Two Albertans Added to Canadian Agricultural Youth Council

Aug 16, 2022

Two Albertans have been appointed to the second cohort of the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council, an Aug. 11 news release said. B. Pratyusha Chennupati and Kallum McDonald have been named to the Council.

The inaugural meeting of this new group of 25 young people will be held later this summer. The members of this cohort will serve 18-month terms, the release said. The Council’s main task is to ensure that the perspectives of youth in agriculture are well understood, and to help inform on policy, programs, planning and decision-making.

Chennupati has an engineering, sciences, and regulatory affairs background.

“Working in a start-up and established ag-biotech company helped me think not just about the farm level practices but also about having a strategy for a short- and long-term vision for markets beyond the farm,” a bio on Chennupati said. McDonald was raised on a fifth generation buffalo and grain farm (primarily canola and wheat) in Northern Alberta. He is working on a graduate degree from the University of Alberta in plant biology. His academic and private sector research experience consists of plant genetic engineering, canola breeding, and corn breeding funded by an NSERC research award.

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