Sheila Hillmer steps into role of ABP Vice Chair

Alberta Beef Producers delegate and director Sheila Hillmer is joining the Executive as the new Vice Chair.

Hillmer, who farms and ranches with her family near Del Bonita and sits as an ABP delegate for the Southwest Zone, will serve as Vice Chair for the remainder of the 2022-2023 term.

“We are excited to see Sheila join the Executive,” said Melanie Wowk, ABP Chair. “She brings a wealth of knowledge, and perhaps even more importantly, an incredible passion for the agriculture industry.”

When Sheila joined ABP as a delegate four years ago, she was immediately elected to both ABP’s Board of Directors and the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) Board as an Alberta representative.

“I had hoped to sit a couple years as a delegate, but I was kind of thrown into it,” she laughs.

While Sheila is an active participant in all conversations at the Board table, she is most passionate about succession and sustainability.

“Sustainability means to me: succession for my boys and others in the next generation, profitability, and environmental stewardship,” she says. “Environmental issues are top of mind now, and we’ve got to leave this world better than we found it.”

Sheila brings her desire to support youth in agriculture to the table as a volunteer judge for ABP’s annual Young Guns Contest.

In addition to her work on the farm and with ABP, Sheila is a Key Account Manager with Elanco Canada, where she works with corporate feedyards. She also spends a significant amount of time developing and executing learning and development activities both internally within Elanco and externally to customers.

Sheila takes the Vice Chair position vacated by past Vice Chair Jason Hale, who resigned in October 2022.