Manitoba’s Agri-Food Research and Development Initiative (ARDI) announced three new members to its Council this morning. The new members are:

• Goldwyn Jones, a producer from Tilton;

• Roz Stewart, a producer and marketing specialist from Marquette; and

• Calvin Vaags, a producer from Dugald and owner of a retail meat operation in Winnipeg.

In addition, Kelley Fitzpatrick, a nutritional consultant from Winnipeg, has been re-appointed to the Council.

Fitzpatrick, Jones, Stewart and Vaags join four other ARDI Council members, as follows:

• ARDI chairperson David Gislason, a producer from Arborg;

• Dr. Agnes Grant, an educational consultant from Winnipeg;

• George Hacking, a realtor in the Selkirk area; and,

• Judy Kostyshyn, a credit union loans officer and cattle producer from Ethelbert.

In addition, two federal and two provincial government representatives sit on ARDI Council as non-voting members. Responsibilities of ARDI Council include development of program objectives and policies, development of criteria for project assessment, and the prioritization and approval of eligible project proposals.      

ARDI is a research and development granting program of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives. It is funded through the Agricultural Policy Framework, a federal-provincial-territorial long-term action plan for agriculture.  

Since the program’s inception in 1998, ARDI has approved $28 million in funding to agriculture and agri-food research and development projects in Manitoba. ARDI Council is scheduled to meet in February and March to review the latest grant applications.