was well attended and had three strong contenders representing this year,” says Komie Hossini, Marketing Engagement Specialist for Bayer CropScience Canada, and a national sponsor of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. “Though the judges had a difficult decision to make, in the end, they were pleased to select Shane and Kristin Schooten. Shane and Kristin are hard-working, innovative, and excellent role models for young people in agriculture.”
The oldest of four brothers, Shane got an early start in the cattle feeding business at the age of 16. After completing his diploma in agricultural business at Olds College, he returned to the farm full time and started his own custom silaging business, exceeding his goals in his first year of operation. With the help of his brother Cody Schooten, who joined him in 2007, they have grown the business to a large portfolio of customers, a fleet of top-of-the-line equipment, and 35 hard-working employees.
The four Schooten feed yards, which have a combined capacity of 40,000 head of cattle, are highly advanced, employing a real-time network, GPS system, touch-screen computers in the feed trucks and cattle-handling chutes, and real-time age verification that is adapted into the feed inventory controls.
The couple was married in 2005 and now with their two children, Gracen (6) and Berkeley (5), they are very active in their community and local sports. Shane coaches a local hockey team in Picture Butte, AB.
Celebrating 36 years, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ program is an annual competition to recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession and promote the tremendous contribution of agriculture. Open to participants 18 to 39 years of age, making the majority of income from on-farm sources, participants are selected from seven regions across Canada, with two national winners chosen each year. The program is sponsored nationally by CIBC, John Deere, Bayer, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through Growing Forward 2, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative. The national media sponsor is Annex Business Media, and the program is supported nationally by AdFarm, BDO and Farm Management Canada.
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2016 will be chosen at the National Event in Niagara Falls, Ontario from November 29 – December 4, 2016.
-30-
For more information or a photo of Shane and Kristin Schooten, contact:
Carla Kaeding, Program Manager, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers
306.896.7833 ·kaedingc@hotmail.com · oyfcanada.com