Former Sask Wheat chair to lead WGRF board

The Western Grains Research Foundation has a new chair.

Laura Reiter, a farmer from Radisson, Sask., northwest of Saskatoon, was elected to the post following the first meeting of the new board following the organization’s 2023 annual general meeting.

Reiter is a producer and trained agrologist who has spent time working in research and in the agriculture retail sector. She’s also a familiar face in Saskatchewan agriculture, having served as a board member, and later as chair, of Sask Wheat.

“WGRF has a long history of funding research that benefits Prairie farmers, and I am honoured to have been elected as the board chair,” Reiter said in a release Tuesday.

She also thanked departing chair Keith Degenhardt for “his leadership, commitment and service to WGRF over many years.”

Kevin Auch of Carmangay, Alta. was re-elected vice-chair.

WGRF is the largest producer-led funder of field crop research in Canada. Since 1981, WGRF has funded more than $229 million of research in field crops of interest to western Canadian farmers.

“WGRF is a unique organization, focused on funding crop research to benefit Prairie farmers,” Reiter added. “Directing investments in field crop research on behalf of farmers is a responsibility that we all take very seriously, and I look forward to helping WGRF continue to invest in projects that will deliver a positive on-farm impact.”

The board also thanked outgoing directors Bill Prybylski and Stewart Wells for their time with the organization.

WGRF’s 2023 board of directors is:

• Mark Akins, Hearne, Sask.
• Mike Ammeter, Sylvan Lake, Alta.
• Kevin Auch, Carmangay, Alta.
• Dave Bishop, Barons, Alta.
• Terry Boehm, Allan, Sask.
• Wade Hainstock, Moose Jaw, Sask.
• Robert Kennedy, Hughenden, Alta.
• Adam Littman, Saltcoats, Sask.
• Doug Martin, East Selkirk, Man.
• Jeff Nielsen, Olds, Alta.
• Malcolm Odermatt, Fort St. John, B.C.
• Kenton Possberg, Humboldt, Sask.
• Laura Reiter, Radisson, Sask.
• Greg Sundquist, Watrous, Sask.
• Jill Verwey, Portage la Prairie, Man.
• Jeremy Welter, Kerrobert, Sask.
• Glenn Wright, Vanscoy, Sask.
• Dick Wymenga, Leslieville, Alta.