Spring has definitely not sprung in Canada. The winter has been very harsh in Manitoba (and I think Canada in general), with endless snow and temperatures below -20C here most days. Last year it was -27C on St Patrick’s day and I am hoping it won't be the same this year.

I think Canada is one of the only other places apart from Ireland where weather is a dominant topic of conversation, particularly in the agricultural community. With nearly all cattle living outside I really do feel for ranchers having the unenviable task of trying to keep even heated drinkers from freezing this winter (in Canada, ranchers rear cattle and/or horses while farmers produce crops). It reminds me of winter 2010/2011 in Ireland when farmers across the country dealt with similar problems.

A distraction from the weather has been the action in Sochi. Canada has been truly gripped by Olympic fever and has been sweeping up gold medals in everything from bobsled to curling to hockey. The latter has involved some nail-biting thrillers with our cousins south of the border but thankfully both the ladies and men delivered the goods and justified the 5am start to watch the action. Not quite as exciting as watching an All-Ireland final but almost.

February brought me to Alberta twice. Since moving to Canada I have been totally bitten by the ski bug and with so many amazing ski hills (Fernie, Sunshine, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise to name a few) on the doorstep when I lived in Alberta it was easy to indulge my new found hobby. It is also reasonably inexpensive here in comparison to Europe, so almost everyone skis or snowboards during the winter. This time I went to Lake Louise in Banff National Park, which has to be one of the most picturesque places in world and very much the postcard image of Canada. It's home to the The Fairmont Chateau, famously located on the edge of the lake. In winter the snow is cleared from the ice on the lake to allow skating.

The second trip brought me to the Alberta Beef Industry Conference to join a roundtable on sustainability of the beef industry. Sustainability has become a hot topic of late in many parts of the world so it was an honour to be invited to speak here and to hear about some of the other issues of the day for the cattle industry. Lots of food for thought!