Management Team
Robert D. Saik, P.Ag., C.A.C., Senior Agri-Coach™
CEO
Robert Saik holds a BSc in Agriculture from the University of Alberta and is a Professional Agrologist and a Certified Agricultural Consultant.
He is the founder and CEO of the Agri-Trend Group of Companies which include, Agri-Trend Agrology Ltd, a professional agronomic consulting firm, Agri-Trend Aggregation Inc, a carbon offset company and Agri-Trend Australia Pty, an Australian consulting firm. He is the creator of The Strategic Crop Plan™ which is an agronomic leadership program delivered to farmers through their nation-wide Network of professional Agri-Coaches™.
Saik has successfully founded and subsequently sold two fertilizer retail companies in AB and SK. He also has a background in farming having owned an operation in north-eastern Alberta.
Robert has travelled extensively in North America as well as the UK, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, Peru, the Middle East and Ukraine where he has been involved in a variety of projects and speaking engagements.
Since 1994, he has been enrolled in The Strategic Coach Program for entrepreneurs and applies principles learned in this program to his various ventures.
Saik has prepared, published and delivered many technical papers, and has been featured in many industry publications. He has provided leadership in the area of strategic marketing to many firms including TD Canada Trust.
Robert is currently the Alberta Director for the Canadian Consulting Agrologists Association, is a member of the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Policy Committee, and is a Director for the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce.
In 1991 Robert received the President’s Award for outstanding contribution to the agricultural industry from the Western Fertilizer and Chemical Dealers Association and is the co-chair for the Canadian Association of Ag Retailers Conference in Calgary in February, 2007.
In 2006 he was recognized as Distinguished Agrologist of the Year by the Alberta Institute of Agrology.
Robert enjoys sailing, hiking and golf. He has four great kids and makes his home in Red Deer, Alberta.
Elston Solberg, M.Sc. Soils, President
Senior Agri-Coach™, Head of the Agri-Coach Network
Elston Solberg grew up on a dairy farm in the Ryley Alberta area, and after earning his M.Sc. in Soils, went on to become a well recognized researcher and author of many different topics related to soil science and agronomy. His 22 year research career was complemented with such adventures as being the mayor of his home town Ryley for eight years, and managing a large scale commercial waste disposal facility.
Elston has a unique style of thinking outside of the traditional paradigms, and “connecting the dots” that appear at first glance to be unrelated. He has a passion for training others around him to “connect the dots” and develop solutions that are usually different than the status quo. It was his unique style and passion for training people that got him interacting with Agri-Trend, and eventually coming to join the Agri-Trend Network in 2002.
Elston was the original “Senior Agri-Coach”, and has built the Agri-Knowledge Division of Agri-Trend up to include 15 Senior Agri-Coaches so far, all with very impressive credentials. This prestigious group is focused on training the Agri-Trend Network, advising on technical agronomy issues when asked, and providing the technical content to the many events and publications that Agri-Trend is involved with. Elstons style of being open minded and connecting the dots has became the culture of this entire group, and as a result they are all researching things they would have never dreamed about as part of the institutions they once worked with.
In 2008, Elston was thought to best reflect the heart and soul of The Agri-Trend Network, and best to lead it into the future as its president.
Chris Paterson, BSc, PAg
Network Sales Manager
Agri-Coaching is an exciting new option for motivated people who have experience in agronomy, and want to take their career to the next level. There are many regions that are primed for the launch of a very successful new Agri-Coaching business. If you have ever wondered about becoming an Agri-Coach, and want to know more about what that involves, where, when, why, and how, Chris is the one to call.
If you are with a product manufacturing company, and you would like your product to be considered by the Agri-Trend Network on the millions of acres they impact, Chris can arrange this. Through research, demonstration, product training, and information distribution, a product can earn the confidence level required by an Agri-Coach to be recommended as the best choice to a farm client.
Chris is originally from a farm in Saskatchewan, graduated from the U of Sask in 92 with a degree in Agronomy, and later became a P.Ag. He has lived and worked throughout North America in the Agri-Food industry, and has also been involved with several overseas marketing assignments. He has a strong background in marketing crop inputs and applied agronomics.
While based in the US, and observing several major trends in what the most successful farmers were doing different, and coupling those observations with what was happening with government resources, advances in technology, and crop and livestock margins, Chris realized the strong need in all areas for what Agri-Trend was achieving in Canada, and joined in 2005 to be a part of the development and growth of its success.
