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Don Kenny appointed to national agri-innovators’ committee

GUELPH, ON (September 19, 2012) – Grain Farmers of Ontario congratulates founding chair and director Don Kenny on his appointment by Minister of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz to the federal government’s Agri-Innovators' Committee to provide expert advice on agricultural research and development.

The role of the committee is to provide advice to the Minister of Agriculture on agricultural innovation.  It will run in parallel to other national agricultural committees structured to provide feedback on industry issues like the National Program Advisory Committee (NPAC) for business risk management programs.

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to represent grain farmers from Ontario on this national committee and look forward to voicing the needs and concerns of our producers when it comes to innovations in research and market development,” says Kenny. 

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the committee will be comprised of representatives from across Canada and an array of agricultural sectors, and draw upon a broad range of expertise and skills to facilitate greater government-industry-academia collaboration.

“Don is a great choice to represent grain farmers on a national research committee – he has years of experience guiding grain research priorities first with OCPA and recently at GFO,” says Henry Van Ankum, chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario.  “We look forward to the opportunities this committee will create for farm innovation.”

Grain Farmers of Ontario
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) is the province’s newest and largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 corn, soybean and wheat farmers. The crops they grow cover 5 million acres of farm land across the province, generate over $2.5 billion in farm gate receipts, result in over $9 billion in economic output and are responsible for over 40,000 jobs in the province.