Jonathon Driedger joined LeftField in September 2019, adding his experience to the team’s analysis in Canadian and global crop markets. Jon has many years of expertise in the Canadian ag industry, including as a Senior Market Analyst with FarmLink Marketing Solutions, a Commodity Risk Management Consultant with a major U.S. brokerage firm and as an Economist for the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange. Jon attended the University of Manitoba where he obtained a BSc in Agribusiness and an MSc in Agricultural Economics. Jon lives near Grunthal, Manitoba with his wife and three daughters.
2020
Dr. Santosh Kumar is a spring Wheat Breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) stationed at Brandon Research and Development Centre (BRDC). Dr. Kumar has published in areas of plant physiology, molecular biology, genetics and genomics. Dr. Kumar’s current focus is on developing premium quality wheat cultivars to improve the profitability for farmers, marketers and processors. The BRDC breeding program and the Cereal Genomics Laboratory combines traditional breeding methods with new marker technologies to improve breeding efficiencies in a cost effective manner. Since joining AAFC-BRDC five years ago, Dr. Kumar has participated in the registration of seven varieties. Dr. Kumar is actively involved in all aspects of wheat research in Canada.
Justine Cornelsen is part of the Crop Production and Innovation Team with the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), where she covers off Western Manitoba and Southeastern Saskatchewan as an Agronomy Specialist. Her lead topic with the CCC is blackleg management and she chairs the Canadian Blackleg Steering Group. Justine is also a part-time Masters student at the University of Manitoba in Plant Science.
Dan joined the Council in March 2011. As a Bachelor of Science graduate from the University of Alberta, Dan combines his education and more than 20 year’s field experience to assist the Canola Council of Canada and the Crop Production Team. Dan’s scouting led to the first detection of clubroot in Alberta in 2003, and has since taken on the role of clubroot leader for the agronomy team and is a withstanding member of the Clubroot Steering Group. Dan covers the North Central Alberta Region, and when not doing agronomy he enjoys camping and playing guitar.
Elaine Froese , CAFA, CSP helps farm families get clarity of expectations, certainty of timelines and agreements and a commitment to action for farm transition. Author of 4 books, Grainews columnist for 25 years, and certified coach she provides tools for farm families to talk about tough issues. Her family farms at Boissevain MB. Visit www.elainefroese.com.
Melissa is the Precision Agronomy Technical Lead with AgraCity Crop & Nutrition Ltd. based in Saskatoon, SK. She spent the first 12 years of her career with Cargill Ltd. gaining experience in agronomy consulting, crop input sales, and sales management. In the fall of 2018, Melissa joined AgraCity excited at the opportunity to work with leading edge Digital Agronomy technology. She, along with her team of Agronomists and UAV pilots, use special equipped drones to obtain sub-mm imagery which is then analyzed by Artificial Intelligence to identify crop pests, growth concerns and assess plant health and quality. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Saskatchewan and is a practicing Professional Agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrologists. Melissa resides in her hometown of Biggar, SK. with her husband and three young boys.
