JFAO and Governance Solutions Inc. announce online board governance certificate program

Nov 28, 2019

The Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario, located in Guelph, Ontario, working in collaboration with Governance Solutions Inc. of Halton Hills, Ontario – and with government support through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership – is thrilled to launch the first, online board governance certificate program created specifically for rural leaders, directors and prospective directors working on corporate or not for profit boards.

“Canada’s youth play a critical role in the continued growth and prosperity of the agriculture sector,” said the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, federal Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister. “Our Government is proud to support projects such as this certificate program that provide young farmers with the tools and knowledge they need to succeed as effective leaders.”

“Our government is committed to removing barriers for our agri-food sector so it can grow and be more competitive in the global marketplace,” said Ernie Hardeman, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. “Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, we’re pleased to support industry efforts like this, which are developing the agriculture sector

leaders of today and tomorrow.”

This comprehensive, eight level program known as the Professional Director Education and Certification Program for Rural Leaders©, earns successful participants their PRO.DIR.RL designation. This certificate program provides comprehensive governance training and serves to build capacity and strengthen the quality and effectiveness of current and prospective rural leaders and directors. With an emphasis on governance essentials, it moves beyond the basics of governance structure to address the behavioural and cultural aspects of boardroom dynamics.

This certification program has been developed with support provided through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative, as well as well as corporate support from the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Shawn LaPalm Insurance Agency with the support of The Co-operators Advisor Community Fund.

Delivered completely online, this multi-level program can be accessed 24/7 and is taken at the student’s own convenience and pace. Visit www.professionaldirector/ruralleadership and use the code JFAO when registering.

Source : JFAO

Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

BY: Ashley Robinson

It may seem that public and private researchers have different goals when it comes to agricultural research. However, their different strategies can work in tandem to drive agricultural research forward. Public research may focus more on high-risk and applied research with federal or outside funding, while private sector researchers focus more on research application.

“For me, the sweet spot for public private sector research is when we identify problems and collaborate and can use that diverse perspective to address the different aspects of the challenge. Public sector researchers can work on basic science high risk solutions as tools and technologies are developed. They then can work with their private sector partners who prototype solutions,” Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, said during the Jan. 10 episode of Seed Speaks.

Public researchers they have the flexibility to be more curiosity driven in their work and do discovery research. This is complimentary to private research, which focuses on delivering a product, explained Jed Christianson, canola product design lead for Bayer CropScience, explained during the episode.

“As a seed developer, we worry about things like new crop diseases emerging. Having strong public sector research where people can look into how a disease lifecycle cycle works, how widespread is it and what damage it causes really helps inform our product development strategies,” he added.

It’s not always easy though to develop these partnerships. For Christianson, it’s simple to call up a colleague at Bayer and start working on a research project. Working with someone outside of his company requires approvals from more people and potential contracts.

“Partnerships take time, and you always need to be careful when you're establishing those contracts. For discoveries made within the agreement, there need to be clear mechanisms for sharing credits and guidelines for anything brought into the research to be used in ways that both parties are comfortable with,” Christianson said.

Kamil Witek, group leader of 2Blades, a non-profit that works with public and private ag researchers, pointed out there can be limitations and challenges to these partnerships. While private researchers are driven by being able to make profits and stay ahead of competitors, public researchers may be focused on information sharing and making it accessible to all.

“The way we deal with this, we work in this unique dual market model. Where on one hand we work with business collaborators, with companies to deliver value to perform projects for them. And at the same time, we return the rights to our discoveries to the IP to use for the public good in developing countries,” Witek said during the episode.

At the end of the day, the focus for all researchers is to drive agricultural research forward through combining the knowledge, skills and specializations of the whole innovation chain, Witek added.

“If there's a win in it for me, and there's a win in it for my private sector colleagues in my case, because I'm on the public side, it’s very likely to succeed, because there's something in it for all of us and everyone's motivated to move forward,” Tuinstra said.

JFAO and Governance Solutions Inc. announce online board governance certificate program

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Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

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