Kim McConnell likens Canadian agriculture to the country’s national winter sport.
When people think of hockey, they think of Canada, and vice versa, given the unmatched quality of this nation’s players, he explained.
“We have the equivalent opportunity to do the same in agriculture,” said McConnell, the founder of AdFarm, one of the largest agriculture marketing firms in North America.
“We have all the ingredients to be the absolute best.”
He brought his “Agriculture more than ever” message to upwards of 40 attendees at the Dec. 7 Agriculture Matters seminar organized by BDO Canada LLP at David’s Restaurant in Erin.
“I’m excited about agriculture,” said McConnell, who last month became the youngest inductee – and the first ever “marketing guy” inducted – to the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame.
BDO Guelph partner Emmie Hull said the idea of bringing a keynote speaker such as McConnell to the firm’s series of six information sessions over the last two weeks is to “close the gap between the perceptions of agriculture in the public and the producers.”
For example, she said one of the most common misconceptions is that the industry does not have a promising future and that farmers are pessimistic.
“That’s actually not true,” said Hull.
She predicts a big future for farming and is hopeful that promise, as highlighted in BDO’s seminar series, will encourage more people to get involved in the industry.
She explained BDO has partnered with Farm Credit Canada to offer the seminars annually across the province.
The Erin event included four staff members from BDO, as well as three guest speakers: McConnell, Steve Bowers of Trees Ontario, and Phillip Shaw, an agricultural economist and journalist.
Topics for discussion at the day-long event in Erin last week, in addition to McConnell’s keynote address, included:
– woodlot management and the emerald ash borer;
– the federal and provincial Growing Forward 2 initiative;
– the “new volatility” in grains and farm land prices; and
– management tips for farmers, including tax deferrals, land lease agreements, restricted farm losses, CPP changes, apprenticeship training, tax management, and more.
“We’re just trying to ensure our clients are getting the information they need to stay competitive,” Hull told the Advertiser.
The BDO seminar series began about 35 years ago in Sarnia and this year expanded to include events in Mitchell, Hanover, Woodstock, Lindsay and Erin, as well as one each on the east and west coasts.
“The feedback has been extraordinary,” said Hull, noting the events usually attract crowds of 100 to 200 people.
“People find it very helpful. Overall, across Canada, it is very sought out,” she added. “We have a vested interest to ensure [farmers] remain competitive and profitable.”
McConnell says it was an easy decision for him to get involved with the Agriculture Matters event.
“If I can help advance agriculture and be of value to [farmers and organizers of the event], I’m pleased to do that,” said McConnell.
He explained he always starts off his speech by explaining how proud he is to be Canadian. Then he gets into the superb quality of the nation’s farmers and their products.
McConnell also provides advice to help maintain and improve the quality consumers have come to expect from Canadian farmers, and he offers advice based on how he grew AdFarm from a small venture in his basement into a massive firm with offices across the nation.
Though he lives in Calgary, McConnell said he enjoys visiting southern Ontario and talking with farmers here.
If there was a national headquarters for agriculture, he said, Guelph would likely be it, given the number of farmers in the surrounding area, as well as institutions in the city such as the University of Guelph and the headquarters for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
