New class includes the former CEO of Lakeside Farm Industries
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Three members of Alberta’s ag community took their places in the Alberta Agriculture Hall of Fame last week.
Ronald Howard, Dietrich Kuhlmann and Garnet Altwasser were inducted into the hall of fame during a ceremony on Oct. 26. Since the hall of fame opened in 1951, it has welcomed more than 130 Albertans.
Altwasser’s work in the cattle industry is still evident today, as he helped found the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association.
For 30 years, Altwasser served as president and CEO of Lakeside Farm Industries in Brooks, Alta. He developed it into the largest single-site feeding operation in the country. In 1995, he sold the company to IBP of Dakota City, Neb. for about $42 million.
Altwasser was also one of the first people in Canada to commercially adopt Temple Grandin’s cattle handling designs.
Looking back on his career, a good support system served as a key component to his success, he said.
“You can’t do anything like that on your own, you have to accomplish those goals with other people, and we were very fortunate with the number of really good people who worked with us over the years,” Altwasser told Chat News Today yesterday.
Ron Howard, a plant pathologist, also joined Altwasser in the hall of fame.
He helped expand Alberta Agriculture’s Crop Diversification Centre in Brooks, Alta., including the greenhouse research complex.
Howard is described as the “go-to” source for assistance in plant disease diagnosis and management, his hall of fame bio says.
Dieter Kuhlmann rounded out the trio of inductees.
He founded Kuhlmann’s, a greenhouse, garden and market in 1962. Since then, the family business has grown to include over 300,000 square feet of greenhouse space.
Kuhlmann is also a founding member of the Alberta Greenhouse Growers Association and a former director of the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund.
Farms.com congratulates all three men on their inductions!
Alberta Agriculture photo