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BY ELLEN COTTEE
Agriculture background
I was born on a grain farm in southwestern Saskatchewan, and I married a
grain farmer in Sylvan Lake, AB. From dryland farming to wetland farming,
I’ve always had a heart for growing things. It’s been my life for most of my life,
and I love it. In the ag community, I am a director with Alberta Pulse Growers
and Pulse Canada, and I’ve gotten involved with a few other projects in the
past, including being the Canadian chair of the International Year of Pulse. If I
can do something that forwards the industry, I’m willing to step up.
MENTOR: Allison Ammeter
GW:
What interested you in the Advancing
Ag program?
Allison Ammeter:
How could anyone not
want to be a part of helping future leaders
get everything they need to be a success?
When I met Stacie, what impressed me
the most was that she’s done a crop sci-
ence degree, she’s working for a crop life
company, but her end goal is to take on
the family farm. And that’s the future of
agriculture. I’m just excited to even be a
small part of helping her along.
GW:
What value do you see in the pro-
gram for Stacie and for Alberta’s crop
industry?
AA:
The value is partly in giving her an
opportunity to get to some conferences
and people she might not otherwise get
to, both through funding and networking.
In my opinion, the networking is going
to be the most valuable thing she gains,
because everywhere she goes she will be
introduced as one of the people involved
in the mentorship program. I think what
she’ll find is that instead of one or two
people mentoring her, she’s going to gain
20 mentors.
GW:
What value do you see in this pro-
gram for the Alberta crop industry?
AA:
It’s always a great thing to help the
next generation along. That’s the benefit I
see, that we will be ensuring that we have
bright, dedicated people moving forward.
GW:
What do you hope Stacie will learn
from you?
AA:
What I hope she gets from me is con-
nections. Through my work with the com-
missions I’ve met a lot of terrific people,
and I am hoping over the next year I get to
introduce a lot of them to Stacie. Nobody
knows everything, so the best thing is to
ask questions everywhere.
GW:
What have you learned or gained
from working with Stacie?
AA:
Just talking to her about setting goals
has reminded me of the vastness of it.
We talked about everything from peer
support to machinery repair to succession
planning. It has reminded me just how
incredibly complex and diverse farming
can be.
I wish we all had mentors and mentees.
It’s not easy to figure out what you want
to ask a mentor or contribute to a mentee,
but they’re so critical at any stage of life.
Formalizing the program and giving us
some guidelines is a great thing.
• The 2017/18 year includes eight mentee/mentor pairings working in the cropping
sector, including primary production, research and agricultural policy
• Each mentee is paired with a mentor in his or her field for the full program
• Mentees complete a roadmap with their mentor, complete with objectives and a
budget for the duration of the program
• AdvancingAg provides mentees the opportunity and financial means to attend agri-
culture conferences across Alberta
• Mentees also attend a three-day leadership workshop specifically tailored to the
cropping sector
Photo:AllisonAmmeter
Fall
2017
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