Heather Watson

Speaker Bio

Heather Watson is the Executive Director of Farm Management Canada. Heather obtained her Bachelor’s from the University of Guelph, and went on to obtain her Master’s degree from the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.

Heather’s passionate about education and committed to enhancing efforts to encourage better business management practices for a sustainable and truly remarkable agriculture industry in Canada. Before joining Farm Management Canada, Heather was a project coordinator within the Business Development Centre of the University of Guelph Kemptville Campus.

Heather grew up in South-western Ontario and now lives in Ottawa, Ontario.

Colleen Acres

Speaker Bio

Born and raised on a farm south of Ottawa, Colleen brings experience from decades of working for producers in several different agricultural associations from seed to soil to livestock production. Colleen believes the importance of good business management skills can be traced to a journey of lifelong learning. Facilitating producer sessions, discovering new resources, identifying trends by keeping abreast of key happenings in Canadian agriculture and exploring new learning opportunities are just some of the skills that Colleen brings to her role with Farm Management Canada combined with a healthy heap of practical farm level experience from managing the family sheep, beef and crop farm.

Colleen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Political Studies) from Queen’s University. She looks forward to working with the team at Farm Management Canada to bring projects to life and to help farms become more productive, more profitable and more sustainable.

Derek Brewin

Speaker Bio

Derek Brewin began his agricultural career as a farmhand on his family’s mixed irrigation farm near Purple Springs, AB. In 1986 he graduated with a BSc in Agricultural Economics from the University of Alberta and began a position as a Credit Advisor to farmers with Farm Credit Corporation (FCC). In 1989 Derek took educational leave from FCC to pursue a MSc in Agricultural Economics at the University of Saskatchewan. After that he worked for Agriculture and Agri-food Canada as a Policy Economist and then worked a stint at the Canadian Wheat Board before returning to academics. In 2000, he moved to State College, PA, to pursue his PhD in Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics at Penn State University.

Since 2003, Derek has been working as a teacher and researcher in the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics at the University of Manitoba. Starting in January 2017, he has served as Head of that department.

His recent research has focused on the economics of rotations, grain and oilseed markets, grain transportation and innovations in plant breeding. He is an award-winning teacher of agricultural finance, marketing and risk management. Derek has served on numerous boards and committees. He is a Past President of the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society. He has served as a Senator at the University of Manitoba, as a member of Manitoba’s Agricultural Risk Task Force and as a director of the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council.

Stephen Duff

Speaker Bio

Coming from a dairy and beef background in Ontario’s Northumberland county, Steve is an Ontario Agricultural College ‘94 grad who completed a Masters in Ag Economics from the Food, Agriculture and Resource Economics (FARE) department at the University of Guelph in 1996. Steve joined the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) in late 1997 after a year as a policy researcher within FARE for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Starting as an agricultural economist with OMAF, Steve worked on a variety of projects that culminated with him leading the development of the Ontario Whole Farm Relief Program in 1998.

During this time Steve chaired several federal-provincial-territorial committees including the Business Risk Management (BRM) advisory committee, the BRM administrators committee and is currently the co-chair of the Farm Income Forecasting Committee. Steve is currently OMAF’s Chief Economist. Since 2011, Steve has been an Adjunct Professor in the FARE department teaching 4th year Agricultural Policy analysis. In 2016, Steve was the recipient of the first FARE distinguished alumnus award. Steve and his wife Robyn operate a beef and cash crop farm near Colborne, Ontario.

Sylvain Gadbois

Speaker Bio

Business Development Officer, New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture & Fisheries

Sylvain is a business development officer within the Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries. Sylvain has been New Brunswick’s representative to Farm Management Canada’s Provincial-Territorial Ministry Network for nearly a decade and is proud to serve as the Network’s elected representative to the Board of Directors.

Sylvain is passionate about advancing business management skills and practices in agriculture.

Sylvain spent his youth on a large family farm in the Province of Québec, where he acquired tremendous experience in the agricultural sector.

Sylvain graduated in Agricultural Economics from the Macdonald Campus of McGill University and went on to obtain his CMA and CPA designations. Committed to lifelong learning, Sylvain has taken advantage of numerous professional development opportunities including Business Risk Management from the Université de Moncton, Commercial Credit from Moody’s, and Production and Operations Management from Athabasca University.

Before coming to the Department, Sylvain worked as a farm business consultant, as a senior manager in the feed industry, in banking, in education and other industries. As General Manager for a large integrated farm in New Brunswick, Sylvain learned firsthand the importance of having a diverse set of business skills and practices to lead a successful farm business including strategic planning, operational policies, accounting, and information technology.

Sylvain lives in Fredericton with is wife Bette. He loves spending time with his family and son Alexandre. He has been involved in sports all his life (and still to this day). Every year he grows a large garden of fruits, vegetables and flowers that he named his “Lab of Experiments”. His most recent volunteer work was being an Executive member of the YMCA’s Men Club in Saint John NB and reading French to youth at the local library.
siness management practices and program development.

Stuart Person

Speaker Bio

Stuart is MNP’s National Leader of Crop Services. Based in Edmonton, Stuart brings more than 30 years of experience in agriculture — specializing in the grain, oilseed, and pulse industry — to his role. Passionate about the agriculture industry, he grew up on a farm, and continues to participate as a producer. This experience allows Stuart to relate first-hand to what Canadian agricultural producers face in their operations — and gives him greater insights into how to help producers overcome challenges and achieve their business goals.

Stuart works with agricultural producers, associations, and other industry stakeholders on a daily basis, providing insight and advice on the complex issues affecting the industry. He has extensive experience as an agriculture business advisor and has helped clients from coast to coast deal with a wide range of issues, including succession, risk management planning, tax planning, digital adoption, and many more.

Stuart is dedicated to the community, including serving on the Farm Management Canada – Gestion Agricole du Canada (FMC-GAC) board of directors and on the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI). Stuart is also a proud member of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA, 2008).

Stuart earned a Bachelor of Commerce (BComm) with Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan in 2000. He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), qualifying as a Chartered Accountant (CA) in 2003.