“Happy to be alive and healthy, enjoy work and sports, love my family, love animals, love God. Motivated to do well.”
This quote from Nancy Fischer sums up her joy of life, her wide spectrum of interests and her optimistic and appreciative outlook on everything that she does. Nancy is a highly respected animal nutritionist living in Wetaskiwin and working for Country Junction Feeds. Her work takes her all over Alberta and beyond, both as nutritionist and in-demand speaker for conferences and workshops. Her nutrition clients include poultry, swine and exotic animals at the Edmonton and Calgary zoos.
Fischer was the 2019 recipient of the Poultry Service Industry Award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the Canadian poultry industry. She serves with multiple programs and boards both past and present including her second time Chairing the Western Feed Industry Association (the Alberta and Saskatchewan Division of the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada) and The Poultry Science Association and participates frequently as a guest expert with various PIP workshops, committees, and events.
Despite a hectic work and family life, Nancy is a prolific volunteer. Her activities range from mentoring students and coaching power skating to helping out at the local Hope Mission.
One of Fischer’s favourite and longstanding volunteer activities is helping with the Alberta Classroom Agricultural Program. (CAP) CAP is a well-known and highly respected education program currently reaching over 20,000 grade 4 Alberta students annually. Fischer has been volunteering for CAP since March 2012. She works with 3 – 9 schools each year, depending on what is available and needed. She has encouraged several new volunteers to join her this year, including colleagues in the feed industry and other agricultural friends.
“My goal now is to get more people volunteering from agriculture,” said Fischer. “Anybody in agriculture can volunteer for this. They just present information based on their own experience. “
The CAP program targets grade 4 students because it fits into their social studies curriculum, dealing with Alberta, the land, and its people, as well as agriculture and science. The grade four students get to hear from farmers, livestock veterinarians, animal nutritionists and a wide variety of agricultural professionals. Fischer describes a typical classroom presentation.
“I do a little bit of crop information at the beginning, some animal content for the second half, and then get them to try some calculations. The kids can discover how much milk a dairy cow produces in Alberta with little actual jugs of milk that they stick on a board, or how many cartons of eggs a laying hen will produce. While they’re doing that, I show them a little bag of feed with 100 grams, and say, ‘this is all she eats every day.’”
The rewards are plentiful for both the volunteer and the students.
“I get to do a lot of myth busting about agriculture, and I have a lot of fun with them.”
Fischer has volunteered at the PIP Get Set for Your Future Student/Industry Event for the last three years, including a virtual version in 2021 and in-person for 2022 and 2023. She represents poultry nutrition and is available to answer questions and share her experiences in a two hour speed-dating style format with interested university students from first year to graduate studies.
The experience can be eye-opening for students and there is a real need to have a professional speak plainly about the real, boots-on-the-ground work. They learn about potential careers in agriculture that they may not have considered or even knew existed.
“It’s very important,” said Fischer. “You give them some options on what else they can do besides vet school. A lot of them are agricultural students anyway, and they see how you’ve progressed in your career and what’s out there.”
“It’s very good for them to talk to different people from different parts of the industry. At their age, I thought the only thing I could do in nutrition was to become a feed salesman, so I went to grad school. These events allow them to see that there’s a lot more out there now that they can learn to do.”
The grand prize for a lucky student after the event is to Shadow a Poultry Professional for a day. Nancy Fischer has been a mentor for both the 2022 and 2023 events. She described her experience in 2022 with the winning student.
“The young lady came and spent the day with me. It was a really busy day, so she got a lot of exposure to flying by the seat of your pants, answering lots of questions and being on the phone and computer. She had fun, and she was back touring our mill with another applied swine class just last week.”
Fischer also does a yearly presentation with Jerry Emmanuel from Cargill to a fourth year nutrition class at the U of A.
“We see a lot of those students in the industry,” she noted.
Nancy volunteered as guest expert for the PIP Feed and Water Flock Talk in October 2022. It was a full day workshop/presentation event for poultry producers interested in learning about feed and water and how to improve conditions on their farm, with opportunities to ask questions, have discussions and participate in hands-on demonstrations and activities.
What motivates her to take time out to do these events and share her ideas with both students and producers?
“With the students, my motivation is to educate them and help them out. And with the grade 4’s, it’s to make them understand where their food comes from, what agriculture is all about, and that it’s a big career path.”
“For the producers. It’s more just to share knowledge with them and get them to share knowledge amongst themselves. A lot of times, they have the answers, and maybe they can help a fellow producer do something better. We set the stage with a bit of a presentation and then listen to them help each other.”
“Volunteering and sharing with students and producers makes you feel more a part of the industry as a whole rather than sitting behind a desk to formulate feed,” she explained. “That’s not what it’s all about.”
“You have to get out to farms. You have to see people. The more people you can see, and the more experiences you can share, the better.”
Mentors that inspired Fischer along the way – Paying it forward.
“When I was an undergrad at the University of Guelph, Dr. Frank Robinson was one of my TA’s. Staying in touch with him over the years and watching the many ways that he has gotten students actively involved and exposed to agriculture beyond the classroom, is so inspiring. He was a great mentor.”
“I did my PhD with Hank Classen in Saskatchewan, as well as working with his grad student, Karen Schwean-Lardner, who is now a professor at the University of Saskatchewan in poultry welfare. They have both been amazing mentors.”
“And I was inspired by my first supervisor Jim Atkinson, who was a rugby player and coach for years. He was a very good mentor, because he was a wildlife nutritionist who switched to animal science and poultry. I do a lot of the nutrition for the animals at the Calgary and Edmonton Zoos, and I always used him as a backup.” (Atkinson has recently passed away.)
Fischer’s volunteerism extends beyond farm and classroom into family and community. She was a volunteer coach for her kids’ hockey teams as they grew up and currently coaches power skating for local Leduc and Wetaskiwin Skating Clubs, and other independent minor hockey teams. (Power skating involves the study of edges, balance and control following Skate Canada’s Long term Athlete Development model incorporating muscular strength, coordination, and agility. It is the coaching of proper skating technique.)
“I’ve always coached hockey and a few years ago I got my power skating certification so I could help out with the clubs that didn’t have a power skating coach,” she explained.
Fischer also finds time to help the needy at Hope Mission.
“I volunteer with the Hope Mission and try to help out because there’s never enough people. Our city (Wetaskiwin) is building a new Hope Mission project, so I’m hoping to be able to volunteer closer to home. Right now, it is mostly in Edmonton.”
Why volunteer?
“It has certainly enriched my life, and I think volunteering brings a real benefit to anyone’s life. That’s why I’ve talked to a few other people about volunteering for the Classroom Agriculture Program. I’m a real advocate for that. Volunteering anywhere just to help out and enrich your life is really important.”
Interested in volunteering for CAP? Here’s a link to sign up!
