Alberta’s Steve Funk Recognized for his Contribution to Farm Management Excellence with Prestigious Wilson Loree Award

December 11, 2023, Ottawa, ON – Farm Management Canada recently held its annual Agricultural Excellence Conference where Steve Funk was announced as the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Wilson Loree Award. Now in its twenty-first year, the Award honours individuals or groups who have made an extraordinary contribution to advancing farm business management in Canada.

Steve retired earlier this year as Director of MNP’s Agriculture Risk Management Resources where he helped producers and industry understand AgriStability and other business risk management (BRM) programs, how these programs impact and support farm financial viability, and how to optimize program coverages and payments within the context of an overall farm insurance risk management strategy. Steve oversaw the Firm’s provision of AgriStability, AgriInvest, Ag Risk Management Projector™ and other risk management services, where he was instrumental in service design, development, implementation, training and monitoring of service delivery systems and processes.

Steve has been a leading authority on AgriStability and other BRM programs in Canada. Over the last 27 years of Steve’s career, he dedicated himself to helping government shape the current BRM framework. Steve has also educated hundreds of people across Canada on business risk management to create awareness and further educate the industry on BRM helping make a positive influence on many policy decisions related to BRM.

The cumulative dollar value he has single-handedly secured for Canadian Farmers would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars over his career.

More recently, Steve has been a strong supporter of financial fluency in Canadian agriculture. He has drawn a key correlation between a farmer’s level of financial fluency and their ability to understand risk management and support farmer mental health through risk management planning.

Wilson Loree proudly presented Steve with the 2023 Wilson Loree Award on November 22, 2023 during Farm Management Canada’s Agricultural Excellence Conference.



Here is some of what Steve’s colleagues had to say about his contributions to affecting positive change in farm business management:

“Steve would rank in the top 2-3 people (possibly #1) in Canada who best understand AgriStability, and this has been recognized by the federal government and key industry organizations who have engaged Steve on multiple occasions to assist them in their assessment of the program.”

“Steve has regularly served as a resource to many of us in the industry, and his level of commitment to providing trusted and reliable guidance in the areas of AgriStability and Business Risk Management (BRM) is immediately apparent.”

“Steve goes above and beyond by sharing his knowledge publicly, through speaking engagements and presentations, to ensure that Canadians are well advised. He has regularly made himself available to producer associations across Canada to discuss BRM, share insights from his extensive experience and technical expertise, and support producer education and advocacy in the process.”

“Canadian Agriculture would not be as strong today without the contributions that Steve has made to the industry.”

Our congratulations to Steve!

Wilson Loree retired as Branch Head of Agriculture Business Management after 27 years with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. The Award was created in 2002 in Wilson’s name by Farm Management Canada. Wilson is cited as “an individual who exemplifies innovation, wisdom, and a constant focus on the farm manager and the farm family.”

About Farm Management Canada
A national umbrella for Canadian farm business management activity, Farm Management Canada is the only organization devoted exclusively to the development and delivery of advanced business management information, tools and resources to position Canada’s farmers for success. Farm Management Canada’s programs and activities are made possible through support from generous sponsors and supporters including the Government of Canada.

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