Daryl Kraft, one of western Canada’s most prominent agricultural economists, has died at age 57.
A popular speaker at agricultural conferences, an author of numerous influential studies and reports, and a familiar name and voice in the media, Kraft was a well-known and influential figure in the prairie farm scene for more than two decades.
A professor of agricultural economics at the University of Manitoba since 1974, he published more than 300 research papers dating back to his days as a graduate student at Washington State University.
His expertise encompassed a wide range of subjects, including transportation, income stabilization, international trade, wheat marketing, farm policy and most recently, the future of the ethanol industry in Manitoba.
Read Also
Key actions identified to address canola tariffs
Federal and Saskatchewan governments discuss next steps with industry on Chinese tariffs
Long-time U of M colleague Ed Tyrchniewicz said one of Kraft’s most notable skills was communication.
“Daryl’s most significant contribution was his ability to take complex agricultural policy issues and explain them in a straightforward, objective way to students, industry, the media and the general public.”
He said Kraft always gave his full attention to people from students to colleagues to farmers.
A native Albertan who grew up on the family cattle ranch near Medicine Hat, Kraft was diagnosed with cancer in 1998.
Expected to live just a year, Kraft fought the disease with experimental treatments in places like California, Texas and Washington, D.C.
In an interview in 1999, Kraft told The Western Producer his background as a researcher and academic helped him conduct research, read journals and seek treatments that might not normally be available.
He remained at work until last month, but acknowledged in an interview four years ago that his priorities had changed somewhat.
“I’m more willing to take time off and do some other things,” he said.
Tyrchniewicz described Kraft as a straight-shooter who carried no ideological or political biases into his research.
“He did his analysis and he stuck by the results,” he said. “Whatever the numbers said, that’s what he stuck by even if it wasn’t very popular.”
That was the case with one of his last studies, a 2003 report that questioned the future viability of the ethanol industry in Manitoba.
“Even though that was politically unpopular, he stuck by his guns.”
