(Aug 1, 2025-Olds, AB) Sarah Weigum of Alect Seeds located at Three Hills was named Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2025. The Regional event was held July 29-30, at AgSmart hosted by Olds College , with sponsors and alumni in attendance. Sarah will go on to represent Alberta at Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers competition November 2025 in Toronto.
Alect Seeds’ Sarah Weigum, specializes in pedigreed seed production and retail sales on her farm at Three Hills, Alberta. Sarah co-owns the business with her parents, who started the farm and seed business in the 1980s.
Sarah spread her wings after high school, but returned to the farm in 2011 after studying English literature at university, working in communications in BC and Ottawa and cooking for a tree planting camp. She uses the skills she learned through these diverse experiences to improve marketing, expand her customer base and connect with professionals across the grain and seed industry. The primary goals at Alect Seeds are to bring the best varieties and crop types to their customers and improve the quality of the land they farm. A diverse crop rotation supports both of those outcomes and is something Sarah and her family are extremely proud of. Alect Seeds produces crops such as wheat, barley and peas that are familiar to all Prairie farmers, but it’s niche crops like faba beans, flax and fall rye is where the farm truly shines.
Through field days, writing for farm publications, involvement in grower groups and many, many conversations on the phone and in the community, Sarah has led the way in supporting farmers who want to grow outside the box. Today she is the president of the Alberta BC Seed Growers and is also a board member for her local seed plant co-operative. She is proud to advocate for her fellow producers and her involvement in these groups is a testament to her deep belief that farmers succeed when they work together.
Alberta OYF’s event included a Bus tour to Rock Ridge Dairy, owned by Alberta 2015 alumni Patrick & Cherylynn Bos, a goat dairy, milk processing plant & greenhouse and a presentation by Norman & Leona Storch “the Old Outstanding Young Farmer”. They were very pleased to have Alberta’s Minister of Agriculture, RJ Sigurdson in attendance.
Amy Cronin, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer Program’s President, attended the event and made this comment, “The Alberta Outstanding Young Farmers have, once again, put on an incredible event, attracting alumni, sponsors, friends, and family. This year‘s winner, Sarah Weigum, demonstrates the values that our program stands for: excellence, sustainability, and passion. Sarah operates a seed business and exemplifies the spirit of collaboration, creating a model that can be used by other farmers as well. She is an advocate for agriculture and takes pride in being a journalist who put some of the most technical information into articles that the industry can easily understand and adopt. Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer’s national event promises to be a good one with incredible finalists from across the country.”
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers competition is an annual competition aimed at rewarding the farmers who demonstrate excellence in their profession and promoting agriculture’s huge contribution. Open to participants aged 18 to 39 years old, whose major source of income comes from agricultural sources, participants are selected from seven regions in Canada, and two national winners are chosen each year. The program is sponsored nationally by Agriculture Canada, CIBC, John Deere, Bayer, Sollio Agriculture, Meridian Manufacturing, and CN with medias sponsors Glacier FarmMedia, and Nucleus Consulting and video sponsor Bamboo Shoots. It is supported nationally by BDO and Dieno Digital.
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers of 2025 will be chosen during the national competition that will be held in Toronto, ON, from November 27th to 30th 2025.
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For information or a picture of Sarah, contact:
Carla Kaeding, Program Manager
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers
306-896-7833 – [email protected] – www.oyfcanada.com