2010 Purebred Breeder of the Year
Bar E-L Angus
Dave & Lynne Longshore & Family

Located on the prairie of east central Alberta between Stettler and Byemoor you will find the 2010 Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society Purebred Breeder of the Year -  Bar E L Angus, Dave and Lynne Longshore and family.  Originally homesteaded in 1905 by Dave’s Great Great Grandfather, the Longshore farm has grown from the original 2 quarters to 20 quarters and has seen Shorthorns and Herefords walk their pastures to now having over 300 head of Purebred Red and Black Angus cows roaming the prairie landscape.

The first Angus cattle purchased by Dave and his father Sandy were in 1995 and Bar E L Angus was officially up and running.  The blacks were purchased first and it wasn’t long after they had reds as well.  They found the Angus cows milked better than any of the other breeds and admired their calving ease.  Sandy states “I can’t emphasize the importance of milk enough.  If you don’t have milk, all you have are packing cattle.”

Like most Alberta farms, the drought of 2002/2003 proved interesting and nine pot loads of cows and calves were sent out to Saskatchewan to pasture for the summer and feed for the winter.  Bar E L had their first bull sale with Roger Hardy, Soo Line Angus, at Midale, SK. in the spring of 2003 since the bulls were in the area already and it didn’t make economic sense to move them home.  The spring of 2004 saw Bar E L’s first Angus bull sale in Stettler.  The sale has become an annual event every March since that time and has moved to their sale facility on the farm.  Bar E L market both yearling and two year old bulls to many repeat customers as well as gather up new customers each year and have become known as a source for quality Angus bulls.

While the Longshore’s have been building their female herd extensively over the past 15 years, they have resisted selling many females except the odd one at Red Round Up, Agribition and some black females to Russia until this year.  2010 will mark the first Bar E L female Red Angus production sale to be held October 28 at the farm.

Dave feels very fortunate to have obtained the bulls Red Knight and Boom Town which in a short period of time became household names and are in the pedigrees of nearly all of their red cattle.  Bar E L has raised well known bulls such as Approval and Ribeye and are currently walking Alliance which they purchased from Wheeler’s and the 2009 World Angus Forum Reserve Champion bull Cowboy Cut who was also Reserve Champion in Denver which they purchased from Lazy MC.   Dave feels that visual selection of cattle is very important and everything else – epd’s, carcass data, etc., falls into place after that.

As for showing, you will find the Bar E L string at Farm Fair and Agribition as well as the Camrose Bull Congress and from time to time you’ll find Dave off of the show halter evaluating cattle as a judge.  He judged the 2009 Red Angus show at Agribition and will be judging the Black Angus show at Agribition this year.

Today, Dave and his wife Lynne run the day to day operations of Bar E L Angus.  Their son Dallas and wife Eliza and their 2 children live in Calgary where Dallas is an Engineer with Canadian Natural Resources; Dave and Lynne’s daughter Tanis is a Journeyman Cabinet Maker and has a shop located on the farm and their youngest daughter Jenna is in her first year at Red Deer College taking Agriculture.  Dave’s dad Sandy, who is now 91, keeps a watchful eye over things and you will often find him driving around checking the cattle and admiring the operation.  As Dave stated “he’s still very interested in the operation and it’s all he thinks about!”

The bare land on which the Longshore’s homesteaded over 100 years ago has seen a lot of changes throughout the years.  Harsh winters, droughts, low market prices have all had their affect but one thing remains constant......the love of the land, the dedication to the agricultural community and their involvement in the cattle industry all remain strong for the Longshore family and will continue for years to come.