This is your chance to connect directly with the people who grow our food, hear about the realities of farming today, and learn what inspires them to keep cultivating a sustainable future. This time, we’re focusing on grain!
Let’s look at the lineup:
Greg Dineen is a 41 year old farmer located near Kenilworth, Ontario currently in his 12th year farming organically. He farms with his wife and 2 young sons and with help from his parents. Their farm is 430ac right on the edge of the Dundalk highlands and enjoys all 2700CHU it has to offer. Crop rotation includes corn, soybeans, wheat, rye and black beans. As a recovering (relapsed?) engineer he enjoys the occasional dive into machinery design and is currently leading a project with the University of Guelph on ultra low cost electric grain drying. Experiences include top-dressing cereals with hog manure and digestate, twin row soybeans and swathing soybeans, snow combining of corn, trials on low-population corn in organic production.
Dean Martin and his two sons operate Harrow Organic Farms, located in Harrow Ont. They farm 1500 acres of Certified Organic grains and oil seeds in Harrow and on Pelee Island. Dean has been a cash crop farmer in the Harrow area for 40 years and began transitioning to Organic in 2005. Dean is a University of Guelph graduate of 83A, a former director for The Seed Corn Growers of Ontario, a past speaker at the Southwest Ag Conference and the Guelph Organic Conference.
Phil Oegema transformed his 1,200-acre family farm to organic in 2012. Now, Oegema Grains grows organic crops and uses innovative tools like The Weed Zapper. Phil shares his expertise and runs an organic elevator for other farmers. As the 2024 President of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, he promotes farmer-led solutions.
The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Erica Shelley, who will help guide a lively exchange on all things organic!