Levi Hull by Bonnie Warnyca
December, 2009
The oldest of three boys, Levi Hull grew up on a commercial cattle ranch near Willowbrook, just west of Yorkton, Saskatchewan.
From after school until bedtime during January and February, young Levi's job was to check for newborn calves. "Calving was my favorite time of the year even though it was a lot of work," he says with obvious enthusiasm. "Back then we calved about 350 cows in outside corrals. I made rounds every half hour or so. When I found a new calf, I popped it into our homemade calving sleigh which was about three feet off the ground and had a tarp with four holes for the calf's legs to go through. The cow followed us to the barn and then it was usually time to check the pens again. There was a lot of steam flying out of our old hip roofed barn when calving was in full swing."
Even while helping in the family business, Hull still found time to excel in school sports and received many sports awards including Track Athlete of the Year in Grade 10, and Player of the Week for the Regina Intercollegiate Football Association. But it was 4-H that would eventually have the biggest impact on what road he would take after high school.
When Hull joined the Springside 4-H Beef Club at 10 years old, his family wasn't all that familiar with the program. "A neighbor, who was a 4-H leader, invited me to go along to club meetings," he remembers. "Initially I thought I would go into the light horse club, but she suggested I try the beef club as well and it opened the door to a lot of new opportunities."
Winning many awards including the club's Reserve Champion Heifer the first year, and then the second year, winning Grand Champion Female and Grand Champion cow/calf pair, was more than enough to ignite this young man's competitive spirit. It also sparked an interest in learning how to judge livestock.
Hull now belongs to the Olds College Judging team and sits on the committee for animal health. "I learned a lot in 4-H," he says. "Our club and other 4-H club members from east central Saskatchewan got together once a year to practice judging grain and livestock. The senior judges helped us to identify superior individual animals and superior pens of cattle. Here at Olds College, we manage about 20 different breed combinations of steers from weaning to finishing and record the different results. Our Judging Team also hosts various events such as judging seminars for area 4-H club members. It's a great learning ground for many young would be farmers and ranchers."
What Hull has learned through 4-H involvement and post-secondary education has had an impact back on the ranch. Winter calving has moved to spring calving. "We've been calving on grass for the past few years," says Hull. "Listening to other producers and some of my professors, my family could see the many benefits. Our cow herd has grown to over 500 yet the work load is much easier. We now background our calves until the following April and market them as grassers over 750 lbs. We grass any fall calvers that fall out of rotation. It is a challenge to change the herd management and subsequently the marketing program, but the benefits are huge for both the ranchers and the cattle."
When Hull finishes his Bachelor of Science Agri Business degree classes in the spring followed by an eight month practicum, he aspires to work full time for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. "I have my Ag Production diploma majoring in Livestock and when I finish this degree I hope to enter the CFIA world to work on the beef side in some capacity."
For the past two summers Hull has worked for CFIA doing crop inspection for pedigreed seed growers. Moving into the beef side, will offer more direct contact with producers. It's a toss up whether he finds a position with CFIA during his practicum, or gets his feet wet in a position relating to animal nutrition.
Hull is admittedly a bit of a workaholic and has worked in many part time jobs building a rather impressive resume for a young man. During high school, he helped neighbors with spring and fall harvesting. He managed a small herd during the grazing season for the Beaverdale Beef Producer's Club and has worked for a feedlot and an aerial spraying company. Today, he spends part of his weekends working at the Olds Auction Market as an Alberta Livestock Identification Service brand inspector and when he can, heads home to help out.
He has also already built a small Angus herd of his own. "I started with one heifer when I was about five years old, and added to it over the years until I've got a herd of about 50 cows," he tells us. "The heifer I first won with at our 4-H competition is still in production. My goal is to work to for a few years and eventually return home to partner in the family ranch."
For now, living in the Olds College town house with three other like-minded roommates is providing a good mix of social interaction along with the studies. One of Hull's passions is cooking a meal usually involving steak and sharing it with his roommates. With a small freezer stocked with bounty from each of the boy's homes, there are daily reminders of some of the perks of living off the land. |
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