Directors
Find out more about our Directors:
Donald Daigle, Chair
Chief Executive Officer of the Really Local Harvest Co-op. Owner of Acadieville Gardens Inc.
Donald operates a family farm which grows 120 acres of carrots and potatoes.
Since his nomination as CEO of the Really Local Harvest Co-op in 2004, Donald has helped create the Dieppe Farmer's market and has also helped organise the 2006 Maritime Marketing Caravan. Following that Marketing Caravan, he is now working along with fellow farmers and government agencies, on an agro-tourism network.
He has also spent a few years as provincial president for the Fédération Francophone des Agriculteurs et Agricultrices du NB.
Donald has been married to Viola for 23 years and they have 5 children. He's a Scout leader, president of his parish's finance committee, and very involved in his community. He loves canoeing, camping, and woodworking. He values and puts forth a lot of time and effort towards family farming.
Donald loves a good challenge and will try anything once. His way of seeing things is always very interesting.
Email Donald Daigle
Richard Robert, Vice Chair
Richard grew up on a dairy farm in the riding of Abitibi-Temiscamingue in north-western Quebec, and has always had an attachment to agriculture. After studying animal production at the Institut de technologie agro-alimentaire in La Pocatière, he worked as an animal production consultant for five years for the cooperative movement.
In 1998, at 26 years old, he and his spouse acquired his uncle's dairy and grain farm. Over the years, he has been involved in several committees, including the Société d'agriculture, the local agricultural co-operative, president of the regional agricultural fair, the Coopérative d'utilisation de machineries agricole, the agri-environmental club, regional president of the group of Abitibi-Temiskamingue farm management club, and provincial president of the Fédération des Groupes Conseils Agricole du Québec.
After only six years of operations, their farm won the first medal in the bronze category of the Ordre du Mèrite Agricole du Québec for sound business development management. An efficient system is needed on a farm in order to also respect his wife's commitments and activities with their five children.
Recognized as dynamic and a motivator, he is trying to meet new challenges that advance the cause of agriculture.
Email Richard Robert
John Cote, Treasurer
John has been involved in Agriculture throughout his career. Upon completion of an undergraduate degree in Agriculture, John began working as a financial advisor to farmers through the federal government. In 1990 he purchased a grain farm in Leask, Saskatchewan and in 2001 was named Saskatchewan's Outstanding young farmer, and later that year was recognized as one Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers, for achievements made in his farming career. From 2002 to 2007 John was a co-owner and consulting director of a fertilizer and fuel distributorship in Northern Saskatchewan. John's international experience began in 2000 when he was chosen as one of a select group of agriculturalists to take advanced training in North and South America. In 2006 he began working as a management and agronomic consultant in Kazakhstan. John has just returned from living in South America on a 2 year sabbatical from farming, (just in time for seeding).
In times of extreme price volatility, market consolidation and changing demographics, the issues that affect the farming operations of today are far more complicated than we foresaw even 10 years ago. Farm/business management is the key to ensuring healthy enterprises that are sustainable into the future. Regardless of the size of the farm, management is becoming more complex, thus it is necessary to ensure that there are opportunities for farmers to continually learn and master the appropriate skills, skills which can positively influence their financial performance individually and sustainability of the industry in general. It has always been important to me that we as farmers and "Agri-preneurs" have access to quality learning opportunities and I hope to continue working towards this goal with the Farm Business Management Council and its many partners
Email John Cote
Rhonda Thornley, Secretary
Rhonda, her husband and her father-in-law started farming in Newfoundland twenty-six years ago. It was a pioneering effort because they started from scratch building their fields, roads, parking lots, and water supply areas. They now have a u-pick strawberry and raspberry farm. They have 3 children that worked on the farm while they were growing up, one is still living at home.
She's been involved with the agriculture community most of those 26 years. She's worked with the Farm Debt Review Board, the Natural Products Marketing Board and the Farm Women's Association.
She's helped restart the NL Federation of Agriculture and came back later on as second Vice Chair and also helped run the Stable Funding Committee.
She has also been involved with the Agriculture Awareness Committee, participated on the Greenhouse Gas Taking Charge team for three years and was appointed NL representative for the Canadian Farm Business Management for many consecutive years.
With her local community, she has been involved as a Guide and Pathfinder leader, a Basketball Coach and has supported the Kittiwake Tourist Association Board activities.
"I'm really interested in environmental issues, and rural community survival and development. I sew, knit, ski, skate, love animals, and gardening."
Email Rhonda Thornley
Sylvia Mosterman, Director
Sylvia Mosterman operates Mosterman Plants Inc. with her husband Theo. Their wholesale deciduous tree and shrub nursery was started by Theo on 1984 on 3 acres with nine species. After going full-time in 1988, the nursery has expanded to 30 field acres and 20,000 sq ft of greenhouse with over 200 varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs produced by seed, cutting or graft. The focus is on propagation to provide wholesale growers with plant material from seedling to whips for growing on. Plants are shipped from BC to Oregon, the Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes.
