J D _JIM_ BEATON

							                                                          J D (JIM) BEATON
                                                          Class of 1951 and 1953

                                        J D (Jim) Beaton was born in Vancouver, BC attended John Oliver and
                                        Magee High Schools. He earned his BSA in 1951 and MSc in 1953,
                                        specializing in soil science. In 1951, he received a Ph.D. in soil science
                                        at Utah State University.


                                         Although encouraged to study structural engineering, Jim chose soil
                                        science because of the wide diversity in requisite disciplines including
                                        bacteriology, biology, botany, chemistry geology, mathematics, and
plant physiology. Optional electives in agricultural engineering, agronomy, and dairy science were also of
interest. His BSA thesis, "A Study of Soil Nutrient Level on a Dairy Farm in the Fraser Valley", was
supervised by Drs D G Laird and C A Rowles of UBC's Department of Agronomy, as was his MSc thesis on
the "Influence of Burning on the Soil in the Timber Range Area of Lac le Jeune, BC". While a student at UBC,
he played Canadian football and in 1950 was a member of the Minto Cup junior box lacrosse finalist team.


Jim Beaton recalls that in the Irrigation and Drainage course in Ag Engineering, it rained steadily every
afternoon that he and lab partner J D Lindsay were out surveying to design a drainage plan for one of the
Agronomy farm fields. One of the most humorous incidents that he fondly remembers is the lab instructor in
dairy science mentioning the complaints she had received from friends about grit in the butter prepared by
students in her lab. The reason for these complaints was that Jim Beaton, without a lab partner, was unable
to prevent the butter from falling on the floor during the butter making process and thus the inclusion of
objectionable foreign matter.


Jim Beaton's challenging career included two years of teaching and research in the Department of Soil
Science at UBC. During this short time he revised the courses in soil fertility and soil bacteriology and
introduced a new course in soil plant relationships. He also supervised two MSc students and at least two
BSc students. Following about six years as a Research Scientist with the Research Branch of Agriculture
Canada at Kamloops, B.C. and Swift Current, SK where he conducted research on water management and
fertilization of forages , soil -fertilizer reaction products, soil potassium mineralogy, etc., Jim Beaton was
employed for 11.5 years with CM and S Co. Ltd. (later to be renamed Cominco Ltd., Cominco Fertilizers, and
now Agrium Inc.) at Trail, BC and Calgary, AB where he held positions of Soil Scientist ; Head, Soil Science
Research ; Senior Agronomist ; and finally Chief Agronomist. Some of his research included the behaviour
and fate of fertilizers in soil ; development and agronomic evaluation of new and/or improved fertilizer
materials ; and forest fertilization. His research was instrumental in the acceptance of urea in western
Canada and now urea is the most commonly used solid N fertilizer worldwide. Also, Jim Beaton was
instrumental in the introduction of Forestry Grade urea, a product specially designed for aerial application to
forests and the practice of impregnating urea with herbicides.


For a period of five and one-half years 1968 to 1973, Jim Beaton served as Director of Agricultural
Research, The Sulphur Institute in Washington, D.C. In this capacity he was responsible for sulphur fertilizer
market development in North America and developed a number of well accepted technical bulletins and
other educational materials. In 1978 he began a 17 year tenure, with the Potash & Phosphate Institute (PPI)
and Potash & Phosphate Institute of Canada (PPIC) as Western Canada and Northwest Director located in
Calgary, AB. In 1986 he was appointed Vice President of PPIC in Saskatoon and in 1998 was named Vice
President of PPI and President of PPIC. He was promoted to Senior Vice President of PPI in 1989. In these
various capacities, he was involved in domestic and global fertilizer market development in combination with
sound agronomic practices. At one point the PPIC Office in Saskatoon administered a program of up to 150
research and education projects in 22 countries. The focus of these research and education projects was to
increase crop production through balanced fertilization in combination with best management practices
which protect the environment.


As President of PPIC, Jim Beaton had a prominent role in procuring and administering substantial funding
from the Provinces of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick and several Canadian government agencies
including the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the International Research and
Development Agency (IRDC), the Western Diversification Program, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency (AOCA), and the Program for Export Market Development. He was also responsible for
supplementary financial support from the Saskatchewan potash producers through Canpotex , their export
agency.


Jim Beaton co-authored the 4th (1985), 5th (1993), and 6th (1999) editions of the widely used university
textbook "Soil Fertility and Fertilizers." He served as Adjunct Professor at the University of BC from 1985 to
1994 and at the University of Saskatchewan from 1987 to 1994, giving guest lectures, and acting as
external examiner for five Ph.D. theses at these institutions.


He was active in fertilizer industry organizations, serving as Director and a member of various technical
committees of the Canadian Fertilizer Institute and the Western Canada Fertilizer Association. In 1977 to
1979, Jim Beaton was President of the Western Canada Association. The International Fertilizer Association
named him a Correspondent Member in 1995/96 and he has been a member of the panel for selecting the
recipient of that Association's International Fertilizer Award in 1996, 97, 98, 99, and 2000. Jim Beaton was a
member of numerous professional societies and served on many of their committees. He was one of the
Associate Editors of the Soil Science Society of America Journal. He has authored approximately 190
scientific papers, technical bulletins, chapters in symposium proceedings, technical, and semi-technical
articles plus 7 chapters in books and edited 5 books and symposium proceedings. He has delivered technical
papers and seminars throughout Canada, and in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia,
Japan, Nicaragua, Philippines, United States, and Venezuela.


For his many achievements, Jim Beaton was elected a Fellow in 4 professional societies (AIC, CSSS. ASA,
and SSSA), received 2 agronomic service awards (ASA and Western Co-Operative Fertilizers Limited), and
named Honourary Member in 4 fertilizer organizations (CAAR, CFI, NFSA, and WCFA). In 1994, he was
named an Honourary Professor in the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Since retirement from
PPI/PPIC in early 1994, Jim Beaton has served as a consultant to 10 companies or organizations, including
an Agriteam Canada/World Bank mission, with associated travel, frequently to China, several times to India,
and many other countries.


In private life, Jim Beaton has been a member of Rotary International and is currently a member of the
Probus and Canadian Clubs in Kelowna, BC. In 1952 he married Doris Ford who was an outstanding student
and athlete from John Oliver High School in Vancouver. They currently reside in Kelowna, B.C. and spend
much of their time visiting their three daughters and husbands, and four grandchildren, as well as assisting
at their oldest daughter and son-in-law's horse breeding farm near Langley, B.C.