Earlier this week I attended the annualInternational Livestock Congress in Calgary.
They may call it a Livestock Congress but it tends to be pretty much all about the cattle but that's probably okay as many of the fundamentals affecting the various livestock sectors are often similar. As always there was an excellent roster of speakers to talk about the livestock business, where there are challenges, and where the opportunities are waiting. The full agenda and speaker lists are avialable at http://www.ilccalgary.com/html/about.html
Genome Alberta is one of the sponsors of the event as we invest heavily in livestock genomics related research and you can get an idea of just how much we're involved in at http://www.genomealberta.ca/research/projects/
The lead speaker for the morning was Glen Hodgson, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the Conference Board of Canada. Given the recent upheavals in the markets his timing to appear in Calgary gave ILC attendees the chance hear some excellent information first hand and as up-to-date as you could get. The main message was probably not to panic, fundamentals for the Canadian economy are good, and the Standard and Poors U.S. credit downgrade was as much a political decision as it was an economic or business decision. That doesn't mean all is rosey and he did suggest that consumers would have a little less to spend on extras or luxury.
Now move ahead to the afternoon session with Bill Helming of Helming Consulting Services based in Kansas.
They may call it a Livestock Congress but it tends to be pretty much all about the cattle but that's probably okay as many of the fundamentals affecting the various livestock sectors are often similar. As always there was an excellent roster of speakers to talk about the livestock business, where there are challenges, and where the opportunities are waiting. The full agenda and speaker lists are avialable at http://www.ilccalgary.com/html/about.html
Genome Alberta is one of the sponsors of the event as we invest heavily in livestock genomics related research and you can get an idea of just how much we're involved in at http://www.genomealberta.ca/research/projects/
The lead speaker for the morning was Glen Hodgson, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for the Conference Board of Canada. Given the recent upheavals in the markets his timing to appear in Calgary gave ILC attendees the chance hear some excellent information first hand and as up-to-date as you could get. The main message was probably not to panic, fundamentals for the Canadian economy are good, and the Standard and Poors U.S. credit downgrade was as much a political decision as it was an economic or business decision. That doesn't mean all is rosey and he did suggest that consumers would have a little less to spend on extras or luxury.
Now move ahead to the afternoon session with Bill Helming of Helming Consulting Services based in Kansas.