Grainswest - Fall 2024

Fall 2024 grainswest.com 21 Though he has modified his duties, John Lee sees no end to his farm career “This has always been a family operation since 1973, but, along with input from the family, I’m still the decision maker.” • Chaired the committee to establish the horse care code of conduct for the World Professional Chuckwagon Association in 2013. A t his small mixed ranch northwest of Airdrie John Lee loves to spend time in the open field with his purebred Angus cows. The farm itself was not handed down to Lee. Quite the opposite. Born in the Fraser Valley on his family’s purebred Holstein farm, he left at age 18 to pursue engineering studies at BCIT. His first job was in design, product research and sales for a farm automation equipment distributor. Sent to Alberta to kickstart sales and help establish a dealer network for his company, he found the job very stimulating and fell in love with the province immediately. “Just the whole mentality of rural life in Alberta was so much better than what we were seeing in B.C. at the time for agriculture, politics and opportunity wise,” he said. At Bittern Lake, Lee soon bought a mixed farm in 1973 in partnership with his sister Louise and brother-in-law Age: 74