Agvocates rejoice. If you want to hear stories, build stories, tell and promote stories, then the 2017 Manitoba Ag Days lineup of speakers is certain to make you happy.
“Sharing our story is important when it comes to agriculture and advocating agriculture in general,” says Kristen Phillips, Manitoba Ag Days general manager. “I am particularly excited about the inclusion of Terry O’Reilly from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) as the keynote speaker at our event. Terry breaks the art of storytelling down, shows how to harvest stories from businesses and how to package those stories into powerful marketing that wins hearts and dollars.”
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Many will know O’Reilly from the CBC show “Under The Influence.” O’Reilly believes that every industry must have a compelling story to tell. Stories help differentiate industry, brand, farm and products. Turning good stories into marketing helps educate consumers and can separate fact from myth in the marketplace.
In the world of food and farming, smart messaging helps connect the public to farmers. Knowing how to tell a marketing story can help communicate intangible elements like trust, confidence and value. O’Reilly will be speaking at 3:30 p.m. January 18 in the FCC Theatre at the south end of the Westman Communications Group Arena.
Phillips says O’Reilly will join 60-plus other speakers over the three days in the MNP Theatre and the FCC Theatre to speak to Manitoba Ag Days attendees. Some of the speakers utilize PowerPoint presentations, and are formal while others are off the cuff. Phillips says all will be informative and attendees will be pleased with the topics presented.
“We have invested a lot of time and energy into bringing in our best speaking lineup ever – there is something for everyone,” Phillips said. “We have a wide range of dynamic speakers with backgrounds from private industry, governments, and academia who will bring their areas of expertise to the Ag Days crowd.
“Our program committee has worked long hours to flush out ideas and work towards finalizing speakers for the Seminar Program of Manitoba Ag Days. And the quality of our speakers certainly reinforces that hard work.”
Phillips also singled out Angela Santiago from The Little Potato Company, Drew Lerner from World Weather Inc., and Thomas Mielke who is flying over from Germany to share his thoughts from Oil World. Other speakers include Lance Stockbrugger, Tom Wolf and Larry Weber.
Phillips recommends that attendees check the program and preplan their day to ensure they catch the speakers and topics that appeal to their interests. Log on to www.agdays.com to preplan your schedule or follow on Twitter @Man.AgDays.
“It can be tough to co-ordinate your time at Ag Days because people are on the move all the time,” Phillips said. “There’s people seeing people who they haven’t seen in years. I have even missed speakers from chatting to too many people I know on my way to the theatres.”
SPEAKER SCHEDULE
Tuesday, January 17
FCC Theatre
Morning
Manitoba Canola Growers program
9 a.m. Canola Disease Dilemmas, Harvest Management and Mitigating Loss
- Angela Brackenreed, regional agronomist, Canola Council of Canada
- Justine Cornelsen, regional agronomist, Canola Council of Canada
10:15 a.m. Canola Market Access – An Update
- Patti Miller, president, Canola Council of Canada
11 a.m. Canola Market Forecast
- Thomas Mielke, executive director of global research and analysis, Oil World
Afternoon
Agriculture at all levels
1 p.m. Ag Days Gives Back Awards Presentations
1:15 p.m. Let Food Be Thy Medicine
- Jordyn Ham, student, MacGregor Collegiate, MacGregor, Man.
- Alice Rooke, student, Vincent Massey Collegiate, Brandon, Man.
1:30 p.m. Dignitaries Address
- The Hon. Ralph Eichler, minister of agriculture
- His Worship Rick Chrest, mayor of City of Brandon
2:30 p.m. Bathtub to Boardroom – The Little Potato Company
- Angela Santiago, co-founder/CEO, The Little Potato Company
3:30 p.m. Grain Market Outlook
- Larry Weber, president, Weber Commodities Ltd.
MNP Theatre
Morning
Think safe, be safe, act safe
10 a.m. Be Grain Safe
- Glen Blahey, agricultural health and safety specialist, Canadian Agricultural Safety Association
10:15 a.m. “Because I Love You”
- Angela Fox, owner/operator, Steadfast Ranch, Eddystone, Man.
11 a.m. STARS – (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society)
- STARS staff
11:15 a.m. Triumph over Tragedy – A Personal Journey
- Curtis Weber, safety consultant, C Weber Consulting Ltd.
Afternoon
Celebrating 40 years of Ag Days success
1 p.m. Farm Transition – Panel Discussion
- Tere Stykalo, regional ag leader, MNP LLP
1:45 p.m. Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture
- Explaining GMOs to a non-farmer Renate Jochum, student, University of Manitoba, St. Francois Xavier, Man.
- Old MacDonald had a farm, but what about Mrs. MacDonald?Abbey Chubaty, student, Woodmore, Man.
2 p.m. Forty years of Ag Days success
- Steve Antaya, program director, CKLQ Communications Group
- Matt Reimer, owner, Reimer Robotics
- Kim Keller, former co-owner and co-founder, Farm At Hand
- Adam Reid, marketing manager, Versatile
- Perry Gryde, territory manager, Honey Bee Manufacturing Ltd.
