Twin View Livestock took home several champion titles during this year’s Gelbvieh cattle shows at Canadian Western Agribition — an accomplishment close to the hearts of owners Aaron Birch and Joe Barnett as Regina is their “hometown show.”
Birch and Barnett were awarded both Grand Champion Bull and Grand Champion Female, with Twin View cattle claiming five of the six grand and reserve banners up for grabs for the Gelbvieh breed, alongside numerous other champion placings throughout the exhibition.
Twin View Livestock is no stranger to top-tier placings, but this is the first year that they have collected the Grand Champion Female title at Agribition, which is an exciting milestone for Birch and Barnett.
Twin View Livestock was also named the Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor for 2019 for the third consecutive year in a row — an accomplishment that the ranch sets as a goal each year they show at Agribition.
“We consider these [to be] sort of the highest honour. Those [Premier awards] are earned by total points, for all of the cattle you have there,” said Barnett. “It's certainly a real honour for us and something we don't take lightly.”
Twin View Livestock is a purebred Gelbvieh and Simmental cattle operation located between Parkbeg and Chaplin, and the ranch is already well-known for its excellent genetic line and quality herd after just three years of operation.
Barnett and Birch both hail from cattle-ranching backgrounds, with Barnett having grown up around Moose Jaw ranching with his family’s purebred Simmental operation. The two returned to southern Saskatchewan from Alberta three years ago to put their expertise to work under the Twin View Livestock brand.
“We've been very fortunate the last three years since we've been operating under Twin View,” said Birch. “It has been unbelievable in terms of the amount of work that goes into that.”
“We have a lifetime of experience, both of us,” said Barnett. “This week was really a nice, rewarding week, but it's not just about this day or this week. It's really about years of a breeding program and breeding cattle that are constantly improving.”
Birch and Barnett have worked extremely hard to build their name as quality Gelbvieh breeders. Twin View Livestock shows cattle all over western Canada, from Edmonton, Alta. to Brandon, Man., and each exhibition and title only helps to improve their reputation.
Their 2019 Grand Champion bull, Mayweather, is even headed to Denver, Colo. in the next few weeks as an entry in the upcoming National Western Stock Show, taking the brand further than just Canadian soil.
The title wins are just one small piece in the long-term marketing plan for these cattle, not only as an individual brand but as a breed entirely. Birch and Barnett treat each exhibition as a chance to market their breed as best they can.
“We're not one of the major breeds, we're one of the smaller ones. It's important for us when we're exhibiting our cattle, not only to promote and show off our program, but also our breed,” said Birch.
Purebred cattle lineage is very generational, which means every title win adds some measure of prestige to all future descendants in the lineage.
“It was no fluke, getting to that level where you can get those awards,” said Birch. “It's been years and years and years in the making, finding the right genetics and everything like that.”
“We're constantly tying those pieces together and looking forward, and the successes that we have today will build the successes that we enjoy down the road too,” said Barnett.
In the wake of Agribition, the two are feeling appreciative of the recognition and grateful to those who have helped them along the way.
“We have a great crew that helps us, both friends and some family that help us when we're at the shows, as well as a great neighbour that looks after things at home while we're away, and just everybody else in the industry who builds us up,” said Barnett. “We wouldn't be able to do what we do without all that community of people, that kind of have our backs, and so we really, really appreciate that too.”
