AgAnnex Talks

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. Ferré Stang shares the skills she wish she learned when she was younger, how she learned to sell herself, and how she applies those skills to those she helps in her day-to-day work.

Special thanks to gold sponsor FCC for its continued support of the IWCA Program.

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 improved her skills, what she's learned from her mentors and how people in all aspects of ag can learn from their relationships.

Special thanks to platinum sponsor Bayer for their continued support of Influential Women in Agriculture.

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 subsurface drainage remains relatively new, but also his perspectives on working with restrictions, learning on the go and bringing a collaborative approach to drainage.

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 parents as shareholders in a feedlot operation near Acme, Alberta - and that initial investment grew into multiple businesses. With a masters degree in business administration and a CPA accounting designation, she now acts as president for the consulting company for those businesses and leads a team of people with expertise in finance and accounting, human resources and business development and sustainability.

In this episode, Donnelly chats with agriculture editor Kaitlin Berger about her journey back to agriculture, her project with Tidewater Renewables to create an industry-leading, onsite bio-digestor technology and how she seeks to contribute positively to the perspective of agriculture within the local community. She speaks to how she manages self doubt in her career and the importance of gaining perspective from older and younger generations.

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 degree while balancing a family and full-time job, Cathline has repeatedly forged her own path.

In her conversation with agriculture editor Alex Barnard, Cathline discusses her nearly 20-year career in agricultural research, the importance of confidence and realizing you can do difficult things and remembering to be present in the moment.

Never miss an episode by subscribing to AgAnnex Talks on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Special thanks to Bayer Crop Science Canada, platinum sponsor of the 2024 Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture program, for sponsoring this series. 

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 recent Water Management Forum to discuss the evolving approach to water management, success stories, positive examples of collaboration and more.

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 on a small dairy farm, Brown initially envisioned herself as an agricultural journalist – she didn't want to be involved in "widgets," but eventually found a love of conservation, soil and crops which led her to OMAFRA (now OMAFA), where she took on manure as a specialty. Her career has always offered a healthy balance of science and people. "I love the variety of activities that I get to be involved with, and that every day is different," she tells agriculture editor Bree Rody. She was part of the original team that developed the nutrient management software for OMAFA, was part of the local team that hosted the first-ever Ontario Manure Expo (as well as the first virtual Manure Expo). But her career has been defined just as much by the little things as it has been by the big things – like making a point of remembering a farmer's wife's name, or changing a tire in the field.

In Brown's interview, she discusses how her lifelong confidence helped her feel secure in a male-dominated field, what her mentors mean to her, the reality of balancing family and career, and why it's important to work in the field with the eyes of a child.

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 installing?

Sabine Banniza, professor at the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan and strategic research chair in pulse crop pathology, has spent over twenty years specializing in research on diseases in pulse crops. With a long-time passion for safe and sustainable food production, she's made significant contributions to Canada's status as the principal exporter of pulses.

Through leading research teams and providing training through the Crop Diagnostic School, Banniza continuously invests in mentorship and passing her knowledge to the next generation. She encourages young people to strive for excellence in their work and to build a strong group of people to mentor and support them.

In this interview, Banniza shares her thoughts on mentorship, leadership and delegating responsibilities. She remembers difficult challenges she's faced. She also speaks to her experience as the first female professor at the Crop Development Centre and the changing landscape for women in agriculture.

Welcome to our new podcast miniseries, Focus on Drainage. In this four-episode miniseries, we speak to experts from different aspects of the agricultural drainage and water management sector to discuss evolving trends and innovation in the field of water management. Contractors, educators, advocates and government experts weigh in on how to evaluate drainage decisions for your operation, how to work with contractors and what to know about drainage and conservation.

In our first episode, we chat with Iowa's Chris Hay. Hay, now an independent consultant focused on agricultural water management, has a background in both academia and extension, including with Iowa State University and the Iowa Soybean Association. With much of his experience focused on both irrigation and subsurface drainage, it makes sense that Hay's career eventually began to also focus on drainage water recycling (DWR). Hay shares what the benefits are of DWR, both from a yield perspective and an environmental perspective, what conditions favor DWR, and what the future holds in terms of costs and subsidization.