Allen Oberg is the new chairperson of the Canadian Wheat Board’s board of directors.
He will replace Larry Hill who has served the maximum number of elected terms and steps down from the board at the end of this year. Hill, who represents District 3, had been chair since 2008.
Oberg is the farmer-elected director for District 5 in Alberta. He runs a 6,500-acre operation at Forestburg, southeast of Edmonton, where he grows wheat, barley, canola and peas, and raises commercial cows.
He was first elected to the CWB board in 2002 and has acted as chair of its farmer relations committee. Oberg has served on the boards of many organizations throughout his career, including Alberta Wheat Pool, Agricore and the Canadian Co-operative Association. He is past chairman of the Western Grains Research Foundation.
“It is both a great opportunity and a tremendous responsibility to lead this organization and serve the farmers of Western Canada,” Oberg said in a news release. “Farmers tell me that they want to be firmly in control of their marketing organization – and we will work to ensure that farmers are clearly in the driver’s seat.”
