Robin Speer is the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association’s new executive director.
“We’re pleased to have Robin on board, taking on this important new role at an exciting time for prairie wheat growers,” president Levi Wood, said in a news release.
Speer, originally from North Battleford, Sask., brings diverse experience in agriculture, including having previously served as manager of government and commercial relations at Viterra. He also worked as vice-president of public affairs at the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.
Speer has also worked extensively in policy making, including on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina, and as a government relations and public policy professional in the agriculture industry.
Blair Rutter will step down as executive director but remain as an adviser until March.
The association said Rutter helped it achieve significant policy initiatives over the past 10 years, including grain marketing freedom, trade liberalization, a less restrictive variety registration process and progress toward a more competitive and market-oriented grain transportation system.
