Jim Bowhay, along with his wife, Nola, and their family, operates a mixed farm operation near Sundre. The mixed operation includes cow-calf, meat goats, butcher turkeys, and laying hens. Jim often refers to it as a mixed-up operation. Jim has been involved in both the cattle industry and government while being on the provincial board of the Alberta Feeder Association for 12 years, on the LIS board for six years, and also worked in the field as a Brand Inspector for several years. Jim has a real passion for our youth in the industry, which is demonstrated by close to 50 years of 4-H involvement.

Jim serves on ABP’s Tier Advisory Team.

Graeme Finn and his wife, Heather, run a cow-calf and grass finishing operation near Madden. They run a year-round grazing program based on regenerative agriculture. Graeme is founder and president of Union Forage, a cover crop and perennial forage seed company that also mentors and trains its customers in regenerative grazing management.

In addition to his roles in primary production, Graeme has experience as Past Vice President on the Agricultural Research Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) board and Past Chair of CRSB Research Committee Chairman. He also participated as a mentor in both the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program and the BCRC researcher mentorship program.

Graeme sits on the Research Advisory Committee of the Alberta Beef Producers, and serves on the Beef Cattle Research Council’s Producer Council.

Jana Harman and her young family recently moved to Cardston, Alberta from British Columbia, where they lived on a family farm outside of Lillooet. While in B.C., Jana was a member of the Lillooet Livestock Association, and sat on a committee for Education and Communications with B.C. Cattleman’s Association.

Jana has her Bachelor’s of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and work experience with Luxury Wilderness Resort, one of National Geographic’s Unique Lodges of the World.

In her spare time, Jana loves to hike with their family and dogs, or head out on the trails with one of the horses.

In addition to her role as Zone Coordinator, Jana is also an Alberta representative to the Canadian Cattle Association.

Sheila Hillmer and her family have a farming and ranching operation near Del Bonita, and her two sons are beginning the process of succession in the family business. Sheila is a Key Account Manager with Elanco Canada, a global animal health company. Sheila works with corporate feedyards and is based in southern Alberta. She also spends a significant amount of time developing and executing Learning and Development, both internally within Elanco and externally to customers.

Sheila is Vice Chair of Alberta Beef Producers, and its elected representative to the Canadian Beef Check-Off Agency.

Lee Irvine and his family have recently set up a grass backgrounding operation in the Cochrane area. Throughout his career, he has had the opportunity to market cattle through TEAM and Calgary Stockyards, to sit in the boardroom of multinational pharmaceutical companies and to run the auction market and feedlot software for ViewTrak Technologies. He has been an auditor for the Verified Beef Production Plus program and sat on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef Framework Committee.

Lee serves on ABP’s Board of Directors, Tier Advisory Team, and is an Alberta representative on the Beef Cattle Research Council’s Producer Council.

Kyle Lemmer and his wife operate a cow calf operation east of Calgary, while also working off farm. Their cow herd is solid black angus focusing on efficiency, calving ease and raising cattle that work for them. When it comes to the management of the operation, their focus is on longer term grazing and minimized inputs.

Fred Lozeman operates a farm near Claresholm. Along with family members and dedicated employees, they produce cattle, grains, oilseed, and forage. Fred has been an ABP delegate for the past six years, including six years as a Director, three years as the Chair of the Research Committee, five years on the Governance Committee, and five years as an ABP representative for BCRC.

Fred currently serves as the ABP Finance Chair, as the Beef Cattle Research Council Finance Chair, and is a Director for RDAR (Results Driven Agricultural Research). He also sits on ABP’s Research and Governance Committees.