Emma Cross

Victoria's Bio

aGRO’s founder, Victoria Ross, hated seeing her father John working full-time as a rancher but also needing an evening job to keep the farm going (nearly 50% of Canadian farmers face the same problem). aGRO was born from Victoria’s drive to help these sustainable smaller players profit and have better livelihoods (the UN family-run scaled producers as the most environmentally productive class of food production).

Victoria Ross started market research for aGRO Systems during her BCOMM at the University of Calgary, and launched business operations shortly after graduating in June 2018. Through Victoria’s continuous efforts (and the team!), aGRO has successfully diverted over 50 million pounds of spent grain from entering the landfill to be repurposed as nutritional animal feed. 

Victoria was one of the first women recognized for SHEInnovates, the Alberta Chapter, by UN Women. Most recently, Victoria has spoken at the 2022 Advancing Women in Agriculture, the 2022 Cultivate: Agriculture Summit with the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, and hosted the 2022 Alberta Beer Awards in Red Deer. She is aGRO System’s leader in managing sales, market research, and bringing the company’s vision to life.

aGro Systems

Dr.'s Bio

Ed is an internationally-recognized expert on the behavior and welfare of a wide variety of species (Beef cattle, Dairy cattle, Swine, Poultry, and Lab Animals) as well as having expertise in animal welfare standards and legislation. Dr. Pajor has published over 140 scientific papers and consulted with numerous national and international companies.

An effective and enthusiastic teacher, Professor Pajor was named a University Peak Scholar, was awarded the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Great Supervisor award, and served on the AVMA’s Model Animal Welfare Curriculum Planning Group which was charged with developing an animal welfare-based curriculum for veterinary schools in North America. Ed is a graduate of the University of Waterloo with an Honors Co-op B.Sc. Degree in biology. In addition, he earned a MSc. and PhD. degree in biology from McGill University specializing in Animal Behaviour.

W.A. Ranches

Tracey's Bio

Tracey combines academic expertise with entrepreneurial experience in agriculture. After two years of graduate research in honey bee biology at the University of Alberta, she founded Beanstalk Honey, running it for over a decade while building strong connections in the farming community. With a background in conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, and industry leadership, Tracey brings a vision for innovation and community engagement to her role at Organic Alberta.

Organic Alberta

Stacy's Bio

Stacy Murray is a passionate advocate for lifelong learning and the agriculture industry. Currently the extension coordinator with Gateway Research Organization (GRO), a non-profit producer-led applied agriculture research association, she has spent her career sharing her knowledge and passion with youth and producers around the province. GRO does research and demonstration projects relating to crop production, soil, water, livestock and grazing. Stacy supports this work hands-on in the field, by organizing field days and workshops, sharing with school groups, and through various print and electronic means. 

Stacy grew up on a mixed farming operation and her family’s involvement in various agriculture organizations provided opportunities to travel much of Western Canada and learn about wide range of operations in the agriculture industry. She was raised with a belief in sustainable and regenerative concepts before they became terms applied to the agriculture industry. Stacy has a BSc in Agriculture and believes that cooperation between all involved in the agri-food value chain - producers, industry, processors and consumers - can lead to solutions that will benefit everyone economically, environmentally, and for health.

Gateway Research Organization