Roger was born and raised in Canwood, in northwestern Saskatchewan, where he continues to live and work. He grew up on the family farm, the seventh of ten children, and took over the farm in 1980. He started bison ranching in 1991; at one time, he had over 500 animals.

In 2001, Roger played a key role in forming the Bison Feeder Co-op of Saskatchewan, now known as Canadian Prairie Bison. He became that organization’s part-time marketer in 2002, and then sold the family farm in 2003 to fill that position full-time. Many changes have taken place since then, including the opening of the CPB office in Canwood in 2008.

Roger has served on the ACS Board of Directors for 5 years.

Harvey Brooks is the General Manager of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission.

Raised on a mixed farming operation in Rosthern, SK, Brooks has extensive experience in Western Canada’s agriculture industry, having served as Director of Policy and Economic Research for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Co-operative Chair in Agricultural Marketing and Business at the University of Alberta and Head of Corporate Policy for the Canadian Wheat Board.

A former deputy minister with the Government of Saskatchewan, Harvey served four different departments during his tenure: Agriculture and Food, Government Relations, Highways and Transportation, and Rural Revitalization. Most recently, he served as deputy minister for the Yukon Territory in the departments of Economic Development and Community Services. He received a BSA and M.SC (’83) in Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan and a Ph.D. in Economics at Iowa State University (’90).

Harvey has served on the ACS Board of Directors for 4 years.

Sav Bellissimo is the Store Brands Manager for Federated Co-operatives Limited.  FCL is the largest non-financial co-operative in Canada, which is owned by 180 autonomous retail co-operatives across Western Canada.

Sav has been in the consumer packaging goods industry for 30 years with a key focus on product and brand development, as well as private label.  A graduate of the University of Guelph, Sav has a reputation as an adaptive strategic leader with a proven ability in identifying and capitalizing on emerging market trends.

Sav is passionate about local producers and the importance of establishing closer ties between the products on the shelf and the farmers who grow the ingredients.

Sav has served on the ACS Board of Directors for 2 years.

Emile and his wife Sylvia operate Marquette Gardens- a grain and vegetable farm.  They previously operated a dairy farm before moving into the vegetable industry.  Over the years Emile has been Vice-President and President of the Saskatchewan Dairy Farmers of Saskatchewan.  He was also on the board with the Dairy Farmers of Canada serving on a number of committees.

Emile is currently the President of Prairie Fresh Food Corporation – supplying fresh vegetables and fruit to the Co-ops.  He is also currently the President of the Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers Association.  He is very active locally with the Co-op Feeder Association, church and farmer’s markets.  Emile has spent over 32 years as Vice-President for Mallord Diversified Services in Kelvington.

Emile has served on the ACS Board of Directors for 3 years.

Katelyn is a fourth generation grain farmer along with her family in the Regina area growing lentils, canola and durum wheat.  Previous to returning to full time farming, Katelyn worked as an agronomist and as the General Manager of the Saskatchewan Young Ag-Entrepreneurs.  In recent years she worked at the Government of Saskatchewan in the areas of public trust, agriculture policy, and environmental policy.  Katelyn has served on many boards including the provincial government representative on the Saskatchewan 4-H Council and Saskatchewan Women in Ag.  She is currently the provincial representative for the Canadian Young Farmer Forum and a board member with the Sherwood Conservation and Development Area Authority.

Katelyn received a BSA in Agronomy in 2014 and an Agriculture Machinery Technician Certificate in 2015.  She is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Administration.  She shares her perspective on all things agriculture in her monthly Western Producer column “Ag As I see it” with the intention of increased dialogue amongst farmers.

Katelyn has served on the ACS Board of Directors for 2 years.

Daniel Prefontaine is the President of the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre Inc., an organization that works with the agriculture and food industry in Canada and abroad to develop new innovative products for the food and ingredient market.

Under Dan’s leadership, the Food Centre has assisted over 410 companies in the development and processing of new agricultural products, with over 900 new products utilizing Saskatchewan based agricultural inputs.  In addition, his leadership has led to the expansion of the Food Centre to the Agri-Food Innovation Centre in 2018, an innovation hub to support entrepreneurship, commercialization of food products and drive opportunities in the agri-food sector.

Dan’s expertise in new food innovations, business start up, market information and technical knowledge has been an integral part of the food processing community over the last 40 plus years.  He has countless involvement in building working partnerships and firm relations within the industry.

We are pleased to have Dan back on the ACS Board of Directors.  He previously served two 3-year terms in 2011-2013 and 2014-2016.

Don grew up on a century farm south of Ituna, which his brother’s family still operates.  After completing high school, he attended the University of Saskatchewan, graduating with a B.Sc. in Agriculture, and became a P.Ag. (Professional Agrologist).   He spent 28 years with Saskatchewan Wheat Pool as an Area Manager, Farm Supplies, moving all over the province advising farmers.  Later on, in IT as a Computer Analyst supervising software projects.   When he retired, he went back to work as an Instructor of Ag programs at Sask. Polytechnic.

After their children graduated, he and his wife moved to a farm at White City and started an orchard.  They are experimenting with what grows best and of course, what sells.  They grow apples, raspberries, haskaps, cherries, Saskatoon berries, hazelnuts, chokecherries, buffalo berries and sea buckthorn.

Don is currently the President of the Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association and has been a member of SFGA since he started their orchard.   He is passionate about value added agriculture, and is convinced a viable orchard industry can be created in Saskatchewan.

Don was elected to the ACS Board of Directors at the 2020 AGM.