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2024 March Classic

Advancing our strong roots

The future is built on the foundation we give it and Ontario grain farming has deep, strong roots that feed this country’s people and support the success of the agriculture industry. Farmers constantly show their resiliency, their flexibility, and their innovation. In times of challenge, they persevere. They learn from the past and they invest in the future. The farmers of tomorrow, the one percent who will feed the world, will continue to build on these strong roots and show their strength and resilience every season. Grain Farmers of Ontario is a leader because of the strong roots it has in a strong board, strong team, and the spirit to push through in challenging times and put in the hard work for success.

Online registration is now closed. On-site registration opens on March 19 at 8 a.m. in the lobby at RBC Place.

Join us for the 2024 March Classic

Tuesday March 19, 2024

RBC Place
300 York St, London, ON N6B 1P8

March Classic Tractor Display 2022
March Classic US Farm Report Recording 2022
March Classic Exhibitor Hall 2022
March Classic 2022 crowd

Featuring these guest speakers

Shawn Hackett

President at Hackett Financial Advisors the Agricultural Price Forecasting Specialists

Learn more

A frequent contributor to Barron’s, Futures Magazine, Reuters, Bloomberg, US Farm Report, Ag-TV, Market to Market-IPTV as well as a regular radio show contributor for the likes of Chip Flory-AgriTalk After The Bell, Susan Littlefield Fontanelle After the Bell-Michell Rook-AgDay and Linda Brekke-The Linda Network, Ag commodities expert Shawn Hackett has dedicated his life to educating Ag industry leaders and farmers about financial risk management, hedging and the utility of indicator-based Ag commodity price forecasting tools. His extensive research on long-term cycles and statistics on climate, currencies, geopolitics, and global capital flows have long been a key differentiating factor for Shawn’s price forecasting skills. Shawn takes complicated concepts and presents them in an easily digestible framework to a wide audience and discusses them regularly in his subscriber-based Hackett Agricultural Report and Hackett Dairy Report.

Twitter: @feridex11

Marshal Sewell

Founder Mind Your Melon
Sponsored by Farm Credit Canada

Learn more

Marshal was raised on his family’s fifth generation fruit and vegetable farm in Plant City, FL. After graduating from the University of Florida, he began a career in the vegetable seeds industry. He currently works with a multinational vegetable seed company as a member of their Global Strategic Accounts team. His personal farm experience and professional work across the produce industry have given him a close look at stress and challenges in agriculture. Outside of work, he and his family are active advocates for mental health and stress management in- and outside of agriculture. Through their Mind Your Melon platform, they seek to inspire healthier minds through proactive lifestyles.

Facebook: Mind Your Melon
Instagram: @mindurmelon
Website: mindyourmelon.org

Amanda Lang

Acclaimed Business Journalist, Host, Taking Stock

Learn more

An award-winning business journalist, Amanda Lang has covered North America’s top business stories for 25 years. Today, she is the host of Taking Stock, a weekly national television news program airing across multiple Bell Media networks, including BNN Bloomberg, CP24, and CTV News Channel, and available as a weekly podcast on iHeart. Known for her no-holds-barred approach to the people, companies, and stories making the news, Lang is available for keynote speeches or as an interviewer/moderator.

Prior to Taking Stock, Lang was host of Bloomberg Markets, a global program airing in Canada on BNN Bloomberg and on the Bloomberg Television network globally. Lang has also worked as CBC’s senior business correspondent, reporting for its flagship nightly news program, The National, and as host of The Exchange with Amanda Lang, a daily business program that aired on CBC News Network. For five years before that, Lang hosted The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, with Kevin O’Leary. The pair also co-hosted SqueezePlay on BNN for six years.

Lang studied architecture at the University of Manitoba, before becoming a journalist. Her first job in journalism was with the Globe and Mail and then she joined the Financial Post becoming their New York correspondent. In New York, she made the leap to television, joining the team that launched BNN before working as a reporter and anchor at CNN.

Lang is a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is also chair of the board of directors of Covenant House Toronto, the largest agency in Canada serving homeless and at-risk youth. She is also the bestselling author of two books. The Power of Why explores the connection between curiosity and success, and The Beauty of Discomfort examines how difficult change can be and outlines strategies for how to achieve it.

Twitter: @AmandaLang

Tareq Hadhad

Founder and CEO, Peace by Chocolate. EY Entrepreneur of The Year Sponsored by RBC

Learn more

Tareq Hadhad is telling his story. He was a Syrian refugee and now living his new life with his entrepreneurial family in Canada’s east coast. He is the founder and CEO of Peace by Chocolate, the recipient of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year 2021 for Atlantic, named one of the Top 25 Immigrants in The Maritimes, selected by Google as the National Hero Case, and was awarded RBC’s top Immigrant Award and Entrepreneur of the Year in 2020 and Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal. All of this has happened since Tareq’s arrival on Canada’s East Coast in December 2015 as a Syrian-Canadian newcomer.

In 2012 the Hadhad’s home and factory that housed the family chocolate-making business were destroyed which forced them to seek safety in other countries. A former medical student at Damascus University and long-time peacekeeping advocate, Tareq joined medical relief efforts after arriving in Lebanon. A new life began when Tareq and his family were welcomed to Canada on a community-based sponsorship.

Passionate about peace and entrepreneurship, his family relaunched the family business to recreate the chocolates they once exported across the Middle East and their story turned into and international inspiring phenomenon.

Tareq and his family have a focus on job creation, utilizing a network of local community members and refugees from across Nova Scotia and Canada to help support the local economy. Now that their chocolates are distributed across Canada, they look to offer more employment opportunities as their business grows.

