Connecting Ag Innovators
Celebrating Canada’s 50 Most Influential People in Ag
In late 2020, Canadian Western Agribition and Farm Credit Canada teamed up to launch a search for the Top 50 most influential leaders in Canadian agriculture. The nomination-based campaign ran coast-to-coast and on Canada Ag Day, February 23, 2021, the list was announced. Dr. Joy Agnew, Associate Vice President, Applied Research, Olds College along with several Olds College alumni were named on the list as Canada’s Top 50 most influential leaders in Canadian Ag. Recruited to Olds College in 2018, Dr. Agnew has led the development of the Olds College Smart Farm and grown the applied research program at the College. Under her leadership, the Olds College Smart Farm has grown by more than 1000 acres to 2800 acres; has attracted more than $12 million in external investment; has engaged more than 50 partners and has worked on nearly 80 different research projects. “Dr. Agnew has emerged as one of Canada’s key leaders for positioning our agriculture industry at the leading edge,” comments Stuart Cullum, President, Olds College. “She has built the next generation applied research environment in the Olds College Smart Farm and has designed it to also be the next generation learning environment that our country needs right now, in order to produce the talent required to maintain our global leadership.” Growing up on a grain farm in Saskatchewan, Agnew’s upbringing played a huge role in her career in the agriculture industry. She reminisces about being a kid, laying in bed hearing the aeration fans and complaining to her dad that they were too noisy. Fast forward to today,
6 Olds College Horizons
