Leamington Area Farmer Dean Tiessen Tragically Killed in Brazil.
Farms.com staff
A young farmer and agri entrepreneur has been reported dead after he was shot during an attempted robbery in Brazil on Saturday. According to Veja Sao Paulo, New Energy Farms’ president Dean Tiessen was in Brazil for 10 days to attend meetings about agro-business.
The website www.expat-blog.com reports that he was returning with friend and New Energy Farms’ CEO Paul Carver from Guaruja along the Anchieta Highway when they came across an attempted cargo robbery. The robbery suspects ordered the two to exit their rental car, the website reports. It is unclear why Tiessen was shot but one news source says he was shot twice after moving to remove his seatbelt.
Dean Tiessen was the innovative president and owner of New Energy Farms which was developing the market for new bio mass crops like the Miscanthus plant that could be used for bio energy and cellulosic ethanol projects related to agriculture.
“We can’t believe this news,” says Joe Dales of Farms.com, “Dean was a visionary business leader and such a wonderful and positive person. Our deepest sympathy and prayers to his family on such a shocking and painful loss, he will be missed by many.”
In 2011, Tiessen was awarded the Premiers Award for Agrifood Excellence for his work on the Miscanthus plant.
Dean was a husband and had four young children, two boys and two girls.
Here is a brief video interview we did with Dean a few years ago explaining the history of New Energy Farms. It shows how passionate he was about agriculture and his new business innovations. With sorrow, we post this tribute to our friend Dean.
www.newenergyfarms.com