After nearly four decades in the field, David Kaminski reflects on what it takes to manage disease, connect with farmers, and build a career in ag — one diagnosis at a time.
When David Kaminski started his career in plant pathology in 1988, he wasn’t exactly the archetype of a Prairie ag expert.
“I wasn’t a kid who grew up on a farm,” he admits. “I was a city kid.” Summers spent working for his uncle on the farm were enough to spark an interest in agriculture, but his uncle gave him a nudge in another direction: go to university.
That advice set Kaminski on a path that would eventually lead to a decades-long career spanning government, private industry, and nearly every corner of the Prairie provinces. He is retiring as as field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture.
“I started in Alberta, moved to Saskatchewan, and finished in Manitoba,” he says. “I got to see how the industry evolved across the West.”
Diagnosing a Changing Landscape
Kaminski’s first professional role as a diagnostician came in 1988. Since then, he’s watched disease management evolve from reactive scramble to proactive science.
“In the early days of pulse production in Saskatchewan, we were seeing Ascochyta in lentils—this was a brand-new disease at the time, and there were no chemical tools available,” he recalls. “The answer came through breeding. That’s been a common thread in plant pathology: when there’s no spray, the solution often has to come from genetics.”
When he arrived in Manitoba in 2001, fusarium head blight was wreaking havoc on cereals. “There had been some real disasters before I got here,” he says. “We didn’t have good resistance, so we leaned on emergency fungicide registrations just to keep things afloat. But over time, through sustained breeding efforts, we’ve developed varieties with strong resistance. That was a big win.”
Kaminski’s path has taken him through both government extension and private industry — and he’s adamant that both sides offer something valuable.
“You’re not just evaluating disease resistance in isolation,” he explains. “You’re part of a broader conversation that includes agronomics and quality traits. It’s about building a complete package that works for farmers.”
What He Tells the Next Generation
For Kaminski, the key to a rewarding career in ag isn’t just about deep specialization—it’s about range.
“We often come out of school with a narrow focus, especially in research,” he says. “But if you’re in extension or applied work, you need that wide-angle lens. Get out in the field. Learn from breeders, farmers, pathologists, soil scientists. See the whole system.”
He also encourages new grads to remain curious and open to change. “Don’t stay in one silo. I told myself early on I wouldn’t spend my whole career in just one environment. Moving around taught me things I never would’ve learned otherwise.”
