Article content

From synchronized cattle herding to 100-metre dashes to plug the milk truck, farmers from Alberta and beyond have taken to Twitter to propose new Olympic events.

Jill Burkhardt, a cattle and grain farmer in Wetaskiwin called the #AgOlympics thread “hilarious.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or #AgOlympics: Alberta farmers propose new 'Olympic events' Back to video

Burkhardt’s proposed event is synchronized doubles cattle herding.

“I just envisioned synchronized swimming combined with cattle herding,” she said.

What #AgOlympics would you invent? My idea was doubles cattle herding…maybe synchronized even?!? — AG of the World (@AGofTheWorld) August 19, 2016

Burkhardt and her husband work their cattle on foot employing low stress handling techniques.

“You’re sort of persuading them to move where you want them to; it’s a lot of body positioning,” Burkhardt said. “As a joke I thought you could combine some arm movements and some pretty crazy dance moves.”

John Kowalchuk, a grain farmer in Rumsey, about 50 km north of Drumheller, suggested a timed repair event – the fastest wins and likely gets the fewest mosquito bites.

Changing a broken guard on the swather while being ate by mosquitos – Timed event #AgOlympics🏅 — John Kowalchuk (@KowalchukFarms) August 19, 2016

“When we’re cutting the crops a lot of time you might hit a rock,” he said adding that rocks can, and frequently do, break the knife guards.