Community Visionary: Rob Lawson | Irma's 4-H Beef Club
Growing with the 4-H community in rural Alberta
"I wanted to make a life, not a living."
All of life’s lessons are found in agriculture. Between seeds and crops, calves and cows, there’s a spectrum of experience: from nurturing life to accepting loss. That’s what makes the 4-H Club a perfect place for kids to grow.
And those lessons keep growing with you. In fact, many 4-H members find their time in the club so impactful that they return to raise up other future farmers. Rob Lawson, a new Leader of Irma’s 4-H Beef Club, is one of those legacy members.
Growing up in Irma, Rob joined the local 4-H club at a young age. The hands-on learning allowed him to soak up knowledge about beef nutrition, management, breeding, calving, handling, marketing, showmanship and more. For Rob, it was a fun way to gain new skills and keep in touch with friends.
When he grew up and out of 4-H, Rob ended up working in the oil and gas industry after high school. The oil patch was a place to earn money in a way that required “less work” than farm life, Rob says. But he eventually circled back to his early ambitions and where his heart lies — a life in the beef industry. Today, Rob operates a cow-calf operation with his family, saying, “I wanted to make a life, not a living.”
Though the job requires a lot of hard work to reap the rewards, Rob enjoys the challenge. Farming certainly keeps him busy and on his toes. “Just this winter, a horned Hereford bull put his head into a bale feeder to eat hay. I had to cut the feeder apart to get him out — not once, but twice!”
Rob’s hardworking attitude and dedication to the beef industry can be traced back to his humble beginnings in 4-H. He’s a proud parent to a few 4-H members today and the time came when it made sense for him to join the Club again too. After attending one meeting with the club’s leaders, he was granted the title of leader himself.
Since stepping up to the task in late 2022, he’s been hard at work helping at club events and spearheading an unexpected but much-needed building project. In 2021, a steer pulled a significant part of the wall off their meeting place. After that “only in agriculture” moment, the leaders knew it was time to either find a new spot or build one.
To put it into perspective, Irma’s 4-H Beef Club is home to 41 members, making it one of the largest 4-H clubs in Alberta. When you put those 41 members in the same room as 41 calves and steers, it can get tight on space. “The old facility we’re using now, it’s a stable that’s getting old and we’re just outgrowing it,” says Rob.
Since taking on a role as leader, Rob’s been applying for community and government grants to make this dream build a reality. In early 2023, the Beef Club was awarded a $10,000 Vision Credit Union Helping Hand Grant. “This grant helped us get started,” says Rob. “Once we got some money under our belt, we could apply for more grants.”
These grants will help fund a new meeting location where not only the 4-H club can show and sell their beef, but other community groups can use it year-round as well. “Having a nice facility in place that the club could call their home would be a dream,” says Rob. And although there’s still a lot of hard work ahead, he’s excited and up for the challenge.
The future of the Irma 4-H Beef Club is a bright one thanks to Rob’s dedication and perseverance. He’s never forgotten what he learned in 4-H and strives to instill those same values in today’s members. Rob hopes he’s leading by example with the building project and some words of wisdom: “Set goals for yourself and you’ll always have something to strive for,” he says.
Want to get involved with 4-H Alberta? Visit their website to learn more.
