From the Editor: The season for recognition

It’s that time of year again when we recognize the achievements of the professionals who drive this industry. 

Firstly, we’re once again acknowledging some of poultry’s up and comers. This spring, Canadian Poultry launched our second annual Top 4 Under 40 program, an initiative designed to recognize young poultry leaders. We were truly blown away by the incredible submissions we received.

These four young poultry professionals were selected for this year’s program: David Arand, a turkey farmer from Atwood, Ont.; Dr. Teryn Girard, a veterinarian with Prairie Livestock Veterinarians in Red Deer, Alta.; Emma Rutherford, a broiler farmer from Woodstock and Embro, Ont.; and Conrad Vanessen, an egg farmer and an Egg Farmers of Alberta director from Coaldale, Alta.

To learn more about each honouree, visit canadianpoultrymag.com/podcasts to hear our Top 4 Under 40 podcast series featuring interviews with this year’s winners. Also, watch out for a digital edition later this summer with highlights from each interview.

We sincerely appreciate everyone’s help in making this program a success once again! We’d particularly like to thanks those who submitted nominations and our program sponsors, including our gold sponsors Aviagen and Egg Farmers of Canada and our silver sponsor Canadian Hatching Egg Producers.

Furthering our theme of recognition, this issue is our Who’s Who edition, an annual tradition where we profile producers and other industry professionals from coast to coast. In the pages ahead, you’ll learn about farmers, researchers, veterinarians and more who are making unique contributions to poultry production.

We’ve found a diverse group of professionals for this year’s issue. For instance, in our cover story on page 10, we feature Quebec organic egg farmer Pascale Mageau-Béland – who doubles as an engineer. On page 14, learn about Saskatchewan’s Sandy Zerebeski, a raised without antibiotics expert who shares his expertise with numerous poultry producers across his province as he liaises on behalf of a processor. 

Then there’s Amy VanderHeide (featured on page 30), a broiler producer from Nova Scotia who’s also a passionate advocate for women in agriculture as co-founder of the Maritime Ag Women’s Network. 

On that note, we have once again partnered with our fellow agriculture brands at Annex Business Media to celebrate the contributions of women. Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture (IWCA) is a recognition program designed to honour, highlight and celebrate the work women are doing across Canada’s agriculture industry – including in poultry.

Now in its third year, we are proud to present the seven women chosen as the 2022 Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture. Please join us in congratulating: Valerie Carney, lead with the Poultry Innovation Partnership in Alberta; Lisa Mumm, owner of Mumm’s Sprouting Seeds in Saskatchewan; Mary Ruth McDonald, a professor and research program director with the University of Guelph; Christine Noronha, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Lana Shaw, manager with the Southeast Research Farm; Karen Tanino, a professor with the University of Saskatchewan; and Heather Watson, executive director with Farm Management Canada.

These seven women will share their stories and wisdom in the IWCA podcast series on AgAnnex Talks, a channel presented by Canadian Poultry along with Top Crop Manager, Potatoes in Canada, Fruit & Vegetable, Drainage Contractor and Manure Manager magazines. Of note for those in poultry, our podcast with Carney is available in late August.

This year’s IWCA program will culminate with a virtual event this fall, bringing together women from across the industry to share their experiences and offer guidance. Stay tuned to agwomen.ca for more details!