Afamiliar face in Manitoba’s farming community has decided it’s time to move on after 13 years as general manager for Keystone Agricultural Producers.

Yvonne Rideout resigned as chief administrator of the province’s largest general farm policy organization Jan. 25.

“I’m taking a break now and looking at my options,” Rideout said in an interview March 26.

Rideout, who had been KAP’s general manager since 2000, said she plans to stay in Winnipeg and may end up continuing to work in agriculture.

Before joining KAP, Rideout was executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture.

Relationships will be what Rideout said she’ll miss most about KAP.

“Working in agriculture there’s a real family atmosphere,” she said.

Rideout leaves KAP at a time when farmers are more optimistic about the industry than they’ve been for years.

“I’ve got my fingers crossed for farmers,” she said.

KAP was sorry to see Rideout leave, said president Doug Chorney.

“She made a big contribution,” he said in an interview. “She worked through a lot of changes. She represented the organization well. We heard that from many people and that’s a real nice legacy.”

KAP is looking for a new general manager, Chorney said. In the interim KAP’s policy analyst James Battershill is KAP’s acting general manager.