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APG’s Chair is Pleased to Continue Working with New Board Towards Pulses on Every Farm, On Every Plate

The Chair of the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission (APG) is pleased to continue working with the new and experienced members of the Board of Directors to achieve the vision of pulses on every farm, on every plate.

Shane Strydhorst of Neerlandia was re-elected to the role of Chair following last week’s annual general meeting.

“I’m looking forward to continuing the great work this board has initiated to maximize opportunities for Alberta’s pulse farmers,” Strydhorst said. “The addition of a new director will bring fresh perspectives as we continue promoting and building upon the economic benefits of growing peas, beans, faba beans, lentils, chickpeas and soybeans, as well as the sustainability of our industry. We are also working hard to address root rot and other challenges for our growers.”

Strydhorst grows peas, faba beans and other crops alongside his wife Sheri. He will lead an Executive Committee that includes returning Vice-Chair Peter Konstapel of Spirit River (Zone 4) and Past-Chair Robert Semeniuk (Zone 5).

Michael Bury of Mannville joined the board following the AGM as Director-at-Large (Non-Bean), replacing Bev Wieben of Fairview who became a Zone 4 Director.

APG’s 12-member board also includes Directors Greg Stamp of Enchant and Will Muller of Bow Island in Zone 1, Kevin Auch of Carmangay and Peter Hoff of Gleichen in Zone 2, Chris Allam of Ardrossan in Zone 3, Scott Keller of New Norway in Zone 5, and Director-at-Large (Bean) John Kolk of Picture Butte, who was re-elected to the position at the AGM.

Outgoing Zone 4 Director Jerome Isaac was thanked for his contributions and years of service at the annual general meeting.

The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission represents 5,400 growers of field pea, dry bean, lentil, chickpea, faba bean and soybean in Alberta. Click here to view APG’s zone map by county. Farmers interested in getting involved as a zone advisor are asked to contact APG to learn more about what this entails and the benefits!

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Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration



BY: Ashley Robinson

It may seem that public and private researchers have different goals when it comes to agricultural research. However, their different strategies can work in tandem to drive agricultural research forward. Public research may focus more on high-risk and applied research with federal or outside funding, while private sector researchers focus more on research application.

“For me, the sweet spot for public private sector research is when we identify problems and collaborate and can use that diverse perspective to address the different aspects of the challenge. Public sector researchers can work on basic science high risk solutions as tools and technologies are developed. They then can work with their private sector partners who prototype solutions,” Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, said during the Jan. 10 episode of Seed Speaks.

Public researchers they have the flexibility to be more curiosity driven in their work and do discovery research. This is complimentary to private research, which focuses on delivering a product, explained Jed Christianson, canola product design lead for Bayer CropScience, explained during the episode.

“As a seed developer, we worry about things like new crop diseases emerging. Having strong public sector research where people can look into how a disease lifecycle cycle works, how widespread is it and what damage it causes really helps inform our product development strategies,” he added.

It’s not always easy though to develop these partnerships. For Christianson, it’s simple to call up a colleague at Bayer and start working on a research project. Working with someone outside of his company requires approvals from more people and potential contracts.

“Partnerships take time, and you always need to be careful when you're establishing those contracts. For discoveries made within the agreement, there need to be clear mechanisms for sharing credits and guidelines for anything brought into the research to be used in ways that both parties are comfortable with,” Christianson said.

Kamil Witek, group leader of 2Blades, a non-profit that works with public and private ag researchers, pointed out there can be limitations and challenges to these partnerships. While private researchers are driven by being able to make profits and stay ahead of competitors, public researchers may be focused on information sharing and making it accessible to all.

“The way we deal with this, we work in this unique dual market model. Where on one hand we work with business collaborators, with companies to deliver value to perform projects for them. And at the same time, we return the rights to our discoveries to the IP to use for the public good in developing countries,” Witek said during the episode.

At the end of the day, the focus for all researchers is to drive agricultural research forward through combining the knowledge, skills and specializations of the whole innovation chain, Witek added.

“If there's a win in it for me, and there's a win in it for my private sector colleagues in my case, because I'm on the public side, it’s very likely to succeed, because there's something in it for all of us and everyone's motivated to move forward,” Tuinstra said.