Banner photo credit: Canada Beef
Brayden Schmidt, AB
President
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Brayden was born and raised in Lumsden, SK and now resides near Didsbury, AB with his wife Andie and their son Traig. Brayden graduated from Olds College with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Agribusiness degree and now works for Bullseye Feeds as a Beef Nutrition Consultant. Brayden also works alongside Andie's family at their farming operation Westway Farms Ltd; an operation which consists of Simmental and Angus purebred and commercial cow/calf pairs, a small backgrounding and finishing yard, and pedigree seed and commodity grain production. Being involved in the community regarding agriculture and the cattle industry is a priority, which has also led Brayden to be apart of other boards and committees such as the CCA as a Board Director, Breed Improvement Committee for the Canadian Simmental Association and Expert Advisory Committee for Antimicrobial Stewardship.
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Pat Sullivan, QC
Vice President
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Pat is a 3rd generation beef producer from Gracefield, QC approximately one hour from the Nation's capital. Operating as Sullivan Simmentals along with his wife Caitlan and 3 children, they currently run a 100 head cow-calf operation, with 50% being registered Fleckvieh Simmental, and the remaining 50% commercial. They continue to work with Pat's parents, with plans to take over the operating in the near future. Pat took a strong interest in the beef industry at a young age. He participated in the local 4-H club, and the Young Canadian Simmental Assoc., traveling to events across Canada. He looks forward to being on the board as the Quebec delegate, working to continue to strengthen the youth voice in the Canadian cattle industry
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Emily Bromley
Ontario Delegate
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Emily grew up on her family’s commercial cow-calf operation in Renfrew, Ontario where her passion for the beef industry began at a young age. Through her involvement in 4-H and the Canadian Charolais Youth Association, her love of Charolais cattle and advocating for youth in the beef industry grew. The cattle herd also grew and now includes purebred Charolais. To promote her genetics Emily has travelled all throughout Ontario and western Quebec, attending various shows. Emily attended the University of Guelph to study agriculture and has been fortunate enough to work in ag retail since 2013.
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Marc Vachon
Manitoba Delegate
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Marc grew up on a mixed cattle and grain operation in South-West MB. He first attended Brandon University for Mathematics and spent summers working for Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives, where he saw another side of agriculture and how he could fit into it. He transferred to the University of Saskatchewan graduating with an Agribusiness Degree. After graduating from university, Marc bought an adjacent yard site to the family farm.
Marc has worked off-farm for the last few years, now working for Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp as a Loans Specialist; working with young, or beginning cattle farmers, while working alongside his parents and uncle on the home farm. The farm consists of a 300-head Black Angus commercial cow-calf operation with calves sold as yearlings in the spring. Marc is building his herd alongside the main operation. Marc is passionate about the beef industry and seeing it thrive alongside its counterparts in Canadian agriculture. Marc is looking forward to gaining experience in policy and understanding how to advocate for the beef industry at a higher level. After a couple of years on the Council, he has seen the value of a cross-country network of beef producers and how it creates new ideas. |
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Sarah MacDonald
BC delegate
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Sarah MacDonald hails from a strong ranching background. Born and raised in Rock Creek, BC, her family recently moved 900 kilometres north to Vanderhoof, BC, where they now own and operate Braemoor Ranch, a commercial Angus/Simmental cow-calf operation. This transition has given them the opportunity to enhance their rotational grazing strategy, diversify crop and pasture mixes, and increase water storage, to name a few of the benefits.
Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from the University of Saskatchewan, having previously attended Lakeland College. She was a dedicated member of both institutions’ intercollegiate livestock judging teams, developing a strong passion for livestock evaluation, especially beef carcass assessment. She has competed in youth livestock judging competitions across Canada and recently represented Canada at the World Angus Forum Youth Competition in Australia, where her team placed third overall in the meat yield & quality component. Sarah is particularly interested in the intersection of agriculture, economics, policy, and strategic communication. She brings this passion to her role as Program Coordinator with the BC Cattlemen’s Association, where she works to support ranchers and advocate for the province’s beef industry. Sarah loves to travel, meet new people, experience different cultures, and learn from diverse perspectives. A dedicated “agvocate,” she enjoys sharing the story of agriculture and ranching with consumer groups, often volunteering at events such as the Pacific National Exhibition and Calgary Stampede. She was an active participant in 4-H and junior livestock programs throughout her youth, and now gives back to those programs as a mentor and volunteer. Sarah is excited to bring her passion and experience to the Canadian Cattle Youth Council, and looks forward to offering her unique perspective that ranching west of the Rockies grants her. |
Carling Matejka, AB
Member at Large
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Carling Matejka is a beef cattle veterinarian with Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Crossfield, Alberta, where she partners with producers of all types to enhance herd health, strengthen management, and support long-term industry sustainability. She graduated from the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 2018.
As a fourth-generation cattle producer from Matejka Farms, a purebred Angus operation near Ponoka, Alberta, Carling has been immersed in the beef industry her entire life. She is also involved with her husband’s family’s dairy and beef operation near Olds, giving her a unique perspective that spans seedstock, cow–calf, feedlot, and dairy-beef integration. Carling was recognized as the inaugural recipient of the Reg Schellenberg Next Generation Legacy Award, honouring her leadership and commitment to advancing Canadian beef production. She is also a graduate of the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) program and a former member of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council (CAYC), where she contributed youth perspectives to national conversations on policy, sustainability, and producer priorities. Her outreach and research collaborations include developing producer-focused educational resources with the Beef Cattle Research Council, consulting on parasite research projects with the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, and serving on the CCA Expert Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Stewardship. Carling loves teaching and sharing knowledge, and has delivered presentations to both veterinary students and producer groups. She is excited to bring this same enthusiasm for communication and collaboration to the Canadian Cattle Youth Council, working alongside other young leaders to help shape the future of Canada’s beef industry. |
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Judson Christopherson
Saskatchewan delegate
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Judson is a third-generation cow-calf producer from Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, managing 1100 commercial angus cattle and backgrounding heifers alongside his father and grandfather. Judson joined the Youth Council in 2024, serving as the Saskatchewan representative.
