I visited the Thompson Colony feedlot about two hours south of Calgary to meet Mr. Marvin Tschetter. I had never been to a 10,000 head feedlot before but I had never been to a Hutterite Colony before. For Irish people, we are all familiar with the Amish but most of us have never heard of Hutterites. Hutterites in Canada are a Christian community and are associated mainly with their agricultural lifestyle. They live together in groups of 15 or 20 families and they pool resources and labour. They utilitize modern labour and technology whilst maintaining traditional values.

On the Thompson Colony, the feedlot is the main enterprise. Marvin is responsible for its development and growth from a 700 head operation to where it is now at ten thousand animals, He has only a handful of customers who supply the cattle for him grow or finish. The Feedlot has been going from strength to strength, so much so that there are palns to extend it to seventeen thousand cattle in the near future.

While i was travelling around looking at the handling and feed system with Marvin, I made a video for you to see what happens

Marvin is a special fellow with a great understanding of what it takes to handle big numbers of cattle with efficiency and harmony. He is very enthusiastic about his working dogs and enjoys how they help him to manage his workload.

This colony is located about two hours drive south of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.