Hi, I’m David Opinko and I’m excited to be joining the team at Farming Smarter. I am the new External Communications Specialist, which means I’ll be working with the Knowledge & Network team to spread the word about all of the wonderful work and meaningful innovation being done here to external partners like news organizations and agriculture publications, as well as the public.
I join the organization with a decade of experience in news media. Most recently, I worked at Lethbridge News Now for the last seven years as a News Reporter/Anchor, and later as Assistant News Director.
Despite having lived in Lethbridge for most of my life, this is where I became deeply familiar with the community and what’s important to the people living here. I have covered everything from city hall to provincial politics, agriculture, community events, criminal trials, police, fundraising initiatives, the cost of living crisis, and much, much more.
Previously, I was in a similar role at a radio station in Cranbrook, B.C. for about three years.
My first news job out of college was at CKDM radio in Dauphin, Manitoba. It’s a farm town of about 8,000 that is reminiscent of a Coaldale or Taber. One of my duties there was to host “Ag Today”, a live, daily, hour-long radio show about agriculture. This really took me out of my comfort zone, and that was truly a great thing. This experience had made me more adaptable and willing to try new things, even if they are not what I would normally gravitate towards.
I had heard countless times throughout my career the importance of agriculture to southern Alberta, and how it was our biggest and most important industry. When I learned about the amazing work that Farming Smarter does to advance innovation in this industry and the good people who work here, I knew that I had to become part of this team.
In my personal life, I am married to the most amazing and beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. We have two children together and love spending time with our family.
I look forward to helping Farming Smarter reach new heights and to meeting the many hard-working people in agriculture.
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| David Opinko |