Alberta Angus Association

Alberta Angus Association Hall of Fame Induction “Breed Builder”
Orrin Hart

Presenter Dick Turner with Orrin & Margaret Hart

Orrin was born in the Claresholm area in 1923 and celebrated his 85th birthday just a couple of weeks ago. He has one brother, Raymond, who operated Willabend Angus for many years, also at Claresholm. Their father was born as the family migrated from Colorado to Washington and eventually into Alberta. Their mother came west from Ontario to southern Alberta as a school teacher where she met and married her future husband. Early education for Orrin was at the Trout Creeks school for nine years where he was nearly always at the top of his class as the only student in each grade for most of those years. He later attended and graduated from Olds School of Agriculture which, in turn, helped to earn him a Neufield scholarship to study agriculture in Britain for six months, most expenses paid for. He was also an active member of a junior beef club
(now 4-H) where he won the club championship with a calf that weighed 660 pounds at 13 months of age. Thirty years later Orrin was weaning calves that weighed the same or more at six month of age.

TRACK RECORD - The track record for Orrin for most his life has been a series of challenges that would discourage most people from even thinking about them. But he did, and then acted on them, and won most of the major challenges. Five of these significant achievements might well include, among many other successes:

1) Establishing an Angus herd in 1941 when the Hereford breed completely dominated the beef industry was quite a challenge, but Orrin’s observations of the neighbors and his experience with Herefords and crossbreds, having to treat chapped teats and dehorn calves, led him to decide to go the route to avoid such unnecessary problems. Then, with six months in Britain in 1951, observing many breeds he decided to expand the well started Angus purebred herd.

2) In 1962, the famed Waldron ranch of 51,000 acres came up for sale at an even $1 million – a great deal of money in the early sixties. The ranch offered secure summer pasture for those years when the rains failed to come in a volume for summer pastures. A scary undertaking by the founding board of directors, including Orrin, who had to raise a quarter million dollars in shares and borrow the rest. With a last minute panic at the closing deadline the needed shares were all sold. The directors also asked the Bank of Montreal for a floating interest rate, but the bank insisted on a fixed rate. As it happened interest rates started to climb and eventually reached 20 per cent. So on this occasion, at least, the livestock producers had the last laugh. The Waldron is
still in business and now covers 75 square miles.

3) At some point in time, Orrin became interested in wind power and he became founding president of the Small Power Producers of Alberta, a position he held for 10 years. Aim of the association was to push for enabling legislation to connect wind generated power to the grid and receive payment from the utility companies. The utility companies (chiefly Trans Alta), however, and the bureaucrats said it couldn’t be done. After a long and costly battle the association won and today the utilities are the biggest investors in wind farms. Final step is expected in the near future when the meters will run forward or backward instead of the present complicated system of buying and selling as now exists.

4) Orrin Hart has always been a conservationist – long before it became fashionable – and partly as a result of his long standing confrontation with the utility companies. A number of years ago he designed and built a new house on Willow Creek – still on the ranch – using sunlight as the source of heat. From that point on the cost to keep the house warm was next to nothing with just a small backup system should the sun stay behind clouds for extended periods. More recently the Harts moved into Claresholm where they built another new house which has an underground thermal heating system with no propane or natural gas connection and no furnace. Last year the system
proved itself when outside temperatures went well below -40.

5) Orrin doesn’t say it out loud too often, but there is little doubt he feels his greatest achievement was the importation of his wife, Margaret, from Scotland. He met her with a group of Young Farmers at a field day as part of his scholarship award in Britain and it proved the start of a relationship that has lasted a lifetime. Margaret had some money put away, but needed a thousand pounds to come to Canada. Her father made up the difference on condition that she keep enough in the bank to pay her way back to Scotland if necessary. MARGARET ARRIVES - Margaret came to Canada in 1953 and security blanket to cover her return fare to Scotland is still intact. As much as Orrin was
out front and center, Margaret has remained quietly in the background, raising their three children, feeding the cattle, looking after the hens, gathering the eggs and also feeding and supervising the hired help (sometimes a thankless job). Margaret, and her 4 siblings, were born and raised on a dairy farm with Ayrshire cattle in Scotland, but still found it a bit of a shock when arrived on the widen open prairies adjacent to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Over the years since her marriage she has taught Sunday school, sang in the local United Church choir, was active in the Claresholm library board and a member of the reading club.

Margaret did not milk cows but fed and entertained a multitude of visitors who came to look at cattle. Also she had to feed and take care of exchange students from Europe, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand as well as other young people who came to experience life on a Canadian Ranch. Margaret did duty as a hockey and 4-H Mom for a number of years as well as keeping up the flowers, yard and garden. She took time to compete in the local fair with baking and flowers and encouraged the boys with their projects.

While Orrin and Margaret miss the solitude and wildlife on Willow Creek, they are settling down to town life and appreciate the opportunity to sleep in on those cold, nasty mornings.

WILLABAR RANCH -The Willabar Angus herd has had many milestones over the years, but Orrin feels perhaps one of the most exciting moments with the purebred herd took place when an American customer came into the yard and purchased 40 bulls at $2,000 each. As for herd bulls . . . there are two that truly stand out, according to Orrin – Willabar Jumbo Eric out of a heifer Orrin purchased while on his six month visit to Scotland, and Camilla Chance 46 W from the Camilla herd at Morinville, Alberta. Several other herd bulls also made a significant contribution o the success of Willabar Angus over the years, not the least of which was the FTR Blacklock McHenry from Pete Sitner in South Dakota. Orrin also enjoyed several very successful partnership arrangements with such notable stock breeders as R.V. McCullough of Glenmere Angus at Red Deer and the McCaffse of White Lake Ranch in B.C.

At times they tried running two herds of different breeds with fair success but found that the bookkeeping and fencing made it impractical so settled back to one breed and one colour.

Today the Willabar purebred Angus herd is owned and operated by son, Andy, and his family while John and his family are involved with commercial cattle and, more recently, John has also moved into real estate. Bill worked in the energy patch for a number of years and is now with Voker Stevin Contracting at Fort Macleod and is a former mayor of the “Fort”.

OFF FARM ACTIVITES - Orrin has been actively involved with some 17 off farm organizations during his lifetime and perhaps several others he can’t remember. To mention just four . . . he is a past president of the Canadian Angus Association, founder and first president of the Southern Alberta Angus Club 50 years ago, past president of the Alberta Angus Association and was an associate director of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede for 25 years. Orrin has judged cattle in seven provinces and several states as well as Mexico and Scotland. The highlight was probably judging the Angus class of the Perth Sale in 1984.

Alberta Angus Association | P.O. Box 3725 | Olds, Alberta T4H 1P5

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