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Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba Executive Director Katharine Cherewyk  (submitted photo/AITC-Man)
Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday October 19, 2022

Oct 19, 2022 | 11:35 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – Agriculture in the Classroom Manitoba (AITC-M) has found its new leader.

New Executive Director Katharine Cherewyk has served as AITC-M’s Operations and Development Manager since 2018. She has roughly 20 years of experience in communications, fundraising, strategic planning, partnership-building, and project management.

AITC-M board chair Laura Holtman said Cherewyk is a strategic leader who understands the critical role education plays in connecting students with the food they eat and the people who produce it.

“Her talent for visionary thinking and relationship-building have helped AITC-M increase its reach in more geographical locations than ever before. We’re very excited about what the future holds,” Cherewyk said.

Sue Clayton left the role to become Director of the School of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba Cherewyk on Sept. 30.

The Saskatchewan Animal Health Control Area Order enacted in response to avian influenza has been extended until Nov. 17. It was set to expire on Friday.

Continued outbreaks in domestic poultry had prompted the decision to extend the order which prohibits the movement to and participation of birds in shows, auctions, and agricultural fairs.

The primary source of HPAI is linked to wild birds. The risk of disease spread will remain high until mid-November with the fall migration season.

Poultry producers and small flock owners are reminded to follow all necessary bio-security protocols and to contact their veterinarian immediately if they have concerns about the health status of their flocks.

Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) will be supporting University of British Columbia (UBC) graduate students in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (LFS)

WGRF is committing $15,000 per year for outstanding graduate students whose research is focused on any of WGRF’s priority research programs.

LFS offers research-based degrees in six areas that focus on farm to fork and has roughly 250 graduate students in Plant Science or Soil Science. Consideration will be given to those investigating crops such as barley, canary seed, canola, chickpea, corn, faba bean, flax, lentil, mustard, oats, pea, soybean, sunflower, wheat, and winter cereals.

WGRF Board Chair Dr. Keith Degenhardt said the board is happy to expand graduate scholarships.

“UBC has made some significant strides in recent years to grow and expand their grain crops program. We look forward to building a long-standing relationship between WGRF and UBC to help advance agricultural research for the benefit of Western Canadian farmers,” Degenhardt said.

Since 2011, WGRF has invested over $1 million toward 22 graduate student scholarships at the Universities of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan and recently expanded to add a graduate scholarship at the University of Lethbridge.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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