The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) announced the results of its 2017 director elections, with Fillmore producer Jake Leguee one of the four new directors.
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:
Jake Leguee, a third-generation farmer who farms at Fillmore with his family, 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.
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.
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.
Ken Rosaasen, who farms near Preeceville, grows conventional crops on 2,000 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.
Producers are invited to attend the Sask Wheat AGM on 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 the Sask Wheat website.
