AgAnnex Talks

Welcome to the first episode of She Grows – an initiative brought to you by Fruit & Vegetable and Greenhouse Canada to spotlight the stories of women growers helping to shape the Canadian horticulture industry. Chelsea Steenbergen is the owner of Applebottom Orchards, an apple orchard based in Palmerston, Ont. Steenbergen shares how she created her own opportunity by establishing her own orcha...

Welcome to the second episode of She Grows – an initiative brought to you by Fruit & Vegetable and Greenhouse Canada to spotlight the stories of women growers helping to shape the Canadian horticulture industry. Leanna James is grower operations manager at Envirofresh Produce Inc. James’s journey into the field was sparked by a single horticulture course while attending college. Now with 13 ye...

As a field marketer and sales coach at Hensall Co-op in Ailsa Craig, Ont., Meghan Scott has learned a lot about building relationships with growers, interns, summer students and co-workers. When it comes to cropping systems and making recommendations, there’s not always a perfect answer. That’s why relationships are so important. But it takes time to get to know people and to figure out the b...

There's no typical day in the life of Cathy Lennon. As the executive director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, a "typical" day can be filled with different advocacy and lobbying activities, which can take place on a small family farm or in Queen's Park. This means she's had to hone her communication skills, her mental flexibility and agility, and her empathy. It's those qualities that hav...

In this episode of the Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture podcast series, Dr. Martine Boulianne shares insights from her career as a leader in veterinary science and agricultural research. As a professor at the Université de Montréal, she has mentored countless students and worked closely with industry to advance animal health, food safety, and sustainability. Martine reflects on her journe...

Fuelled by a passion for agriculture, Jolene MacEachern is an advocate for the family farm. She is the director of strategic projects in the faculty of agriculture at Dalhousie University and works to improve learning opportunities for students to set them up for success in the ag industry. MacEachern even took the unconventional path to acquire her dairy farm while balancing her career and a fami...

Emily Ford is a senior agronomist with Quattro Farms in Bow Island, Alta. Ford always knew she had a passion for agriculture, and spent her early career gaining new experiences at both ends of the country as she learned more about which environments she thrived in the most. Ultimately, Ford is driven by a passion for helping Canadians understand where their food comes from – and she executes this...

Growing up on a grain and dairy farm, Candace Mitschke has always been involved in agriculture, but her career path has taken many turns. She’s worked in animal nutrition, hay exporting, functional food development, marketing and communications, crop insurance - and more - all of which eventually led to her role as executive director of SaskFSA (Farm Stewardship Association) and project lead for S...

Athyna Cambouris has played a pivotal role in paving the way for precision agriculture in Canada. As a research scientist at the Quebec Research and Development Centre for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, her work is driven by her goal to help farmers manage their crop production challenges. Athyna carries a passion for soil science and takes any opportunity to collaborate with farmers and other...

Blanket tariffs — like the proposed 25 per cent tariffs on all imports into the United States from Canada, set to come into place March 4 – affect every single industry. However, although the effects on almost all of Canada's industries are significant and negative, they're also all unique. Those who work in export commodities know that these complexities extend beyond consumer-level "buy Canadian...

We're mostly all about tile talk here on Focus on Drainage. But today's guest is detailing an alternative to tile: mole drains. While not as common in North America as they are overseas, mole drains are a cheaper alternative to tile drainage. While they don't work in every soil type or topography, a practical use case for mole drains – even when combined with traditional tile drainage – isn't that...

Some drainage doubters have legitimate concerns about whether or not drainage would worsen the effects of drought conditions in fields where soil moisture is significantly lacking. Dr. Vinayak Shedekar of the Ohio State University agrees that drainage could potentially worsen field conditions in areas experiencing significant drought – like the one experienced by Ohio in the summer of 2024, when m...

Denitrifying bioreactors are a key edge-of-field practice for removing excess nutrients from agricultural water before it enters our nation's waterways. But adoption of bioreactors is a tough sell, in part because it requires a less traditional ROI approach. Dr. Laura Christianson shares the details of how bioreactors work, what the ideal pairings are of edge-of-field practices and how they pay of...

Loralee Orr grew up on the farm. But as commercial leader for Corteva Canada, she’s also passionate about letting people of all ages know that one doesn’t have to grow up on the farm to find a fulfilling career in agriculture. In fact, Orr is passionate about introducing people to all of the diverse aspects of agriculture beyond primary production. Government relations, communications and the vast...

It can take time to find your true strengths. FCC's Aimée Ferré Stang shares how she's discovered, honed and grown her strengths in crucial, business-related skills since starting her career. And many skills, such as HR, marketing and other skills deemed more "soft" often are not taught in high school. But these skills often help farms succeed – from leading your teams to applying for a loan. Ferr...

How far can you go if you truly challenge yourself? Bayer's Arvel Lawson shares her insights into her career, including how things changed when she internalized feedback. Having always thought of herself as a technical and science-based individual, Lawson found that when she channeled her curiosity into improving her people skills. She also discusses how she's formally and informally honed and imp...

Fourth-generation contractor Jesse Tait was born into the industry. But he's never rested on his laurels. Believing that "can't lives on won't street," Tait strives to help farmers better understand the long-term payoff of drainage, while contextualizing the work that goes into drainage. In this episode, Tait shares his experiences not only with working as a contractor in Northern Ontario, where s...

Based in Alberta, Kendra Donnelly is the president of Ki-Era Cattle and Consulting, a company that provides business development, administration and CFO services within the beef industry. Although Donnelly grew up on a feedlot operation, working with animals didn't come naturally and she didn't initially expect to build a career in agriculture. In 2015, Kendra and her husband partnered with her pa...

For Kimberley Cathline, manager of the research program at the Horticultural & Environmental Sciences Innovation Centre (HESIC) at Niagara College, curiosity has long been a guiding force in her life. This has often resulted in her making decisions that some in her life have questioned. From travelling across the continent to California for her first job out of school to pursuing a graduate de...

The need to feed the world through agriculture is only getting more demanding – but so is the need to preserve waterways and environmental health. The Agricultural Drainage Management Coalition (ADMC) focuses on driving collaboration between contractors, farmers and various agencies in order to serve meet those goals. In this episode, we chat with ADMC executive director Keegan Kult at LICA's rece...

Feed the world. Preserve the environment for everyone's enjoyment. Christine Brown, one of our 2024 IWCA honourees, views her mission in life to be one of stewardship. It's that steadfast belief that helps Brown feel like she's among family when she networks with her fellow manure extension associates, wherever they're from. It didn't take Brown long to know she wanted to be in agriculture. Raised...

In the second episode of our new miniseries, agri-ecosystem specialist Mitchell Timmerman of Manitoba Agriculture discusses the growing trend of subsurface drainage for the purpose of agricultural water management in Manitoba. What's driving the rise of drainage in an area previously thought to not need much? And, if you're in a new-to-drainage area, what are the seven key questions to ask before...