54 GERMINATION.CA JULY 2018 2018 CSGA Award Recipients, continued Marc Bercier — Robertson Associate Award Marc is an Ontario-based farmer, businessman, environ- mentalist and mentor for many young farmers. He currently produces 2,700 acres of seeds. Marc and his wife Chantal are equal partners of Marc Bernier Seed Cleaning Inc., located in St-Isidore, Ont. They met between 1983-1985 while completing their studies at Alfred College. In 1986, Marc acquired his very first cleaner with the encourage- ment from his father. Initially, Marc cleaned 200 MT per year. Since then, cleaning capacity has doubled every year. He recently became a partner for a new company, Uniseeds. The company holds genetics for and special- izes in hemp crops. His business relationships include clients in Ontario, Quebec, Europe and Asia. Aside from the Cleaning Centre, Marc and Chantal are also producers. They cultivate wheat, corn, soy and hemp. They also wish to produce hemp-based products, such as nutrition bars, dyes and construction blocks. Marc organizes hemp con- ferences with the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA), the University of Vermont and involves himself in other hemp-related partnerships. Daniel Lanoie — Robertson Associate Award Since buying his farm in 1983, Daniel has produced certified seed and quickly became a Select plot grower. Daniel farms his 675 acres with his wife Danielle, cousin Dominique and son Olivier. They are also proud pork producers. For over 24 years, he was a member of the board of directors of the Pedigreed Seed Producers Association of Quebec (SPSPQ) and of the various associ- ated committees. As president of SPSPQ for five years, he helped in planning four separate CSGA annual meetings held in Quebec. He was also a member of CSGA’s board of directors and associated committees for over 13 years. Daniel took part in all the Seed Sector Value Chain Round Table discussions in Canada up until 2015. He has also been a member of the board of Quebec Grain Growers. He’s also a founding member of the board of directors for the Quebec Grain Research Centre (CEROM). He also sits on the board of the Saint-Hyacinthe pork producers association. “My involvement over the past 25 years in the seed indus- try at the provincial and national level has certainly been one of my most enriching experiences, personally and pro- fessionally. During my acting years as president and active member of different organizations, I’ve learned that we must be very open to listening to others, and by persevering, we can help our industry evolve and advance,” he says. Dave Akister — Honourary Life Award Dave Akister was born at Elrose, Sask., and raised on a farm at a town called Kyle. He launched a 14-year career with the media right out of high school, serving with Thompson Newspapers across Western Canada as a photographer, reporter, inves- tigative journalist, sports editor, city editor, wire editor, managing editor and assistant publisher. For more than 27 years, he has served as the executive director of the Saskatchewan Seed Growers Association (SSGA). Dave’s company was hired by the board of direc- tors in 1991 to conduct an evaluation of the association’s administration, operate the organization for a short term and find a new executive director. Although he narrowed a list of 40 applicants down to five, the board hired Dave instead. During that time, he has been in on the forma- tion and design of Crop Production Week; built proto- types of the Canadian Seed Institute Quality Assurance manuals; and helped design CSI’s original board of directors structure. He revamped the former Stock Seed Committee into the current Seed Industry Advisory Committee, a think tank group of industry stakeholders that meets annually to discuss some of the toughest issues facing the industry. He also redesigned the Interprovincial Seed Industry meeting into a broad stakeholder forum. There have been 44 presidents in the 89-year history of SSGA, and Dave has served with 14 of them, making him the longest-serving administrator of the association. He has been involved in the coordination of four CSGA annual meetings; eight interprovincial meetings and 27 SSGA annual meetings.