Jim Clark named interim chair of OFPMC

Dec 21, 2016

Clark will hold the position as of January 1, 2017

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

Only a week after Geri Kamenz announced his resignation as chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC), Ontario Minister of Agriculture Jeff Leal announced the commission’s next chair during the transition process.

"I'm pleased to announce Jim Clark has been appointed by Order in Council as interim Chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission, effective January 1, 2017,” Minister Leal said in a release. “Jim is well-known throughout Ontario's agriculture community and is currently supporting the Commission as one of two Vice-Chairs. His experience in leadership at the Commission and in the industry will be critical to ensuring that the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission continues to support Ontario's agriculture and agri-food value chain in the public interest.

Jim Clark
Photo: Ontario Cattle Feeders' Association

The process of recruitment for a new Chair is underway and will be advertised through the Public Appointments Secretariat website in the near future."

Clark owns and operates a beef and cow-calf farm in Elgin County, and for nearly 20 years has served as the executive director of the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association.

Farms.com has reached out to Jim Clark and the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association for comments.

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.