Three Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences alumni were honoured for their outstanding professional contributions and public service at a June 2 celebration held at the University of Manitoba.
The Certificate of Merit is presented in recognition of leadership with agricultural organizations and outstanding service to the community at large. The 2022 recipients are Curtis Evenson and Laura and Henry Holtmann.
Curtis Evenson was raised on a farm south of Morden, and attended the University of Manitoba where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree in Agricultural Economics in 1972.
After graduation he worked for Northern Sales, a special crop company in Winnipeg where he contracted farmers for mustard seed in Manitoba and Saskatchewan and canola in North Dakota.
In 1975, Curtis and wife Pat moved south of Morris to farm with Pat’s brother Robert and after five years, they began to farm on their own. Pat and Curtis raised four children, all of whom attended UM: son Craig (currently operating the farm) - Diploma in Agriculture, daughters Nancy - Bachelor of Education & Masters in Library & Information Studies, Leanne - B.Sc. in Agroecology and M.Sc. in Plant Science, and Shelley - Bachelor of Nursing.
Curtis taught grain marketing at Assiniboine Community College and for several years, ran a grain elevator for Allstate Grain at Emerson. Pat and Curtis started and operated Valley Seed Laboratory from 1986 to 2010 - a federally approved and audited seed testing laboratory. He has been a long-time member of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists and served a term on the board. Curtis (along with Pat) became Honorary Life Members of the Manitoba Seed Growers Association in 2011.
Curtis joined the Valley Agricultural Society (VAS), host of the Manitoba Stampede (the Big M). He served on the dairy committee of the Big M, then joined the board and served as president. He was a founding member of the Manitoba Association of Agricultural Societies (MAAS) and served as president for two years, and as administrator from 1990 to today.
On behalf of MAAS, Curtis administered many federal and provincial programs over the years including the Federal Fairs & Exhibition Program, the Canadian Farm Business Management Program, the Canadian Farm Safety Program and the Agri-food Research & Development Initiative (ARDI) of the Canadian Ag Policy Framework. Curtis developed and administered over 800 agreements, and paid - on behalf of the governments - approximately $85 million dollars to recipients while interacting with hundreds of potential and successful applicants of research projects as small as $500 and up to $3 million.
A strong supporter of his home community of Morris, Curtis has been a dedicated volunteer including as Cub Leader, Sunday School Youth Leader, and Church Board member, chair and trustee. He is a Red Hat recipient for his long involvement with the Big M. He has also been board member of the Morris Community Development Corporation and Morris & District Handi Van, and is currently vice-chair of the Morris Area Foundation.
Today Curtis and Pat spend their time with their four grandchildren, continue to help on the farm and hope to do more traveling.
Henry Holtmann was raised on the home dairy farm in Rosser, a farm started by Henry’s grandfather who came to Canada in 1929 from Germany. Henry’s parents took over the farm in 1961 and continued in dairy with purebred Holsteins.
Laura Holtmann was raised in Winnipeg, where her passion for agriculture began in her teen years spending time on family friends’ chicken farm south in Iles des Chenes.
Henry and Laura met at the University of Manitoba, where Henry received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Manitoba in 1984, and Laura graduated in 1985 with her Bachelor of Science in Agriculture.
After graduation from the University of Manitoba, Henry served as a quality control inspector at Canada Packers, and then as sales representative for Western Breeders for Manitoba/Saskatchewan from 1986 to 1991.
Laura worked for Monsanto as a sales representative in Saskatchewan and then at the dairy lab at the Agriculture Services Complex in Manitoba.
Since 1995, Henry and Laura, in partnership with Henry’s brother Tony and his wife Kim, have owned and operated Rosser Holsteins Ltd., a third-generation 650-cow dairy and 3200-acre grain and forage operation located in the municipality of Rosser, MB. The farm’s values include being family focused, producing quality milk, feed, and purebred Holsteins as well as advocating for the dairy farmer and agriculture, all done in a sustainable fashion. Today, the fourth generation of Holtmanns are actively involved including sons Eric and Ben, Ben’s wife Kelly, and Henry’s nephew, Joseph. Ben and Kelly, Eric and Joseph all have Diplomas in Agriculture from the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.
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