In January 2020, Tareq received his official Canadian Citizenship which garnered international attention and has become one of the greatest accomplishments of his life. He has had the privilege to meet former President of the United States, Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Ministers, and has had conversations with many World Leaders. Author, Jon Tattrie wrote a book about the Hadhad’s story which has become a best seller. A feature film, Peace by Chocolate, also based on the family’s story premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and launched in Cineplex theaters across Canada in the spring of 2022. The film won several film festivals awards and accolades.

Twitter: @TareqHadhad
Website: tareqhadhad.com

Entertainment

Adam Growe

Host of Cash Cab

Learn more

For over 30 years, Adam has been performing on television, stage, radio, online and at conferences and events. In addition to hosting Cash Cab, Adam is an accomplished stand-up comedian starring in Just for LaughsComedy NOW!, CBS’s Star Search, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and tours with his in-person Quiz Show. Adam is an experienced corporate function host and entertainer, co-founded The Foundation for Canadian Comedy (CANCOM), is a certified Red Cross First Aid Instructor, and also a foster parent with the Toronto Children’s Aid Society. 

Agenda

Monday March 18, 2024

TimeAgenda Item
7 p.m.March Classic welcome reception – Sponsored by SGS Canada Inc

Welcome reception held on second floor of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel

Tuesday March 19, 2024

TimeAgenda Item
7 a.m.Attendee Breakfast – Sponsored by John Deere Canada
8 a.m.Registration and exhibit hall opens
9 a.m.Opening remarks from Grain Farmers of Ontario
9:30 a.m.Shawn Hackett – President at Hackett Financial Advisors the Agricultural Price Forecasting Specialists and Meteorologist

How weather, geopolitics, currencies and interest rates impact supply/demand chains and influence global ag production & ag prices
10:30 a.m.Break – Sponsored by Syngenta
11 a.m.Marshall Sewell – Founder of Mind Your Melon – Sponsored by Farm Credit Canada

Mental Wellness to Advance our Roots
NoonLunch – Sponsored by Syngenta
1:30 p.m.Amanda Lang – Acclaimed Business Journalist, Host, Taking Stock

Embrace Uncertainty
2:30 p.m.Break – Sponsored by Syngenta
3 p.m.Tareq Hadhad – Founder and CEO, Peace by Chocolate. EY Entrepreneur of The Year – Sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada

Resiliency Through Adversity: Perseverance from Pre-War Syria to the United Nation
4 p.m.Pre-banquet Reception – Sponsored by Bayer Crop Science
6 p.m.Banquet ($65, tickets required) with entertainment from Adam Growe, host of Cash Cab, as he brings The Adam Growe Quiz Show to stage – Sponsored by SeCan
9 p.m.Conference end

Giveaway Passport

On Tuesday March 19, 2024 be sure to check your registration bag for our popular Giveaway Passport! Bring this passport to exhibitors in the 2024 March Classic exhibit hall for your chance to win! Full contest details can be found here.

This year, we have three large prizes that are available for conference attendees to win:

  • Grand Prize: The ultimate shop prize featuring Milwaukee power tools, Mastercraft air compressor and $500 in gift cards. Valued at $3,500 CAD.
  • 1st Runner up prize: John Deere cleaning kit. Sponsored by John Deere Canada. Valued at $1,600 CAD.
  • 2nd Runner up prize: DJI Drone and accessories bundle. Valued at $1,500 CAD.

Simply:

  1. Bring your passport to the exhibitors listed.
  2. Have them hole punch beside their name.
  3. Fill out your passport with full name, email address and phone number.
  4. Leave at registration.

We will announce the winners after the show, on Tuesday March 26, 2024, at 11:00am via X Live (@GrainFarmers) – be sure to follow us and tune in to see if you are a winner!


For March Classic sponsorship opportunities & exhibitor opportunities, please contact:

Joanne Tichborne
Advertising Sales Representative
jtichborne@gfo.ca
226-332-3637


Sponsors

Platinum

Gold

Silver

Supporters

Exhibitors

  • Ag Business & Crop Inc.
  • Agricorp
  • Agro-100
  • A&L Canada Laboratories
  • Alpine
  • ALUS Middlesex
  • Andermatt Canada Inc.
  • BASF Agricultural Solutions Canada
  • Bayer Crop Science
  • Belchim Crop Protection
  • Broadgrain
  • C&M Seeds
  • Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show/Discovery Farm
  • Canadian Foodgrains Bank
  • Canadian Grain Commission
  • CanGrow Crop Solutions
  • Cargill Sarnia
  • CASE IH
  • Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario
  • Corteva Agriscience Canada
  • De Dell Seeds Inc.
  • Endo Plant Health
  • Farm Credit Canada
  • FMC
  • FS Co-operatives
  • FX Coating
  • G3 Canada Limited
  • Ganaraska Systems Inc. 
  • Gowan Canada
  • Grain Farmers of Ontario
  • Hensall Co-op
  • Horst Systems
  • IGPC
  • Ingredion Canada Corporation
  • John Deere Canada
  • Josslin Insurance
  • Koch Agronomic Services
  • LAC
  • Libro Credit Union
  • Maizex Seeds
  • Montag Manufacturing
  • Nexeed Inc.
  • Nutri -Pel
  • Ontario Corn Fed Beef
  • Ontario Federation of Agriculture
  • Ontario Plowman’s Association
  • OSCIA
  • Pioneer Hi-Bred/Brevant
  • Pride Seeds
  • Prograin
  • Roberts Farm Equipment Sales Inc.
  • Royal Bank
  • Scotiabank
  • SeCan
  • SGS Canada
  • SWAT Maps
  • TD Agriculture Services
  • The Andersons
  • The Commonwell Mutual Insurance Group
  • The Smart Energy Company
  • Timac Agro Canada
  • UAP Canada