PUBLISHED BY MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS
DECEMBER 2022
Winter arrived in Onanole near Riding Mountain National Park in early November. (Photo credit: MBP)
Sue Clayton Looks Back at Her Career With Agriculture in the Classroom-Manitoba After seven-and-a-half years with Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba (AITC-M), Sue Clayton has retired as its Executive Director, and Cattle Country caught up with her recently to reflect on a career where she has focused on ensuring students graduate high school agriculturally literate. “Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba’s goal is that when students graduate from high school, they are agriculturally literate citizens,” Clayton says. “What that means is that when they go to the grocery store, they understand what labels mean. That when they go to vote, they understand that agriculture is a huge driver of our provincial and federal economy, and that one in eight jobs in Canada are directly linked to agriculture. And when they graduate, because they are aware of our industry, they are potentially interested in working in our industry, or at least know that it’s important to support the industry.” The path to Agriculture in the Classroom-Manitoba Clayton has a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Manitoba, and her career took
Executive Director a few years later. Clayton has always been strongly committed to partnerships and collaborations. “You often see that two plus two equals five,” she says. “When people and organizations work together, we can be so much more efficient and accomplish more.” Strong ties to the beef industry Ag in the Classroom-Manitoba works with all commodity groups in Canadian agriculture, but has a strong history of working with the beef industry, something that Clayton has built on during her career. There has always been a beef station at the annual Amazing Agriculture Adventure (AAA), held at the Richardson’s Kelburn Farm and the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station near Winnipeg, that gives students in Grades 3 to 6 a hands-on, interactive ag experience. At Brandon’s Manitoba Ag Days, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) partners with AITC-M to offer activities at their booth for Grade 7 and 8 students. It’s through these events that Clayton has made strong connections with producers, including Dianne Riding, past president of MBP. Page 3
President’s Column
District Meeting Resolutions
Fixing the Disconnect Problem
Page 2
Page 4
Page 5
www.mbbeef.ca
POSTMASTER : PLEASE R ETURN UNDELIVERABLE C OPIES TO: MBP, UNIT 220, 530 CENTURY STREET, WINNIPE G, MB R3H 0Y4 CANADIAN PUBLIC ATIONS MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMEN T NUMBER 40005187 POSTAGE PAID IN WINNIPE G.
BY ANGELA LOVELL
many turns before she ended up with AITC-M. She worked in the crop protection industry in Saskatchewan before spending a few years in Europe as head of international marketing and regulatory affairs for a division of ConAgra. After taking a break to raise her young children, she returned to the ag industry in a different role as the Community Liaison Coordinator at the University of Manitoba, where she first made her connections with AITC-M. “At the U of M my job was student recruitment and marketing, and that’s where my path started to cross with Ag in the Classroom Manitoba,” she says. “I became interested in what they were doing because they were trying to educate students in schools about agriculture and where their food comes from. It made sense to me to work in partnership with them at the university level, so that by the time we were trying to recruit students coming out of high school, they would have more of a knowledge of the agriculture industry.” That led to collaborations that continue to this day, including hosting school classrooms at the university faculty and professional development about agriculture for teachers. Clayton eventually joined the AITC-M board of directors, and was offered the position of