Virostek is Alberta’s winner of the 2025 Lallemand Hometown Roots photo contest

Advance Photo Submitted. WINNING PHOTO: “Our small community is bringing agriculture into the school,” said Virostek. “Allowing students to learn and make decisions related to raising a farm and animals like its their own. Subjects dive deeper into income, expenses, investments, and more related to everyday necessities of life for farm life.”

By Heather Cameron
Vauxhall Advance
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Rolling Hills farmer Louise Virostek was recently named Alberta’s winner of the 2025 Lallemand Hometown Roots Contest for her photo submission, and directed her $5,000 donation prize from Lallemand Plant Care to the Fundraising Society of Rolling Hills School.

“The funds will support the school’s agriculture education program, which gives students hands-on experience with livestock, markets, and food production,” said Virostek.

Virostek currently lives with her husband, Derek, and two children near Rolling Hills, and they operate Bantry Seed Farm, which specializes in alfalfa, cereal, pulse, and potato seed. Farming is in her blood, as she also grew up on a small grain farm in northern Saskatchewan before furthering her education at Lakeland College in Vermilion in the Crop Technology Program (2010).

Virostek emphatically says that she is ‘excited and grateful’ to be chosen as this year’s Alberta winner, stating she chose that particular society for donation because the school has a ‘unique agricultural program.’ 

“I chose to support the Fundraising Society of Rolling Hills School because our kids attend the school, and we’ve seen the incredible agriculture program they are building,” said Virostek. “It means a lot to support a project that gives students hands-on experience with everything from livestock to markets while building knowledge and pride in agriculture. We’re very appreciative of Lallemand for running a contest like this and supporting rural communities in such a meaningful way and are excited to see where this takes our students.”

The school’s program, Virostek says, is designed to give students real-world agriculture experience, from caring for livestock to tracking markets and making investment decisions and has been integrated throughout the school’s curriculum. A new barn, Virostek says, is also currently being created to house farm animals.

“Everyone can truly benefit from learning different aspects of agriculture which is why we promote seeing this expansion happen,” Virostek says.

According to Lallemand Plant Care, the founder of the Homegrown Roots Contest, the photo contest was launched in 2021 and has since provided support to 29 rural organizations across Canada and the U.S. to celebrate the important role of agriculture in rural life. Lallemand says as part of the contest, three prizes are awarded annually in Canada, one for each province: Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, and the winners of said prizes are invited to select a local organization or charity to receive a $5,000 donation from Lallemand.

“As a family-owned business, giving back to rural communities is part of who we are,” said Anne Favre, Strategic Marketing Director – USA Canada, Lallemand Plant Care. “The Hometown Roots contest celebrates people and programs that make rural life strong and vibrant, and Rolling Hills School is a wonderful example of how agriculture can shape future generations.”