Mixing Business with Research Helps Ranchers’ Bottom Line

By Lynette Piper, Communications Consultant, Regina

Growing up on a mixed grain and cattle farm in the 1980s, Kathy Larson’s family lived through the harsh realities of drought and rising interest rates. Despite these challenges, Kathy’s family was able to hold on to their way of life thanks to a “sharpened pencil and exceptional record-keeping.”

As the Strategic Research Chair, Extension Economist, at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), Kathy brings the same rigorous approach to studying the beef and forage industry.

“Early on in my career, I remember livestock economist Harlan Hughes sharing the phrase ‘You cannot manage what you do not measure,’ and that has stuck with me,” she begins.

“In my role, I have the pleasure of collaborating on projects looking at different practices and technologies such as what and how cattle are fed to help get them through frigid winters and dry summers. Producers want to make data-informed adoption decisions, so I provide analysis on just how much a new practice will cost to implement and how much cattle producers are saving or making in the long run.”

Kathy’s love of the Charolais cattle her family raised near Tyvan, southeast of Regina, led her to pursue an agriculture degree and eventually a master’s at the U of S.

“I’ve always loved the social aspect of sitting down at kitchen tables and hearing farmers’ stories. It’s the human element mixed with the economics that I find so fascinating.”

Kathy got her start as the Beef Economist at the Western Beef Development Centre, collecting production and financial data from cow-calf producers to release annual cost of production benchmarks in Saskatchewan and finding ways to help them make money.

In 2018, she briefly landed at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at the U of S as the Interim Director and was later positioned in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics as an Extension Economist with a combination of research, teaching and extension. In her first year of teaching, she was voted “Professor of the Year.”

Today, she’s “over the moon excited” to be a researcher in the same department where she went to school.

“This industry is part of my DNA. Ranchers are a resilient lot. Margins are historically small, yet they keep going, working to sustainably manage their animals and land. It’s a circle-of-life thing that’s so beautiful and why I want to keep making a difference.”

In 2014, Kathy interviewed 35 ranchers under the age of 35 to find out how they were managing the land, labour and capital requirements of cattle ranching.

“I was also 35 at the time, so these were my peers. What made them pursue cow-calf ranching? I wanted to learn what challenges and opportunities they faced.”

Kathy is now leading a research project that will re-interview these same producers. The project—titled A Decade On: How Have the 35 Ranchers Under 35 Fared?—recently received funding from the federal-provincial Agriculture Development Fund and Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association.

“It’s the lessons learned that will ultimately help young ranchers coming up. What does it take to thrive in this industry, especially with similar conditions like drought and rising interest rates?”

Kathy is keen on finding those answers.

“It’s what gets me up every morning,” she laughs. “I’m providing ranchers with more tools—combined with a sharpened pencil—to help ensure the industry remains viable for years to come.”

Kathy is one of 15 Strategic Research Chairs in Saskatchewan, a program funded by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $485-million investment by federal and provincial governments in strategic initiatives for Saskatchewan agriculture.