Grain Farmers of Ontario March Classic

Mar 17, 2015

Event being held Tuesday, March 24th

One of the best ways for people to figure out solutions to any problem or generate ideas is to gather them all in one place.

In 2010, Hockey Canada hosted a four-day summit in Toronto with more than 400 hockey professionals attending to talk about junior hockey development, women’s hockey and other pressing issues in the game.

In 1992, the United Nations held the Earth Summit in Brazil to discuss how to combat climate change, pollution and other environmental issues.

Agriculture is an ever-expanding, constantly growing industry and meetings like the ones mentioned provide farmers with the resources they need all in one place.

The March Classic will be hosted by the Grain Farmers of Ontario on Tuesday, March 24 at the Hilton in London, Ontario and will bring together exhibitors including the Canadian Grain Commission, Soy 20/20 Hyland Seeds and farmers passionate about Ontario’s grains.

“The theme of this year’s conference is Ontario Grains: Growing Stronger Together and emphasizes the importance of working cooperatively across the agriculture sector and the value of communicating openly with the non-farming public,” said Meghan Burke, Communications Manager, Grain Farmers of Ontario.

The event will feature guest speakers for the expected 650 attendees including Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, Greg Peterson who will speak about using social media to be an agriculture advocate and Dr. Julie Miller Jones who will talk about grains and health.

Join the conversation. Will you be attending the March Classic? Which guest speaker are you most excited to see?

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.