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CURRENT & CONNECTED
Eastern Ontario 2014
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Travelodge, Belleville
The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. is a national, not-for-profit organization
dedicated to assisting farm families and businesses by increasing the skills and knowledge of farm
advisors.
CAFA is an inclusive organization for all qualified farm advisors and consultants. Certified Ag Farm
Advisors have professional credentials and on-going industry education. As members of Canada’s
only national association of Certified Ag Farm Advisors, they also attend local meetings and
regional conferences to stay CURRENT with the farm sector and stay CONNECTED to a network
of farm professionals for the benefit of their farm clients.
For more information about CAFA, please visit their website at www.cafanet.com or contact Liz Robertson,
Executive Director at info@cafanet.com or call 306-466-2294.
Conference Sponsor
8:30-9:30: Registration & Breakfast
Master of Ceremonies: Theresa Wever, Wever Financial /Investia Financial Services
9:30-9:45: Amanda Hammell, CAFA National Chair, Opening Remarks
Amanda grew up on a cash crop & beef feedlot farm just outside of Brampton, which along with involvement
in 4-H and Junior Farmers built the foundation for a career in Ontario agriculture. She
earned a Bachelor of Commerce Degree specializing in Agricultural Business with
Honors at the University of Guelph. Currently Amanda is a Senior Financing
Specialist with RBC Royal bank where her focus is on developing solutions to help
clients achieve their business, financial and operational objectives.Amanda has
completed the Internship for Young Leaders program. She has played an active role in
various agricultural committees and boards.
Amanda and her husband Steve currently own and operate a dairy farm near Tara, ON
located in the heart of Bruce County where they are raising their two daughters, Madison
& Hailey.
National Sponsor Since 2004
Provincial Sponsor Since 2006
9:45-10:30: Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst: Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council
Growing Skills to Harvest Potential - Improve farm success through a focus on knowledge
& skills improvement
MacDonald-Dewhirst is the Executive Director of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource
Council (CAHRC), a national, non-profit organization focused on addressing human resource
issues facing agricultural businesses across Canada.
Portia holds an Industrial and Organizational Psychology Master of Arts degree and has a wealth
of experience in strategic Human Resource Management.Ms. MacDonald-Dewhirst has extensive
experience as an active member of industry based Boards and is currently the Co-Chair of the
Skills, Training, Education, & Recruitment Working Group of AAFC’s Labour Task Force.
10:30-11:15: Mary Carver: A Call for Improved Food Literacy
What is food literacy and why is it grabbing global attention? Why should the Ontario government make one food and
nutrition course mandatory?
Mary V. Carver, P.H.Ec. is an Ottawa-based Professional Home Economist who works as Public
Relations and Advocacy Coordinator for the Ontario Home Economics Association (OHEA).
Raised in an apple orchard in Northumberland County, this former teacher, dedicates much of her
retirement to consumer education via media presentations and writing. While Home Economics
embraces all aspects of home and family life, Professional Home Economists are especially
interested in food and nutrition as it directly impacts family health and a desirable quality of life.
Mary is a regular contributor to Newslink – OHEA’s provincial newsletter. Her articles have
appeared in The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Ottawa Citizen and The Ontario Farmer.
She has been quoted in The Rural Voice, The Winnipeg Free Press and The Vancouver Sun.
CBC News Ottawa ran a mini-series on the cost of groceries and filmed it in Mary’s kitchen. She
had been interviewed for several CBC and CTV news stories and most recently on CBC Radio’s
All in a Day.
11:15-11:45: Break
11:45- 12:30: Pat Learmonth, Farms at Work: Looking at Succession Outside of the Family
Farms at Work Mentorship Programs are designed to help new and restrategizing farmers build relationships with
experienced local mentors in their field of interest.
12:30-1:30: Lunch
1:30-2:15: Marcus Mitchell, Director of Portfolio Operations, Bonnefield
Farmland Lease Financing: Helping farmers meet their goals
Whether sitting around a kitchen table in rural New Brunswick or standing in the
middle of a canola field in northern Alberta, the Bonnefield team has clocked many
hours talking to Canadian farm operators about their economic realities: the capital
intensive nature of today’s farm operations and the growing number of farmers facing
retirement.
During this session, Bonnefield’s Director , Portfolio Operations, Marcus Mitchell, will
recap some of those discussions and discuss how Bonnefield’s farmland lease
financing program provides an alternative to traditional finance options to help
farmers overcome challenges and achieve their goals. He will provide insight into
how the program works and describe what guidelines have been put in place to make
it a true partnership. If any of your clients is a cash crop, full time farm operator with
one or more of the following goals, this session is for you.
Farmer’s goals
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strengthen balance sheet
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improve cash flow
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plan for retirement
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develop succession plan
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secure currently leased land
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expand their land base
Marcus is Director, Portfolio Operations responsible for the management of and strategy for Bonnefield's
investment portfolios. He also is a frequent contributor to Bonnefield’s original research.
Previously, Marcus was a Research Analyst with Colliers International with a focus on real-estate-related
research and analysis.
Marcus is a Level III candidate in the CFA program.
B.A. (Hons), specialization in Urban Development, University of Western Ontario (Gold Medal).
2:15-2:45: Paul Reeds: Ontario Soil & Crop Improvement Association: How the Growing
Forward 2 Program helps Advisors assist their Farm Clients.
Growing Forward 2 (GF2) is a 5-year program offering producers, processor and organizations education & financial
assistance. http://www.ontariosoilcrop.org/.
