Results confirm close race in SaskWheat election

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The results have been announced for the highly-competitive SaskWheat director election.

10 farmers were vying for four board seats in the organization’s first election where online voting was an option.

3,266 ballots were verified and counted, with farmers selecting up to four candidates. Less than 300 votes separated first from seventh — an indication of how close the race was.

Brett Halstead and Jake Leguee will be joining the board, while current chair Bill Gehl and incumbent Ken Rosaasen were re-elected — all for four-year terms.

They will be joining existing directors Laura Reiter, Dan Danielson (current vice-chair) and Scott Hepworth after the SaskWheat annual general meeting on January 9th, 2018 during CropSphere in Saskatoon.

Of the 3,266 verified and counted ballots, 2,014 producers voted with a paper ballot while 1,252 producers voted online.

SaskWheat election results:

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

Director bios (courtesy SaskWheat):

  • 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.

Related: Debate sparked over SaskWheat director’s endorsement of board candidates

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