2007 Innovation Day and AGM

CFBMC Innovation Workshop and Annual General Meeting 2007

The Canadian Farm Business Management Council (CFBMC) held its AGM and its 5th Innovation Workshop in farm management in May, 2007. Here are the presentations offered during that day.

Why? Why Not!
Turning Inspiration into Innovation and Ideas into Results
Toni Newman, Professional Catalyst

Presentation of Agriculture Institute of Canada discussion paper:
Re-Defining Agriculture: Sustaining agriculture in Canada through Innovation and Diversification
Tom Beach, PAg, Executive Director and International Program Officer of the Agricultural Institute of Canada

Innovation of farm business management in agriculture
John A. Anderson, consultant, KPMG LLP, Agri-Business and Farm Succession

Innovation in Farm Policy
Dr. Daryll E. Ray, Professor & Blasingame Chair of Excellence, Director of Agricultural Policy Analysis Center

Nanotechnology for Food, Agricultural and Biosystems Industry
Suresh Neethirajan, EIT, Department of Biosystems Engineering, University of Manitoba

Marcel Couture Win Wilson Loree Award 2007

Marcel Couture has been named the recipient of the prestigious Wilson Loree Award for 2007. The award is given annually by the Canadian Farm Business Management Council (CFBMC) for extraordinary contribution to developing and promoting new and positive change in agricultural business management practices and expertise in Canada. He has received the award at the CFBMC Innovation Day banquet on May 28th, 2007 in Ottawa.

Marcel Couture has been part of the Macdonald College family since 1963 when he entered the Diploma in agriculture Program as a new student. He received his B.Sc.(Agr) from McGill in 1972. He spent the first few years after graduation helping to set up the Canfarm management program infrastructure in Québec.

Marcel was a founding member of GÉAGRI, a group that evolved into the Centre de référence en agriculture et agroalimentaire du Québec, now recognized as one of Québec's premier sources of farm management information. He worked tirelessly to ensure that this organization provided the most up-to-date and useful management information to farmers and their advisors.

He has written numerous articles and given many conferences on subjects ranging from accounting to the role of the agrologist. His favourite subject however is the importance of education in agriculture. His perseverance has convinced many youngsters to pursue a higher level of education in agriculture.

Throughout his professional career, Marcel’s goal has been to improve the level of management of farming enterprises. Whether as a teacher or an administrator, he has always sought to increase the level of understanding of this crucial key to success.

The non-monetary Wilson Loree Award was created in 2003 by the Canadian Farm Business Management Council to recognize those who have made significant contributions in business management, either regionally or nationally, shown innovation, served as a role model and mentor to colleagues and clients and shown ability to network and build partnerships to include others in furthering the vision and goals of the agricultural industry.