EDMONTON —Twelve young Alberta farmers have been appointed to a special advisory group.
The Next Generation Advisory Council is expected to build alliances between government, industry and the next generation of agricultural leaders.
Agriculture minister Evan Berger said the advisory group’s job is to bring back enthusiasm to agriculture and encourage more young people to return to farms and rural areas.
“You are the ones who are going to effect a lot of these changes that we see taking place,” he said during an Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency board meeting in Edmonton.
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The new council will be jointly chaired by assistant agriculture deputy minister Jamie Curran and Carla Amonson, manager of the West-Central Forage Association and owner of Rhyant Rock Farms, which produces Soay sheep near Evansburg.
Other council members are:
- Nathan Ryan of Water Valley, who operates Fallentimber Meadery with his family
- Brad Rabiey of Peace River, who manages Think Local Market, an online store that sells northwestern Alberta products locally and worldwide
- Ashley Rietveld of Tofield, a farmer and vice-chair of the Alberta Hatching Egg Producers
- Mike Kozlowski of Red Deer, who owns Steel Pony Farm, a community shared agriculture program
- Lee Markert of Vulcan, a partner in the family business, Markert Seeds, and a director with the Alberta Canola Producers Commission
- Darren Klemen of Taber, a specialty crop producer and director of Alberta Sugar Beet Growers
- Carlene Van Brabent of Edmonton, who owns Verdue Media and Communications and is development director at Green Hectares, an agricultural training centre
- Chelsea Geiger of Westlock, an animal science and range management student at the University of Alberta
- Carolyne McIntyre Jackson of High River, co-founder of Crave Cookies and Cupcakes with stores in Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon
- Stephanie Ruddock of Priddis, programs co-ordinator for the Community Pollinator Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of native pollinators
- Mike Paterson of Viking, who works in the animal health industry
