Farming Smarter Board of Directors elected for 2026

Farming Smarter's 2026 Annual General Meeting welcomed two new members to its board and Ryan Mercer re-elected as Chair.

Mercer says he is thrilled to see such an exceptional level of talent and expertise on the board for the upcoming term.

“This is the most diverse board I sit on, and I really think that provides a lot of strength and capacity for various opinions coming from different industries,” says Mercer. “I think it’s healthy to have a diverse board of people with expertise in different areas, and I think other boards could learn from this and the success we’ve had.” 

Meet the eager fresh faces of Farming Smarter's Board 

Catherine Kerkhoff – Big Red Ag

Agriculture has always been a part of Catherine Kerkhoff's life in one capacity or another. She looks to bring that expertise to the Farming Smarter Board of Directors.

She grew up on a farm, and has has held a variety of ag-related roles, including in seed retail, agronomy, field technician, irrigation management and more.

Kerkhoff is gearing up to launch her own agriculture consulting business, Big Red Ag, this spring. She describes it as being complimentary to the research that Farming Smarter has been doing for the last 14 years.

Now joining the board, she looks forward to digging into Farming Smarter’s policies and procedures and discovering how things could be done better.

“The future of ag requires research,” says Kerkhoff. “We’re missing it on the government level, so what can we do to make Farming Smarter stronger and the longevity of it last so that future farmers can also benefit from it? Maybe we can look into bigger research projects, but we need a strong board to keep that going.”

Harold Perry – The Perry Farm

Harold Perry’s goal in joining the Board of Directors is to help push agriculture forward.

He is one of the operators of The Perry Farm, a 5,000 acre farm in Chin that grows potatoes and other irrigated crops. Harold and his brother Chris were recently recognized by PepsiCo as its 2025 Farmer of the Year.

Innovation and sustainability have always been top priorities for Perry, and his group is helping to pioneer regenerative agriculture.

He has completed research into how healthier soils can lead to healthier crops, and therefore, a healthier population.

“[I’m] still pushing that idea, and ultimately, producing really healthy food that can sustain itself so we don’t have to use as many inputs, and then have people eat healthy food so not everybody has IBS walking around,” says Perry.

He looks to not only bring his expertise in regenerative agriculture to Farming Smarter, but also serve as a bridge between it and Potato Growers of Alberta.

Continuing Board Members

While Kerkhoff and Perry look to inject new life into the Farming Smarter Board, the seven continuing board members look to continue leveraging their experience.

These returning Board members are:

• Ryan Mercer, Chair
• Rob Dunn, Vice-Chair
• Ken Vanden Dungen, Treasurer
• Adrian Moens
• Mandy DeCecco-Kolebaba
• Will Van Roessel
• Scott Holtman

Retiring Board Members

With two new additions come two retirements.

Nathan Stamp and John Kolk have wrapped up their tenures on Farming Smarter’s Board.

Farming Smarter and Ryan Mercer thanked them for their contributions and the immense value they've brought to the organization over the years, helping Farming Smarter to grow into the innovation hub it is today.