This article appeared in the Spring 2015 issue of Pulse Crop News.

The Alberta Pulse Growers held its AGM at FarmTech 2015 in January, and emerged with two new Directors and a new Chair.

Past Chair Richard Krikke of Neerlandia completed his second threeyear term on the board, and in a meeting following the AGM, Allison Ammeter of Sylvan Lake was voted in as the new Chair. Replacing Ammeter as Vice-Chair is D’Arcy Hilgartner, and the third member of the Executive is Doug Sell.

“I’m thrilled to have been chosen to lead the APG board at this exciting time for the pulse industry,” Ammeter said. “Alberta’s pulse industry is in the position of making great strides such as having record acres planted last year thanks to the dedicated people who have sat in this seat before me and shared their passion for pulses.”

Krikke encouraged the new board to continue with the work of promoting pulses as part of a healthy diet.

“I am very happy to see the progress we have made on the marketing side of pulse crops, especially promoting the health benefits of pulses, as a healthy source of protein, in the Canadian diet,” he said. “I would like to encourage APG to continue to market pulses as a healthy choice in our diets and thus increase consumption locally, as well as abroad.”

Krikke was thanked for his service on the board at the AGM, and outgoing Director-at-Large (Bean) Casey Koomen was also recognized for his many contributions.

“It was truly an honour for me to be the commission’s last president and first chair in my final year as a member of the APG provincial board,” Krikke said. “I will continue to be involved at the zone level and, of course, continue to grow pulses on my farm as I have for more than 30 years.”

Koomen also viewed serving on the board as a rewarding experience.

“My favourite experience is the people I have met and relationships that resulted after spending time together on the zone and commission,” Koomen said. “The last few years especially with Jack (Van Tryp), Robert (Weisgerber) and Ryan (Kubinec) during our ‘meetings after THE meetings’, I think we solved a lot of the world’s problems, if only anyone would listen. I spent a lot of time travelling on the road with Jack and shared a lot of stories and opinions. This is probably what I will miss most.”

Koomen was first elected to what is now known as an Advisor for Zone 1 in 1993. He went on to serve in several roles with the zone and then on the provincial board as Zone 1 Director and Director-at-Large (Bean).

“Steve Ell from Burdett was the Zone 1 Chair back in the mid 1990s and he spotted my enthusiasm for the bean industry and recruited me to sit on Zone 1,” Koomen recalled. “I have been involved ever since, especially with research and plant breeding.”

During the January meeting, Sarah Weigum was re-elected to the position of Director-at-Large (Non-Bean) and Tim VanderHoek was elected to serve as Director-at-Large (Bean). James Jackson was elected to replace Krikke as a Zone 3 Director on the provincial board. Learn more about Jackson and VanderHoek in the profiles on pages 7 and 9.