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WESTERN PRODUCER ARTICLE - June 10, 2021
Updated: Jun 21, 2021
Editor’s Note:
Recollections and Reflections is
a new column celebrating prairie
history and 50 years of the Saskatchewan
Agricultural Hall of
Fame. Linda Braun is writing the
column as we look back on the
history of agriculture during this
important SAHF anniversary
year.
The Saskatchewan Agricultural
Hall of Fame, organized in 1971 and
honouring its first inductees in
1972, continues to recognize and
honour provincial agricultural
leaders. More than 225 inductees
grace the Hall of Fame. There is no
better time than now to recollect,
reflect and revisit these inductees of
Saskatchewan agriculture as The
Western Producer too begins to look
back at its origins, beginning in
1923.
Mike Raine, Editor
Saskatchewan agriculture is
built on a solid foundation
of exceptional leaders, who
mobilize others to achieve shared
aspirations. Exemplary leaders
model the way, inspire a shared
vision, challenge the process, enable
others to act and encourage
the heart.
Ad e l e Bu e t t n e r, who was
installed in the Saskatchewan
Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2020,
is a champion of agriculture and
food and has provided leadership
to a number of agriculture organizations,
including Farm and Food
Care Saskatchewan.
Her extensive efforts in building
public trust, education and marketing
are well regarded by farmers
and ranchers, chefs, culinary
educators and consumers.
Buettner served on the Canadian
Western Agribition board during
the same period as Audrey
Horkoff, who entered the hall of
fame in 2009.
Horkoff, a farmer, wife, mother
and grandmother, was chair of
Agribition in 1997 and co-chair of
ACRE, the Action Committee on
Rural Economy in 2000, providing
recommendations for legislative
and policy change in provincial
agriculture.
She and her husband, Don, have
maintained purebred Charolais
and Hereford cattle and were active
in purebred associations. Later
they converted their land base into
an organic operation.
Both women remain active today
in the industry, Buettner with her
marketing and communications
firm, AgriBiz Communications in
Saskatoon, and Horkoff on the
farm at Kamsack, providing support
for her son, who now runs that
operation.
Although busy with work and
family life, Buettner and Horkoff
continue to challenge the process
and enable others to act through
volunteerism.
Buettner participates in community
organizations such as the
Canadian Women in Food Network,
the North Saskatchewan
Business Association and Women’s
Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan.
She hosts a Monday morning
executive group to support
peers throughout the COVID-19
crisis.
Horkoff has, for numerous years,
been involved and chairs the
Assiniboine Valley Health and
Wellness Foundation. Initially she
assisted with fundraising and
building the physical structure and
Saskatchewan leaders look to the future of agriculture
BY ED WHITE
WINNIPEG BUREAU
Processors and others reliant on
agricultural products are building
shock absorbers into their systems,
says a U.S. supply chain expert.
“Firms are holding more inventory,
so instead of holding one
week’s worth of inventory, they
might hold one month’s,” said
Heidi Schweizer, an economist
at North Carolina State University.
“You might call it ‘just-in-case’
supply chains.”
The shock of COVID-19 has combined
with the world tightness in
many crop stocks to scare users
into taking their own stocks more
seriously, now they’ve seen how
low they can run when something
unexpected happens.
That has undermined the
decades-long drive for companies
to slash inventory levels and rely
upon the steady and predictable
flow of the products they need.
“I believe a lot of people are shifting
away from just-in-time inventory
management,” said Schweizer
during the Kansas City Federal
Reserve Bank’s annual agricultural
economics conference.
However, Schweizer said that
shift was already underway before
the pandemic.
“Certainly, this past year has
added an additional jump start to
that.”
Another response to the pandemic
has been companies taking
greater interest in their exposure to
needed commodities and to ensure
they are going to receive what they
think they’re lining up for.
“There’s more communication
between firm along the supply
chain,” said Scweizer.
“The pandemic has rea l l y
resulted in a big push for that in
particular.”
Replacing just-in-time
with just-in-case
Firms begin building more flexibility into their
inventories as supply chains break down
now chairs the foundation.
This brought four physicians
and a dentist to the clinic and
district hospital, providing
emergency and essential health
care to area communities. She is
a long-serving member of Trackside
gardens, lending her green
thumb to beautify the community
for its citizens as well as area
tourists.
Family is important to these
women. Buettner is thankful her
daughter and extended family
reside in the Saskatoon area.
Horkoff ’s five adult children and
their families meet to celebrate
holidays and family gatherings at
the farm, which she loves.
When asked where her drive for
all things agriculture comes from,
Buettner says, “it comes from my
passion and enthusiasm for the
industry coupled with the right
mix of career fulfillment and professional
challenge. It is also due
in large part to the clever, dedicated,
creative and genuine people
I have worked with and for.”
Horkoff said she has always lived
in an agriculture based community
and initially farmed out of
necessity after losing her first
husband but continued “because
the best people are agriculture
people.”
Buettner’s advise to women in
agriculture today is, ”be respectful,
build a meaningful network, enjoy
what you do,” while Horkoff suggests,
“if you truly want to be in
agriculture, the door is open to all
types of opportunities.”
Regarding hopes for the future,
Buettner said she can’t imagine a
better place to be situated for the
future in this world.
“As a farmer’s daughter, with
roots deep in Saskatchewan soil, I
look forward to our province continuing
to be a world leader in food
production, research and innovation.
We produce healthy, nutritious
food with a vested interest in
building public trust and sustainability.
I am proud of Saskatchewan’s
agricultural sector and hope
that doors continue to open for
farmers, ranchers, agronomists,
researchers, ag business, processors
and marketers.”
As a long-time farmer, who maintains
that there is no better place to
raise a family, Horkoff has concerns
about the growing size of
operations.
While understanding why it is
happening, she is concerned about
the impact socially on the family
and the farm community. Her
hope for the next generation is that
“there is a place for them and
opportunities to enter the industry.”
She ponders opportunities such
as growing local, tracking food
products and direct marketing that
may open the door for new and or
smaller operations.
These two Agricultural Hall of
Fame inductees have always and
continue to live by the exemplary
practices mentioned at the beginning
of the column, and our world
has benefitted from their contributions.
RECOLLECTIONS
& REFLECTIONS
LINDA BRAUN
Linda Braun is president of Food Focus
Saskatoon.
Adele Buettner is a champion of
agriculture and food. | SUPPLIED
PHOTOS
Audrey Horkoff chaired the
Canadian Western Agribition
board in 1997 and the Action
Committee on Rural Economy in
2000.
