June 30 Guest Speakers
Ken Coles
Ken is a passionate agri-innovator. His love for agriculture stems from endless summers spent with his Grandparents on their farm north of Coaldale, Alberta. He is proud to have “bought” the farm where he and his wife Dana are raising and working with three energetic farm boys, Alex (13), Carter (12) and Jaxon (9). This small farm keeps Ken active, and he continues his experiments with subsurface drip irrigation and a new venture with 10 acres of willows.
His career spans 27 years in agriculture research and extension in private industry, government and most recently with a non-profit charity, Farming Smarter. Ken has built Farming Smarter into a world class agriculture innovation hub. Ken believes strongly that these regionally focused groups are essential to ensure that farms remain competitive and resilient. Ken is a 2022 Nuffield Scholar and is studying agriculture innovation around the world and hopes to share his experience with Canadian agriculture groups.
Sauchyn is Director of the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative at the University of Regina. His research interests are 1) the climate and hydrology of the past millennium, and 2) planned adaption to minimize the adverse impacts of climate change. Dave has given almost 500 invited presentations on aspects of climate change. He is lead author of the Prairie Provinces chapters in the current and previous national assessments of climate change. Dave can trace his prairie roots to back 1910s when his grandparents arrived from eastern Canada and from Ukraine.
Dave Sauchyn
Spencer Karabelas
Spencer works for McCain Foods developing and leading strategic sustainability initiativeswithin agriculture. His focus is on building common understanding on regenerative agriculture with growers, building action plans for climate-smart practices adoption, and communicating results to continue building shared value and telling the story of growers as environmental stewards. He also uses his background in climate research and business management to help field staff and growers build climate adaptation plans; helping to ensure farm resilience for generations to come.
Anne Wasko
Wasko has been a market analyst for over 35 years focusing on the Canadian cattle and beef industry. She is the Market Analyst for Gateway Livestock based in Taber, Alberta. Anne operates Cattle Trends Inc, a consulting company for cattle market intelligence. She is a regular contributor to RealAgriculture.com and RealAg Radio on Sirius. Prior to Gateway Livestock, Anne was the Senior Market Analyst with Canfax for 21 years. Anne is the past Chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. Anne was a board member on the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, a member of the Canadian Beef Advisors, sat on the Saskatchewan ADF Advisory committee and the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Board. Anne and her husband operate a cow-calf operation in Saskatchewan.
Paul Thiel
Thought Leader in Smart Agriculture at Olds College of Agriculture & Technology
Thiel is an advisor, connector and collaborator for both Olds College and Canada’s Smart Agriculture Ecosystem. In this role, Thiel supports Olds College’s engagement and leadership in education, training and applied research in agriculture and technology.
Thiel also chairs the College’s Producer Panel, advises the College leadership in its growth and development of the Smart Farm and related programming, as well as, fosters strategic partnerships and engagement within the broader community that Olds College is a part of.
Thiel is an accomplished agri-business executive with over 35 years of experience in the Life Sciences industry. He has a deep understanding of agriculture and the current issues and opportunities facing the industry.
Thiel held several executive positions with Bayer Crop Science, including Vice President, Product Development & Regulatory Science, before retiring.
His leadership at Olds College will support the growth of programs and applied research for the benefit of industry and learners as the College works towards its social purpose of transforming agriculture for a better world.