Farm Progress Forum

2012 attendees listened to Agriculture's leaders present keynote addresses in the Queensbury Centre at Canada's Farm Progress Show on June 20-22, 2012. Speakers included:

Murad Al-Katib – President and Chief Executive Officer
Alliance Grain Traders Inc. (TSX: AGT)
June 21 - 2:30 pm

From the first employee in 2001 to one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” and Saskatchewan “ABEX Business of the Year” winner in 4 short years. Today, Murad Al-Katib, as President and CEO of Alliance Grain Traders Inc, is the guiding vision in all aspects of the business, also serving on the its Board of Directors. After finishing his studies in 2001, Murad, left his role of Manager, International Finance in the Saskatchewan Government, to help found Saskcan Pulse Trading, the original company that provided the nucleus for Alliance Grain Traders. As the company grew and expanded, he has lead its path to becoming a world leader in value-added pulses, specialty crops and staple foods for the food and ingredient markets around the globe. Murad has served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Special Crops Association and Pulse Canada, the national association for the pulses and specialty crops industry. In 2006, he was appointed to the Advisory Board for Small and Medium Enterprise for the Canadian Minister of International Trade. In 2004, he was selected as the Prairie Regional Winner of the Ernst and Young, “2004 Emerging Entrepreneur”, and in 2005, he was named one of Canada's “Top 40 under 40 years old” in Canada by the Caldwell Partners and the Globe and Mail. Murad graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction in Finance and finished his Master of International Management with Distinction from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) in Arizona. Bringing all his varied experience to Alliance Grain, Murad has proven himself repeatedly to be a strong financial and strategic business thinker, able to anticipate and mitigate the risks in international trading and commodities.

Dr. Raj Khosla
Colorado State University Distinguished Monfort Professor of Precision Agriculture
June 20 - 10:30 am

Dr. Raj Khosla is the Colorado State University Distinguished Monfort Professor of Precision Agriculture. In addition, Dr. Khosla is a Visiting Professor in Saudi Arabia and China. Earlier this year, Dr. Khosla was appointed by NASA to the US “Presidential Advisory Committee on Positioning, Navigation and Timing”.

Dr. Khosla has established a multi-disciplinary, nationally and internationally recognized, comprehensive research, teaching and extension program in the area of Precision Agriculture at Colorado State University. His main research focus has been on “Management of in-field soil and crop spatial variability using innovative technologies for variable rate precision nutrient management. Dr. Khosla has authored and co-authored over 250 publications (book chapters, refereed journal articles, extension articles, proceedings, bulletins, reports, popular press articles, digital media, and others).

In the last five years Dr. Khosla has been recognized with 14 national and international awards, including the most recently awarded Soil Conservation Research Award 2010.

Dr. Khosla is the current President of International Society of Precision Agriculture and is the Chairperson of the International Conference of Precision Agriculture.  

Dave Sauchyn
Research Professor at the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) at the University of Regina
June 21 - 10:30 am

Dave Sauchyn is Research Professor at the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) at the University of Regina. His main research interests are the climate and hydrology of the past millennium in Canada’s western interior and how knowledge of the past can inform scenarios of future climate and water supplies. He has been involved in a series of interdisciplinary research projects in South America and western Canadian. Dave has been an invited expert witness on climate change in the Canadian Senate and House of Commons, and at forums hosted by provincial premiers and environment ministers. He is senior editor and co-author of the book The New Normal: The Canadian Plains in a Changing Climate published in fall, 2010.

Jolene Brown
A walking-talking spokesperson and champion for the people of agriculture.
June 22 - 10:30 am

Presented By:     

Jolene Brown will have you laughing while you learn! She’s an award winning communicator, and an honored recipient of the Certified Speaking Professional, the highest earned designation of speaking achievement worldwide! She's known as a Champion for Agriculture whether from the platform, in the magazines, on television, or on the radio.

She is a walking-talking spokesperson and consultant for the family-owned business. With her keen insight and result-centered approach, she's been invited to sit at lots of kitchen tables and family business meeting rooms. Jolene has learned what works and what doesn't. She understands the unique challenges facing parents, siblings, in-laws and "outlaws" who work together. Jolene's popular book, Sometimes You Need More Than a 2x4!, contains how-to-tips so those in agriculture can increase productivity, profitability and peace of mind.

As co-owner and active partner on their Eastern Iowa corn and soybean farm, her practical experience includes plugging a grain auger, hypnotizing chickens and entertaining folks behind the equipment parts counter.
Jolene cares deeply about the ag industry and is on a mission to share leading-edge best practices. She's a passionate supporter, promoter and champion for the people who feed, clothe and fuel the world.

Her worldwide audiences appreciate her fun-filled humor and real-life stories. They leave with take home value, great big smiles on their faces and eager to return for more. 

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois
The Acting Dean and Professor in the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph in Ontario
June 22 - 2:30 pm

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is the Acting Dean and Professor in the College of Management and Economics at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. From 2004 to 2010, he was a member of the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Regina in Regina, Canada. Dr. Charlebois is an award winning researcher and teacher. He also served as the Director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (Regina Campus).

His current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety, and has published many peer-reviewed journal articles in several publications. His research has been featured in a number of newspapers, including the Globe & Mail, the National Post, the Toronto Star, MacLean’s, and La Presse, as well as on the Business News Network, CBC Radio and TV, Global, CTV, TVO and TVA. He is currently writing a fourth book on global food safety systems, to be published later this year. He conducts policy analysis, evaluation, and demonstration projects for government agencies and major foundations focusing on agricultural policies and community development both in Canada and in development settings. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. 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 safety policies in many Canadian provinces, in the United States, Italy, France, Belgium, Great Britain, Finland and the Netherlands.  

Derek Sliworsky
General Manager - The Canadian Wheat Board Tokyo Office
June 20 - 2:30 pm

Derek Sliworsky assumed the position of the CWB Tokyo Office General Manager in July of 2006. This office is the principal contact for CWB Marketing, Sales and Promotion into Japan. The office is also the principle contact for 8 other markets in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to that, Derek was a Marketing Manager for the CWB Asia Pacific Sales Team starting from June 1999. He briefly left the CWB to trade canola for an International trading company in 2001, but returned to the CWB. The Marketing Manager position primarily entails customer contact and contract/sales negotiations with agents/buyers for the Asia Pacific region. Derek joined the CWB's Farm Marketing Services Department in 1995 and moved to the Sales and Market Development Division in early 1996 where he worked as a Marketing Manager of Sales Policy and Planning. That area looked at issues like the CWB Sales Strategy, Pool Return Outlooks, Price Spreads between grades and the global allocation of Board grains by region. Derek obtained a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree from the University of Manitoba in 1994 majoring in Soil Science. He was raised on a cow-calf ranch near Winnipegosis, Manitoba.