SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, June 21, 2012 – Two new Directors, Clinton Monchuk of the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan and Dr. Michael Nickerson of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources, were named to the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan (ACS) Board of Directors at the Annual General Meeting, which was held on June 21 in Regina at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show.
The two new members of the Board join Kirk Flaman of the Saskatchewan Seed Potato Growers Association, who has served on the Board of Directors for three years and was reelected to another three-year term. Allen Kuhlmann of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission, Dan Prefontaine of the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre, Nial Kuyek of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Joy Smith, of the Saskatchewan Egg Producers and Tim Wiens of the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission remain on the ACS Board of Directors.
The AGM included a tribute to retiring board member Jason Dean, who represented the Saskatchewan Cattle Feeders Association. Jason was first elected to the Board of Directors as the first youth director at a Special General Meeting in October, 2006 and was reelected in 2009. He served on the CAAP Advisory Group and chaired the Audit and Nominations Committees of the Board of Directors. Over the past year, Jason served on the Executive Committee as the Secretary/Treasurer of ACS.
“The contributions Jason made at the Board table and in committees were appreciated,” said ACS Chair Allen Kuhlmann. “He has served ACS for the better part of six years, and his insight and experience within the industry allowed ACS to make decisions that brought great benefit to agriculture in Saskatchewan. We wish him well in the next phase of his life.”
Kuhlmann announced at the AGM that Blair Goldade, formerly ACS Senior Project Officer, will take over as Executive Director from Laurie Dmytryshyn, who recently resigned to take on a new position with PIC Investment Group.
“The ACS Board thanks Laurie for her 12 years of leadership and dedication to ACS. We wish her every success in her new position,” said Kuhlmann. “The ACS Board of Directors thanks Blair for taking on this new role. Blair’s extensive experience with ACS, his leadership skills and knowledge of the agriculture sector will position ACS well to face future opportunities and challenges.”
ACS delivers the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP) in Saskatchewan on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). At the AGM, former ACS Executive Director Laurie Dmytryshyn reported that in 2011-2012, the ACS Board approved 41 projects for a CAAP commitment of $3,237,575. In the 16 years that ACS has been delivering adaptation programming on behalf of AAFC, $44.76 million has been committed to 1309 projects.
Following the AGM, the Industry Forum featured three speakers addressing the theme The Future of Agriculture: How Smartphones and Social Media are Changing the Landscape. The featured speaker was Mike Klein of Saskatoon’s Meshy Communications, who delivered the presentation The Seeds of Social, which addressed social media and its application within the agriculture sector.