Paul Reeds is one of five Regional Program Leads for Ontario Soil and
Crop Improvement Association who is the delivery agent for GF2 to farm
Producers. Paul will outline of the GF2 program focusing on how the
educational workshop component and funding can assist Farmers both
directly and through their Advisors.
At the educational Growing Your Farm Profits (GYFP) workshops the
Farmers determine their needs and are directed to sources of
assistance such as courses or skilled Advisors. Advisors need to know
how the workshops can be key to identifying farmers with consulting
needs.
When farmers have identified a management need, Advisors and
Consultants can assist in two ways. Firstly, some farmers allocate the
application process to a consultant since they feel their time and skills are better spent elsewhere. Secondly, many
farmers require consulting services for numerous needs. One of the most frequent is succession planning. But there
are many other requests for services such as; business planning, feasibilities studies, risk management reduction,
diversification, human resources management, etc. Advisors and consultant need to know how the GF2 program can
assist the farmers to fund these needs.
Paul will provide GF2 program guides and explain what the GF2 program has to offer to assist Farmers both directly
and through their Advisors.
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Paul was born & raised on a three generation working beef and cash crop farm just south of Lindsay, Ontario.
Obtained an Honors Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from the University of Guelph.
Over 30 years in management positions in the; feed, fertilizer and agricultural finance business.
Obtained the following accreditations;
• AACI - Highest professional real estate appraisal designation.
• Graduate of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.
• Member in good standing with the Ontario Institute of Agrology.
Paul has served eight years on the City of Kawartha Lakes Agricultural Development Advisory Board, three years
as chairman.
In 2012-13 he worked the Kawartha Regional Conservation Authority on drafting their new Regulations and Policy.
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Currently the Regional Program Lead for Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association managing the 8000
farmer area from Milton to Napanee.
Paul and his wife Diane reside at Snug Harbour on Sturgeon Lake. They are the parents of four grow children;
Adam, Leslie, Brettney & Dayna.
2:45-3: Break
3-3:45: Charlie Forman, Forman Farms, Seeley’s Bay: Human Resource Management on a
Family Farm: A Forman Farms Case Study
Charlie and his wife Christine, along with sons Ben and Andrew, are the family behind
Forman Farms in Seeley’s Bay, Ontario. Charlie and Christine purchased their first
farm together on Brewer’s Mills Road in 1973. Beginning with a herd of beef cows on
200 acres, they have since grown their family and their farm exponentially. They no
longer keep livestock, instead harvesting grain, switchgrass, and IP soybeans off of
2400 acres of owned and rented land between Gananoque and Kingston. In 2005 the
Forman’s further diversified, and now operate hydroponic tomato greenhouses, a
garden centre and custom flower business, and grow 25 acres of field vegetables for
local stores and restaurants. Charlie and his sons also keep busy installing tile
drainage and clearing land for other farmers; hiring out their horizontal grinder to
businesses and government for waste wood processing; trucking grain, equipment, and
other agricultural commodities; selling bulk landscaping mulches; and still do some
custom farm work as well. In 2008 Charlie became a partner in SwitchGreen, a
company that manufactures biomass pellets at a mill on the farm. Outside the family,
Forman Farms keeps four additional year-round employees busy and increases its total
workforce to upwards of twenty people during peak seasons. Charlie has recently been
highlighted in Country Guide magazine and Eastern Ontario Agrinews for his dynamic
and innovative first-generation family farming practices. For more information visit www.formanfarms.ca.
3:45-4:30: Don Shaughnessy, B.Math, CA, The Protectors Group, Peterborough: Wealth:
Where does it go?
“It does not matter what you know until you know what it means”
A farm enterprise dominated estate provides a very challenging planning problem for
any adviser. It is not unsolvable, but successful resolution requires a long time,
organizational skills, discipline and family co-operation.My goal is to develop, present
and explain methods to achieve more income and larger capital values using tax
advantaged structures, products and methods.
The ability to deliver these outcomes has developed from experience gained in public
accounting, life insurance sales and training and consulting services relating to capital
acquisition and transfer questions.
Don Shaughnessy has spent 46 years in the financial services business. He is
presently an associate of The Protectors Group, a large insurance and investment
agency in Peterborough, Ontario. After graduating as a chartered accountant in 1971,
standing among the top 20 candidates in Canada in the uniform final exam, he went on to spend 10 years as a partner
in an international firm of chartered accountants. For the past 32 years, he has been involved with a life insurance
agency that specializes in tax effective solutions to estate, business succession and deferred income problems.
Don has a degree in computer science from University of Waterloo and uses this expertise to develop and test
solutions that can both work and last. He has designed and presented seminars to organizations ranging from the
CIBC to Federal Business Development bank to the Canadian Chartered Life Underwriters Association to the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture. He is a frequent speaker, has authored upwards of 900 published articles on financial
matters, has appeared on television and radio and has lectured at community college and in professional development
courses for the Canadian Bar Association, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and The Life Underwriters
Association of Canada (now Advocis).
The late George Brett, financial columnist with the Toronto Star, referred to him as “the most creative financial advisor I
have ever met.”
Don lives in Peterborough, Ontario with Margaret, his wife of 46 years. They have four grown children and six
grandchildren.
4:30: Adjourn
Thank you for joining us!
farmmarketer.com - National Sponsor of Certiﬁed AG Farm Advisors Since 2011