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The Financial Post takes a look at 11 people and companies we’ll be watching closely in the new year.

No crop held a position of greater importance on Kevin Serfas’ Alberta grain farm in the fall of 2017 than canola. In those days, the signature Canadian crop — once known as “black gold” for its dark seed and unmatched profitability or the “Cinderella crop” for its quick ascent to prominence — covered half of his sprawling 60,000-acre operation near the hamlet of Turin, just outside Lethbridge.

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It was a major commitment to say the least, sizeable enough to earn Serfas distinction as one of the province’s largest canola farmers.

“For a lot of years, it was the highest-value crop most guys could grow,” he said. “It had the best returns on it time and time again. Farmers really counted on it. I really counted on it.”

It wasn’t insignificant then that Serfas turned his back on canola this year, especially since he’s vice-chair of Alberta Canola and a director on the Canola Council of Canada.