New Angus CEO hired
Myles Immerkar has been selected as the next chief executive officer of the Canadian Angus Association.
Immerkar has more than 20 years in the beef industry, which includes 16 years at Semex Alliance, where he managed its global beef program in 85 locations around the globe.
He is currently a board member on the Canadian Beef Breeds Council.
Swine health surveillance funded
The federal government is investing more than $1.5 million to support animal health and disease surveillance in the hog sector.
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Farming Smarter receives financial boost from Alberta government for potato research
Farming Smarter near Lethbridge got a boost to its research equipment, thanks to the Alberta government’s increase in funding for research associations.
The Canadian Pork Council plans to use the money to adopt a virus detection system to support animal health, which will enable the organization to provide information on the health of the hog population across the country, track early disease warning signs, and identify emerging diseases before they spread.
This complements a previous investment of more than $94,000 to the University of Montreal to develop an advanced disease surveillance tool to enable faster threat detection across Canada.
Canada’s hog sector has 8,000 hog farms and is the seventh largest pork producer in the world with about two percent of global production.
Wheat commission has new director
Janine Paly, who farms near Thorhild, is the new director-at-large for the Alberta Wheat Commission starting Jan. 30.
Paly takes over from Kevin Bender, who served as a board member since AWC’s launch in 2012.
The election was held throughout the province via a travelling ballot box system at AWC regional meetings during November and December.
Bison association executive announced
Sharif Fahmy was recently re-elected board chair and president of the Canadian Bison Association.
The bison producer will be serving his fourth term as board chair and president since first being elected in 2016.
Fahmy operates Tatanka Plains in British Columbia, where he raises bison for select clients in the Fraser Valley.
Elected to the executive committee were Les Kroeger from Saskatchewan as vice-chair, Jean-Luc Chouinard from Quebec as the east zone representative and Glenn Kjemhus from Alberta as the west zone representative.
Oilseeds funded in Eastern Canada
The federal government plans to invest $3.7 million in the Eastern Canada Oilseeds Development Alliance.
The money will help farm businesses, such as Atlantic Soy in Prince Edward Island, obtain the latest varieties in oilseeds that are best suited to grow in Atlantic Canadian soils.
There are 21 projects, of which 10 worth $733,000 will be conducted in Prince Edward Island.
Research activities over the next five years will include:
- developing better varieties and new oilseed crops for Eastern Canada including soybeans, camelina, brown mustard, pulses, canola, and hemp
- product innovation to boost market opportunities for oilseeds and value-added products
- improving land use and increasing profitable crop rotation options
- improving pest resistance and soil preservation
Oilseed crops are one of the fastest-growing markets in Eastern Canada, and soybean sales to Japan and other Asian markets were more than $2.3 billion.
