About

Hello, my name is Karin. I am the one and only force behind Praise the Ruminant. I would like to tell you a little bit about myself!

I was born and raised on a mixed family farm in Alberta, Canada. I was quite involved in most aspects of the farm. However, my favourite enterprise was with the cattle and the pasture. 

We were the conduit between the cow-calf operation and the feedlot; a backgrounding operation. Weaned beef steers were purchased and raised for almost a year until they were sold to a local feedlot. They were wintered on hay, silage and grain in the corrals, then put out to pasture for the summer.

We also grew hay and made silage as feed for the animals. My dad grew crops too: feed barley (usually for the local feedlot) and cash-crop canola for farm income.

And then tragedy struck. My dad unexpectedly passed away in December 2007 from a farm accident. This meant drastic changes to the farm–not to mention the lives of those who were affected by Dad’s death.

The farm gradually shifted from a mixed operation to an annual cropping operation held under tenancy. It remains such today.

Despite the very sad loss, my passion and enthusiasm for agriculture did not wane; instead, it has grown considerably. This is thanks in part to encouragement from family and friends.

I had quit university for four years. But then I made the decision to go back and finish what I started. It took me 10 years to finally get my BSc in Agriculture. No regrets.

My work experience also had its many adventures. I worked as an assistant for a mixed-practice veterinarian; as a farm store customer representative; a research assistant in rangeland science and crops/soil science in two different summers; and, for 4.3 years, I was a forage-beef agricultural extension specialist through the provincial government’s Ag-Info Centre.

This brings me to today, writing a somewhat-short About section for Praise the Ruminant. 

Praise the Ruminant exists because I love ruminants. I also love plants and ecology. I like to wear two hats (often at the same time): my Naturalist hat, and my “Cowgirl” hat. 

Writing is also something I enjoy. This, I’ve found, is a fantastic way to share what I know with a global community. 

But I’m no expert. How can I regard myself as being at the apex of knowledge when I’m always learning and, quite honestly, cannot know everything?

Instead, I’m more of an “interpreter.” My ability to see things with a keen eye, and then communicate what, how, and why is, at least to me, a strong quality of mine. Sometimes I can depict a unique angle that someone else may not have seen before.

My hope, with Praise the Ruminant, is to inspire, empower, and educate. Too few recognize the power of the ruminant animal. I have a huge job, as part of a small community beyond this little website, to help bust those myths and show the world just how valuable these animals are to us; and to our very existence.