Basic HTML Version
Worldliness is not a quality historically
ascribed to farmers, but “worldly”
well-describes today’s young farmers.
Informed and connected, many
contemporary farm leaders have worked
and studied outside their field (no pun
intended). Additionally, the Internet and
social media platforms are as much a
part of rural life as life in the city, allowing
farmers to share their experiences with
regional and international colleagues
more than ever.
Levi Wood, president of the
WCWGA, is a man of his generation.
He spoke with
GrainsWest
having
just returned to his grain and oilseed
farm near Pense, SK, a er attending
the annual CropSphere agricultural
conference in Saskatoon. He praised
the conference as a place to discuss
issues, compare notes on productivity,
socialize in person with farm colleagues
and simply take the pulse of the
industry.
He said he believes the prevalence
of social connectivity among young
farmers drives attendance at events
such as CropSphere, with its roster of
informational sessions.
“Producers, especially younger
ones, are looking at agriculture as a
business, and they understand the
interconnectivity not just within their own
region or province, but also nationally
and internationally. Getting a good
understanding of where we fit in globally
is becomingmore important, especially
when it comes to makingmarketing
LEVI
WOOD
decisions, making crop rotation choices
and all those kinds of things.”
Wood’s own journey off the family
farm and back to agriculture was
a roundabout one. Completing a
bachelor of commerce in finance
and marketing from the University of
Saskatchewan, he worked in currency
trading, completed his master of
business administration at UBC and
spent six months studying in Hong
Kong. Though he had no interest in
farming a er high school, once his
university education was complete, he
was drawn back by a renewed optimism
in the industry that he said is driven in
part by young producers.
Gerrid Gust, a young farmer in
Davidson, SK, and WCWGA board
chair, approached Wood to join
the organization. Wood said Gust’s
encouragement and mentorship has
shaped his grasp of ag issues, as well as
his leadership style.
Gust countered that Wood exemplifies
farming’s skilled new breed.
“Levi’s experiences add value and
make you look at things in a completely
different manner than you would have
before,” he said. “People coming into ag
policy now have all kinds of experience
in everything from banking to retail to
agronomy. It’s people who’ve really had
to work for what they’ve got, and made a
conscious decision to come back to the
farm. It really makes it exciting.”
Elected a director of theWCWGA in
2011, Woodwas named president in 2013.
As an industry association populated
with like-minded young farmers bent on
moving the industry forward through
the promotion of open markets and
good business practices, Wood said its
ambitions are close to his own.
“These things continue to make
agriculture an attractive industry for
people,” he said, “and I think that’s really
kind of the key.”
His ambitions for the organization are
both local and global in scope. Farmer
outreach will increase, for example. He
also said the elimination of the Canadian
Wheat Board monopoly and its umbrella
over the grain industry value chain has
le parts of that chain—such as grain
transportation and variety registration—in
need of attention.
Last year, he returned to Asia on a
joint trade mission with the NewWest
Partnership, whose member provinces
include British Columbia, Alberta and
Saskatchewan.
“It really opened my eyes to Canada’s
position internationally as a grain
supplier,” he said.
The trip also highlighted the ferocity
of Canada’s international agricultural
competitors, and the need for the country
to boost its own competitiveness, as well
as access to foreign markets and demand
for Canadian crops.
“Realistically, that translates across all
industries we use, whether it’s potash
or wood or wheat. As a country we
need to really, really be focusing on our
international market.”
Spring
2014
grainswest.com
35