Katelyn Duban, Host, The Rural Woman Podcast
Bio: Katelyn Duban is a first-generation farmer, storyteller and community builder. Since 2019 she has celebrated the stories of women in agriculture through her podcast, The Rural Woman Podcast. With over half a million downloads, Duban has been able to reach and amplify the voices of rural women to a worldwide audience.
Heather Watson, Executive Director, Farm Management Canada
Taking the Lead Towards Farm Management Excellence
Learn how to lead your farm to success while maintaining team harmony. In this session, Heather from Farm Management Canada will share principles of farm management excellence and offer practical solutions and tools to proactively navigate agriculture’s complexities to ensure a thriving and resilient farming future.
Bio: Heather Watson leads the team as Executive Director of Farm Management Canada, a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, appreciation and adoption of farm business management practices to help position Canada’s farmers for sustainable growth and prosperity. For over a decade, she has also served as the Canadian representative to the International Farm Management Association and, in 2022, was recognized as one of Canada’s Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture.
Heather obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Guelph and her master’s from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. She grew up in southwestern Ontario and now lives in Ottawa.
Mark Verwey, Partner, BDO LLP
The Business of Farming
In this presentation, gain key strategies and tactics integral to the success of your farming operation. From debt and cash flow management to creating and assessing success metrics, Mark Verwey, who leads BDO’s Agriculture Industry Group, will provide insights to help you navigate the ever-increasing complexities and challenges producers face.
Bio: Mark Verwey, a partner in BDO Canada LLP’s Portage la Prairie office, has 35 years of experience as a Chartered Professional Accountant with expertise in owner-managed businesses and agricultural clients. Mark is the leader of the National Agriculture Industry Group for BDO, a leading agriculture accounting and advisory firm with more than 125 offices across Canada. He is also a Certified Financial Planner and Registered Financial Planner, which enhances the services available to his clients, including estate, succession and tax planning.
Leigh Anderson, Senior Economist, FCC
Navigating Economic Factors for Better Decision-Making
Spot trends and assess risks to make informed decisions and investments. In this session, Leigh will recap 2024 and present the FCC Ag Economics team’s forecasts of the economic and financial variables that matter in 2025.
Learn how to navigate the uncertain economic environment and interest rates, get profitability projections for agriculture and explore farmland value trends.
Bio: Leigh Anderson is a Senior Economist at FCC with experience in agricultural markets and risk. He specializes in monitoring and analyzing FCC’s portfolio and industry health and providing industry risk analysis. In addition to his speaking engagements on agriculture and economics, Leigh is a regular contributor to the FCC Economics blog.
Leigh joined the Economics team in 2015. Before FCC, he worked in the policy branch of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. He holds a master’s in agricultural economics.
Brett Gardiner, Pro Rodeo Announcer, Mental Performance Coach
The Power of a Positive Mindset
In this session, Brett Gardiner will explore why we’re constantly “Battling for Baseline,” and the unique impact that working in the agricultural industry can bring on mental health.
In telling his story, he’ll explore positive growth, the power of mindset, and psychological principles that support your well-being in good times and help you build resilience during challenging times.
Bio: Brett Gardiner is the most-awarded announcer in Western sports history. Having been named the Canadian Pro Rodeo Announcer of the Year for the past thirteen consecutive seasons, Brett can be found behind the microphone at many of the industry’s most celebrated events, including the Canadian Finals Rodeo and the Calgary Stampede.
But more than just an award-winning wordsmith, Brett strongly advocates for mental health and wellness, having become one of the most sought-after speakers and consultants in mental performance and motivation. Brett holds a master’s degree in counselling psychology and is a doctoral candidate in the sports and performance psychology program at the University of Western States.
Dan Lussier, Director, Canadian Agri-Food Data Initiative, EMILI
Agriculture Data Literacy: High Quality Data to Support Decision Making
○ What is agriculture data?
○ How to think about data quality?
○ Bringing together farm business planning and the data lifecycle
Bio: As EMILI’s Director of the Canadian Agri-Food Data Initiative, Dan’s work helps ensure digital tools and farm data are used responsibly throughout the agriculture value chain. He believes that by working closely with growers and technology innovators, digital agriculture can help to solve the industry’s biggest challenges
Annessa Good-Hassard, Transition Advisor, Farmer
Transition Tactics for Emerging Young Farmers
As the agricultural landscape evolves, young farmers face unique challenges and opportunities. Join Annessa Good-Hassard of Peak Heritage Consulting Ltd. for a comprehensive transition planning presentation focused on helping young farmers navigate the complexities of family dynamics, operational clarity and estate planning to ensure a thriving future for their farming enterprises.
Bio: Annessa Good-Hassard knows firsthand the complexities of inter-generational family farm transition. Raised on her family’s mixed farm, she and her husband recently moved back and are the successors of their operation. As owner and advisor of Peak Heritage Consulting Ltd., Annessa provides her clients with a big-picture, holistic view of transition planning to better understand the intricacies of each unique family, their business and their wealth ramifications.
She previously worked for GRS Consulting, her family’s private consulting firm focused on financial management and succession planning, delivering content from the senior and junior generation’s perspectives. She then joined FCC as a Business Advisor, working with farm families and gaining national perspectives. Annessa is a certified Family Enterprise Advisor.