Having developed a passion for agriculture at a young age Judson hopes to foster change for the cattle agriculture industry by bridging gaps between policymakers, producers, and academia while operating his family’s operation. Despite an unwavering desire to be a cow-calf producer Judson has pursued post-secondary education to better understand how policy impacts producers. Having completed a B.Sc. in Agribusiness and M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan, he hopes to bring this knowledge to the council while deepening his understanding of beef production nationally. |
connor english, mb
member at large
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Connor is a 5th generation cattle farmer from Bradwardine MB where he farms/ranches along side his parents, wife Kyla and son Colter.
After graduating from Lakeland College in 2019 with a diploma in Animal Sciences he has developed a great amount of interest in the soil health and regenerative ag space. This led him to work at South Glanton Farms, North of Brandon MB where he broadened his knowledge in the adaptive multi paddock grazing space and saw the benefits that a mixed livestock and grain farm can have. In the spring of 2022 he returned home to the family farm to work along side his parents They currently operate a diverse cow calf, backgrounding and small finishing enterprise on the farm. They run their cows on majority tame pastures from early May until the end of October. During this time they have been calving their cows in a short period of time before starting them into their intensive grazing system. They strive to increase production and profitability while pushing their system to become more resilient year after year and not so reliant on things that they don’t have control over. Their winter grazing/ feeding system seems to be always changing which is helping them succeed regardless of weather or market events. Instead of having 1 sole form of winter feeding, they see value in utilizing 5 or 6 different ways to winter cows and or calves in their environment. In the spring of 2024, Connor had the opportunity to take a position with Covers & Co as the Manitoba Territory Manager. Since starting into this new role he has been very driven to continue to find ways to connect farmers back to their farms soil health to help increase farms profitability and longevity. He looks forward to serving as a Member at Large for the Canadian Cattle Youth Council moving forward! |
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Allan Larsen
Atlantic delegate
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Allan is a fourth-generation beef and table stock potato farmer from Cape Traverse, located on PEI’s beautiful south shore just minutes from the Confederation Bridge.
Coming from a heavily influenced farming family, Allan hails from a long line of Larsen’s who farm. Growing up on the family farm and learning from his father and grandfather, Allan had a passion for agriculture at a very young age and he knew that this was the way of life he wanted. After graduating from Kinkora Regional High School, Allan went to college in Miramichi New Brunswick taking Heavy Diesel Mechanics. Upon completion of the course in 2017, Allan returned home to PEI and immediately took on the responsibility of managing the farms cattle operation. Although Allan helps his father James and older brother Joseph plant and harvest their 400 acre potato crop, his main focus and responsibilities lie on the cattle side of the farm’s operations. Along side his younger brother Michael, they run 800 head in a feedlot setting and a 30 head commercial cow calf herd. Allan was an active member of 4-H for most of his childhood, and these days, in addition to chairing the PEI Cattle Producers Board, he is the Atlantic Canada delegate on the Canadian Cattle Youth Council, that works along side the CCA. Allan is committed to the beef industry in the long term, and improving it any way he can to help producers specifically on Prince Edward Island as well as at the national level. |
Adeleen Bolduc
Canadian Beef cattle check-off agency: youth member
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Adeleen is a 5th generation Alberta Rancher alongside her husband, Mat, and three kids at Cudlobe Angus West near Stavely, Alberta. They raise purebred black angus cattle with her father-in-law, Dave, at the base of the foothills. Bolduc also runs commercial angus cows and calves with her mom in Special Areas, near Cereal, Alberta. The Bolducs use genetic selection to breed cattle that are high performing, high carcass quality cattle that have functional longevity in adverse environments.
Adeleen grew up on her family's mixed farm/feedlot operation in Central Alberta where she honed her stockmanship skills and developed an eye and love for cattle. Her mom and grandma were both heavily involved in their respective operations, and Bolduc is proud to be the 3rd generation of women in her family who ranch. Feeder cattle and her oilfield maintenance job funded Adeleen's post secondary education. She moved to her husband's family operation in 2012 and has found her place working outside as well as managing the office for the ranch in addition to her own branded beef program, Cudlobe Angus West AAA+ Beef. Bolduc's goals for her CYL Mentorship center around finding and harnessing new opportunities in the industry related to beef marketing. She excels in creating new efficiencies for her family's ranches, embracing new technology, and places a lot of value on self-evaluation and constant improvement. |
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Laura Buss
Canadian roundtable for sustainable beef: Youth Member
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Laura grew up on a cow-calf farm north of Westlock, Alberta, and developed a passion for cattle at an early age. She earned her BSc in Agriculture from the University of Alberta, followed by an MSc in Animal Biosciences from the University of Guelph. During her graduate studies, she focused her research on gut development and antibiotic use in dairy calves.
She currently works as a research project manager with TELUS Agriculture, where she collaborates with feedlot crews, managers, veterinarians, and consultants to advance scientific research in feedlot production. She also serves as a director with the Foothills Forage and Grazing Association to support local producers and connect them to sustainable forage and grazing practices. Laura lives south of Longview, Alberta, where she enjoys spending time with friends and working with horses. She is passionate about advocating for the beef sector, and is excited to begin collaborating with industry leaders on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and the Canadian Cattle Youth Council. |