Sylvia currently handles the inside operations: advertising, catalogue, phones, sales, orders and inventory. An Access-based computer program which she designed in conjuction with a computer programmer makes a one-person office busy but possible. Time invested talking with customers is essential to promotion and keeping up with trends and needs. Using the program, Sylvia can converse and enter current and future orders, record plant suggestions for propagation, print out an order and be faxing it to the customer by the end of the phone call.
She serves as the BC representative to the Canadian Farm Business Management Council and has served on the Board for several years. As Secretary she managed the reorganization of the Policy Manual. She is also a Director of the Canadian Ornamental Plant Foundation, an organization that looks after royalties and propagation rights for plants. Finally, she also is an occupational therapist with her own clinic (on the farm!) where she fabricates custom splints and foot orthotics.
Email Sylvia Mosterman
John Molenhuis, Director
John has been with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as the Business Analysis and Cost of Production Program Lead for the past 6 years. Within this position he leads projects to advance the area of farm business management. He develops financial analysis decision-making tools, crop and livestock cost of production budgets and business management factsheets and publications.
Before joining OMAFRA, John worked with the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and Marketing in their Farm Business Management Section and as a Loan Officer for the Nova Scotia Farm Loan Board.
John was part of the National Cost of Production team coordinated by CFBMC that resulted in the launch of the national online data base which brings together some 1,500 agricultural enterprise budgeting tools and financial data from across Canada.
John grew up on a farrow-to-finish hog operation outside of Strathroy, Ontario. John has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from the University of Guelph. He now lives in Brighton with his wife and four children.
Email John Molenhuis
Andrew Stairs, Director
Andrew Stairs owns and operates Stairsholme Farm in Hemmingford, Quebec, selling beef cattle, poultry and hay. As a veteran direct-marketer of his farm products, he is well-versed in the dynamics between agricultural producers, processors, distributors and end-users. His marketing activities have taken him to Montreal, right across Canada and into the Northeastern USA.
While being painfully aware of the many challenges to be found in today's agricultural sector, Andrew believes that the right combinations of leadership, appropriate public policies and good individual management will permit Canadian farmers to prosper in the future.
Apart from daily business, Andrew is widely known for his direct involvement with a number of agricultural industry associations, local community groups and national conferences.
Andrew's goal on the Board of the CFBMC will be to actively provide the producers' perspective, thereby helping the CFBMC to deliver products and services that meet the needs of Canadian farmers and advance the agricultural sector as a whole.
Those who wish to contact Andrew with their questions or suggestions are encouraged to do so at any time.
Email Andrew Stairs
Sharon Stollery, Director
Sharon Stollery grew up on a mixed grain and beef farm in central Alberta, where her family continues to farm. She graduated in 1991 from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics, majoring in Foods and Nutrition.
Sharon has been working with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development since graduation, holding various positions in different locations around the province. Currently she heads up an initiative to further develop the ag tourism industry in Alberta and is proud of the tremendous strides the industry has made over the past 5 years.
Sharon has always engaged in partnerships with farm management specialists in her department, recognizing it as a cornerstone to industry development. Currently her Rural Business and Diversification Branch is involved in a number of projects in partnership with the Canadian Farm Business Management Council, including the Canadian Agri-Tourism Working Group, Grow West - the North American Farmers Direct Marketing Association convention to be held in Alberta in 2007, and a profitability resource workbook.
Email Sharon Stollery
Mike Pylypchuck, Director
Mike Pylypchuk was born and raised on a small mixed farming operation in northwest Saskatchewan. Mike attended high schools in Leoville and Shellbrook. He received his post-secondary education at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, having attended the College of Agriculture and graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Agriculture Economics in 1974.
Upon graduating from University, Mike became employed with the Saskatchewan Department of Agriculture as a farm development specialist in Tisdale. He worked there for six years and then entered the private sector as a bank agrologist with the Bank of Nova Scotia for two years and the Bank of Montreal for four years in Saskatoon. After a six-year term of agriculture lending, Mike entered a brief eight months financial and estate planning service with the London Life Insurance company. In October 1986, Mike returned to Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food where he is currently the co-ordinator of business management services with the Agri-business Development Branch in Regina.
Most of his work in the department has been in the farm management area. Some of his accomplishments include the development of the Farming to Win program - a goal-directed farm management program for farm managers. He also worked with Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan in the development of a financial and retirement (estate) planning computer software programs. Other specialty areas of work included farm business arrangements, estate planning and taxation. As the production economist, he prepared information on the costs of production for grains, oilseeds, specialty crops, livestock and specialized livestock as well as some horticultural commodities.
Mike also serves as a technical advisor on a Canada-Ukraine CIDA project entitled FARM (Facility for Agricultural Reform and Modernization).
Mike provides leadership, assistance and expert support to farmers, agribusiness, university and department staff individually and by committee or project related activities.
Email Mike Pylypchuck
