SFGA 2025 Conference and AGM

The Saskatchewan Fruit Growers Association and Saskatchewan Vegetable Growers Association held their annual joint Conference on Friday, January 24, 2025 at the Saskatoon Inn in Saskatoon, SK.  The day was filled with a variety of speakers, snacks, lunch and loads of networking opportunities. The SFGA and SVGA held separate AGM’s following the conference.

The in-person speakers were:

Keynote Speaker – Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in Halifax.  He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University.  Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. He is one of the world’s most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability. He co-hosts The Food Professor podcast, discussing issues in the food, foodservice, grocery and restaurant industries and which is the most listened Canadian management podcast in Canada.  Every year since 2012, he has published the now highly anticipated Canadian Food Price Report, which provides an overview of food price trends for the coming year. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, nationally as well as internationally. He has testified on several occasions before parliamentary committees on food policy-related issues as an expert witness. He has been asked to act as an advisor on food and agricultural policies in many Canadian provinces and other countries.  Sylvain spoke on “Fruitful Insights: Navigating the vine of food inflation in fruits and vegetables”.  An enlightening and informative speech enjoyed by all in attendance.

Dr. Tyler Wist, Field Crop Entomologist with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada in Saskatoon. Although he specializes in wheat insect pests like wheat midge and cereal aphids, he also works on new pests in smaller acreage crops, the worst insect pest in canola, flea beetles, the insect vectored pathogen aster yellows and pea aphids in pulse crops. Ask him about beneficial insects destroying crop pests! Tyler spoke on Insect Pests (e.g., spotted wing drosophila; Japanese beetles, etc.)

Tammy Shields, PAg, Cleanfarms – “Agriculture plastic and packaging recycling on the farm”   Tammy has been the Saskatchewan Program Advisor with Cleanfarms for the last 7 years. She is a professional Agrologist, based out of Moose Jaw, SK and has been involved with recycling agricultural plastics since she led the first grain bag recycling pilot in 2010.  Cleanfarms is a non-profit organization that works with the entire supply chain, from farmers through to the recycling facilities to ensure agricultural plastics and packaging can be responsibly managed and kept out of the environment. Very informative speech.

Connie Achtymichuk, PAg, Prov. Vegetable Specialist, Sask. Ministry of Agriculture.  Connie has a BSA in Horticulture from the U of S.   She began her career as a research technician at the U of S vegetable program working mainly on potato and onion agronomy trials. She moved to Manitoba for a few years to manage an early generation seed potato farm.  She then moved back to Saskatchewan to be part of a more dynamic developing potato industry. In 2005, Connie joined Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture (Outlook office) as the Provincial Vegetable Specialist where she works with the province’s seed potato and vegetable producers to develop a thriving industry.

Forrest Scharf, PAg, Provincial Fruit Specialist, Sask. Ministry of Agriculture. In his role with the Ministry, Forrest is active in conducting research, helping growers in crop management, providing input for policy development, technical evaluation, surveillance, participation on national working groups, etc.  He is a Professional Agrologist and serves on the Professionalism and Ethics Committee within the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists.

Both Connie and Forrest provided separate talks on many of the Saskatchewan Research Project updates.

Karen Dow, B.Sc. in Agriculture with a major in Agronomy, Hello Nature. Karen has been an active member of the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists since completing her degree and is also a Forensic Agrologist.  Karen has also completed the 4R Certification and is a 4R designated Agronomist. Karen has had positions with a few well-known agriculture companies, and is currently in her present role with Hello Nature since 2022 and is the Canadian Sales Manager. In her present role she is educating retailers and producers on the value of Biologicals and BioStimulants.  There has been significant work done in how these Biologicals work and the benefits to plant physiology.  Biologicals unlock the plants potential for yield and also helps in fruit and vegetable storage when combined with micronutrients.  Plants are truly amazing in their adaptation to the environment.  Biologicals help plants when they are lacking what they require to continue to grow.  Karen spoke on “Enhancing Quality and Yield of Fruits & Vegetables with Biostimulants”

Bruce McTavish, Canadian Sales Manager, Heliae Development LLC. Bruce is from Winnipeg, Manitoba with over 35 years of sales and marketing experience in diverse agricultural crop inputs and food processing companies, ranging from start up to global ag companies. Bruce graduated from Agriculture at University of Manitoba, and Business Administration from Red River College. Heliae Development LLC, is leveraging the power of microalgae, the fastest-growing photosynthesizing organism on the planet. Heliae discovered that microalgae holds a tiny but mighty key to unlocking solutions and innovative microalgal products to the agricultural industry. PhycoTerra branded products work to improve overall soil microbial health, structure, water holding capacity, and nutrient use efficiency, which helps to increase crop yields sustainably for the planet, farmers, and consumers. Bruce spoke on “PhycoTerra that is a microalgae product that is food for the microbiome in the soil.”

Dr. Karen Tanino, Professor, U of S, Dept. of Plant Sciences and Will Short, U of S PhD student

Dr. Karen Tanino is a full professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agriculture and Bioresources. Her area of research has focussed on plant abiotic stress physiology (frost, drought, heat, salt). She has an active research program in both basic and applied areas with projects ranging from seed treatments for early germination and root growth, to Northern Vigour® projects in strawberry crowns and medicinal plants, to the role of barriers in plant stress avoidance, publishing over 130 refereed journal articles. She is also involved in projects addressing northern food security, initiated and founded the Prairie Horticulture Certificate Program, a home study based with an enrolment of thousands of students since its inception. She held the W.J. White Professorship, was the second person to have been designated Global Fellow of Iwate University (Japan), is Adjunct Professor in the Dept. Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences (GKVK), Bangalore India, was President of the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science 2016–2018 during which time membership almost doubled, and in 2022 she was awarded one of the 7 most influential women in Canadian agriculture. Karen provided us with a research update.

Will Short is a PhD student in the Plant Sciences department at the University of Saskatchewan. His work is focused on finding both short and long-term strategies to help tender crops avoid damage from late spring frost events. Before studying in Saskatoon, Will completed his Master’s degree at the University of Guelph researching cold acclimation and drought stress in Asparagus. Will’s talk described a new leaf treatment spray and his PhD thesis centered around “Protecting seedlings from spring frost by applying Hydrophobic sprays and modifying cuticular wax”.

The conference was followed by separate Annual General Meetings for SFGA and SVGA.

We thank our Generous Conference Sponsors:  

Prairie Fresh Food Corporation

Early’s

Hello Nature

Sask. Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC)

Forensic Agrology Services

PhycoTerra – Heliae Development