This article appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Pulse Crop News.

The Alberta Pulse Growers emerged from its AGM in January with three new provincial board members who will bring fresh perspectives in a year when the world is celebrating International Year of Pulses.

Burdett’s Rodney Volk has been training for his role as a Director from Zone 1 by attending provincial board meetings as an observer over the past year with outgoing Zone 1 Director Jack Van Tryp, who completed his term as of the Jan. 27 annual general meeting.

Van Tryp served the maximum of six consecutive years on the APG Board, with the first three as Director-at-Large (Bean) and the last three as a Zone 1 Director. He found serving on the provincial board to be rewarding and educational.

“Meeting people throughout the province, there is a wealth of grower knowledge out there that I really enjoyed being able to experience over the past six years,” he said. “After serving my six-year term, I have realized how much the organization does for the growers and how they spend our levy.”

Nick Sekulic completed two three-year terms as well as two additional years because of his involvement with Pulse Canada, where he served as Chair. The new Zone 4 Director is Caroline Sekulic, a beef and grain producer from Rycroft. The almost 100 members attending the AGM at Edmonton’s EXPO Centre during the FarmTech Conference cast ballots to determine who would serve a one-year term as the Director-at-Large (Non-Bean) to replace Sarah (Weigum) Hoffmann of Three Hills, who had served two consecutive one-year terms.

Hoffmann said that the time she spent as a provincial director provided the opportunity to learn more about the complexities of the international pulse industry, and left her with a better understanding of her role as a farmer and seed grower in the pulse value chain.

“As a Director I have enjoyed meeting other farmers from Alberta and other members of the pulse industry,” she said. “It has been a pleasure to work with such forward-looking individuals. I didn’t do as much international travel as some board members do, but one of my favourite experiences was working with the board and staff to put on a crop tour for international buyers who were visiting Canada from Asia and South America. If you can’t go to the world, the world will still come to you!”

John Kowalchuk of Trochu received the most votes to serve in the seat vacated by Hoffmann, and welcomed the experience.

“I am looking forward to meeting and working with other pulse producers to promote our products, as well as help to make the industry stronger through research and getting the word out on how great pulses are in a crop rotation,” Kowalchuk said. “I am also excited to learn as much as I can and share any knowledge I can.”

See Kowalchuk’s profile on page 8. Watch for profiles of the other new directors in coming issues.

Tim VanderHoek of Vauxhall was acclaimed for a second one-year term as Director-at-Large (Bean).

In the re-organizational meeting that took place after the AGM, the new board opted to keep the current Executive Committee of Chair Allison Ammeter, Vice-Chair D’Arcy Hilgartner, and Third Executive Member Doug Sell and allow them to keep building the momentum from the previous year.

“It is ideal to have continuity on the board as we continue the work started with a new five-year strategic plan implemented last year,” Ammeter said. “But it is also essential to continue to grow the board with the fresh ideas and new perspectives that new members provide. While we will miss the insights that Jack, Nick and Sarah have brought to the board table, we thank them for the time they have devoted to the board and wish them well in their new endeavours.”