- Pat Bourgeois, manager, Seed Hawk
Wednesday, January 18
FCC Theatre
Morning
Bomb-proofing your business
9 a.m. Tax & Management Strategies for the Good, Bad & Ugly Years
- Lance Stockbrugger, chartered accountant/producer, LD Stockbrugger Farms
9:45 a.m. Street-Proofing the Farm for the 5Ds
- John Stewart, partner, D’Arcy & Deacon LLP
10:30 a.m. Show Me The Money & How to Get It
- Darren Bond, farm management specialist, Manitoba Agriculture
- Roy Arnott, farm management specialist, Manitoba Agriculture
11 a.m. Precision Farming For Your Marketing Plan
- David Derwin, portfolio manager-commodities/equities, PI Financial Corp.
Afternoon
Machinery, technology & agriculture
1 p.m. From Souris Valley to Silicon Valley
- Scott Day, director of agronomy, Fall Line Capital/co-owner, Treelane Farms Ltd.
1:45 p.m. Big Data & Precision Agriculture – Panel Discussion
- Brenda Tjaden Lepp, co-founder/CEO FarmLink Marketing Solutions
- Wade Barnes, president/CEO, Farmers Edge
- Mitch Rezansoff, integrated solutions manager, Enns Brothers
2:30 p.m. UAVs In The Sky – What you need to know
- Matthew Johnson, owner, M3 Aerial Productions
3:30 p.m. Harvesting the Power of Storytelling
- Terry O’Reilly, host/writer, “Under The Influence,” CBC Radio
MNP Theatre
Morning
Back to our roots “The Weed Fair”
9 a.m. Weed Survey and More
- Dr. Jeanette Gaultier, weed specialist, Manitoba Agriculture
9:30 a.m. The Cost of Simplicity in Weed Management Programs
- Dr. Rob Gulden, professor, University of Manitoba
10:15 a.m. Integrated Weed Control
- Dr. Neil Harker, research scientist, Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada
11 a.m. Sprayers and the Unfolding Spraying Technology Revolution
- Tom Wolf, owner, Agrimetrix Research & Training
Afternoon
Let’s talk beef!
12 p.m. Great Tastes of Manitoba
- Donalee Jones, senior producer, Great Tastes of Manitoba
1 p.m. Risky Business
- Peter Manness, farm management consultant, MNP LLP
1:30 p.m. How to Extend Your Grazing Season in Manitoba
- Shawn Cabak, farm production extension specialist – livestock, Manitoba Agriculture
2 p.m. Antibiotic Usage and Practical Uses of Pain Control
- Dr. Roy Lewis, DVM, MERCK Animal Health
2:45 p.m. Record Rally, Record Decline – Now What?
- Brian Perillat, manager and senior analyst, Canfax
Thursday, January 19
FCC Theatre
Morning
Mother Nature at her finest
9 a.m. Sclerotinia – The Other White Combine
- Keith Gabert, agronomy specialist, Canola Council of Canada
9:45 a.m. Navigating the Fungal Jungle: Disease Update
- Holly Derksen, field crop pathologist, Manitoba Agriculture
10:15 a.m. Protect the Quality of Your Stored Grain from Insect Infestations
- Brent Elliott, infestation control and sanitation officer, Canadian Grain Commission
11 a.m. Will the Weather Extremes Persist on the Prairies?
- Drew Lerner, senior agricultural meteorologist, World Weather, Inc.
Afternoon
Agriculture: from the ground up
1 p.m. New Tillage Techniques
- Marla Riekman, soil management specialist, Manitoba Agriculture
1:45 p.m. Controlled Traffic Farming – A Manitoba Experience
- Adam Gurr, producer/on-farm researcher, Agritruth Research
2:30 p.m. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Challenges for IPM in Prairie Agriculture
- Dr. John Gavloski, entomologist, Manitoba Agriculture
MNP Theatre
Morning
Agronomy trends
9 a.m. Benefits of Pulse Crops in the Rotation
- John Heard, crop nutrition specialist, Manitoba Agriculture
9:45 a.m. Are All Phosphates Created Equal?
- Dr. Don Flaten, professor, University of Manitoba
10:30 a.m. Carbon Pricing: Making it Work for Farmers
- Sean Goertzen, climate initiative co-ordinator, Keystone Agricultural Producers
11 a.m. Managing Wheat Classes Profitably – Panel Discussion
- Fred Greig, producer, owner/operator, Avondale Seeds, Reston, Man.
- Jason Voogt, agronomist owner/operator, Field 2 Field Agronomy Inc.
- Lynne Sweeney, assistant vice-president, quality assurance and food safety, Richardson International
Afternoon
Zero in on agronomy
1 p.m. The 10 Tax Traps for Succession Planning
- Matt Bolley, tax specialist, MNP LLP
1:30 p.m. Climate Change and Shifts in Crops
- Dr. Tom Jensen, director, North America program, International Plant Nutrition Institute
2:15 p.m. Let’s Play Micros
- Dr. Rigas Karamanos, senior agronomist, Koch Fertilizer Canada
3 p.m. Nitrogen Loss When Applied at Shallow Depths
- Dr. Mario Tenuta, professor, University of Manitoba
