Sask Wheat announces the results of the 2017 director elections

Saskatoon (November 30, 2017) – The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) is pleased to announce the results of its 2017 director elections.

There were 3,266 verified and counted ballots returned for this election. Of those, 2,014 producers voted with a paper ballot while 1,252 producers voted online. This is the first Sask Wheat election where online voting was available.

The four candidates who will be serving on the Board of Directors are:

  • Bill Gehl, who farms north of Regina on a third-generation, multi-family farm, growing wheat, barley, flax, canola and pulses. Bill has served as a Sask Wheat director since 2014. Bill has served as a director on several boards, including the Canadian Wheat Board Alliance, Canadian International Grains Institute and the Western Grains Research Foundation.

  • Brett Halstead, who operates a mixed farm near Nokomis, growing wheat, barley, oats, canola, flax, peas, and soybeans and raising beef cattle. Brett served as a director of SaskCanola for eight years, represented SaskCanola on the Board of the Canadian Canola Growers Association, and served for seven years on the Western Standards Committee.

  • Jake Leguee, a third-generation farmer who farms close to Weyburn, growing a variety of crops including durum, canola, spring and winter wheat, peas, lentils, soybeans and others. Jake has a degree in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan, specializing in agronomy, and writes a blog called A Year in the Life of a Farmer.

  • Ken Rosaasen, who farms near Preeceville, grows conventional crops on 2000 acres and has grown soybeans, fababeans and timothy seed. Ken is a former professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan and has served on the board of the Saskatchewan Natural Products Marketing Council. He has served as a Sask Wheat director since 2014.

The final results of the election are as follows:

  • Brett Halstead (Nokomis) – 1,391 votes

  • William (Bill) Gehl (Regina) – 1,351 votes

  • Ken Rosaasen (Saskatoon) – 1,325 votes

  • Jake Leguee (Weyburn) – 1,226 votes

  • Daryl Fransoo (Meota) – 1,146 votes

  • Glenn Tait (Meota) – 1,144 votes

  • Patricia Lung (Humboldt) – 1,105 votes

  • Rodney Luhning (Lumsden) – 1,084 votes

  • Trevor Scherman (Battleford) - 959 votes

  • Scott Sefton (Broadview) - 835 votes

The directors’ terms will start following the Sask Wheat Annual General Meeting, to be held Tuesday, January 9, 2018. Each candidate will serve a four-year term. They will be joining three existing directors: Laura Reiter of Radisson, Dan Danielson of Saskatoon, and Scott Hepworth of Assiniboia. The next Sask Wheat election will be in the fall of 2019.

Please join us at the Sask Wheat AGM, Tuesday Jan 9, 2018 beginning at 1:15 p.m. at TCU Place in Saskatoon during CropSphere 2018. Producers do not need to be registered for CropSphere to attend the Sask Wheat AGM. For more information on the AGM, visit saskwheat.ca.

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For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact:

Dallas Carpenter
Communications Manager
Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission
P: 306-653-7967
E: dallas.carpenter@saskwheatcommission.com

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