Virtual Program

Tom Barnes is the chief executive officer of Category Partners, LLC; a retail sector, business insights company founded in 2008, which specializes in driving growth by executing consumer and market research, data analytics and technology solutions. Tom has successfully led Category Partners by developing strategic partnerships, proprietary data reporting tools and adding primary consumer research capabilities to Category Partners services. Since taking the reins at the end of 2016, Category Partners has more than doubled its annual revenue.

Prior to joining Category Partners in 2013, Tom held a senior position at Wada Farms Marketing Group leading a major retailer account group for more than 9 of his 13 years with the company. Tom got his career start in the IT field. His IT background, coupled with his subsequent experience in perishables industry sales and marketing, has afforded him a unique and valuable perspective on the relationship between data management, business insights and success in the retail perishables area.

He was raised in Pocatello, Idaho, and is a proud Idaho State University Bengal. Tom currently hails from Idaho Falls, Idaho where he and his wife are doing their best to raise their five beautiful children. Tom loves to run, coach sports of every kind, and simply be with his kids every chance he gets.

Benefiting from more than 20 years of experience in food and textiles, Lee Holdstock is a trusted expert in sustainability, responsible business, and organic trade who manages a range of projects and stakeholder relationships for Soil Association Certification – the UK’s biggest organic certifier. Lee is part of a team that helps hundreds of businesses build capability in marketing, communications, supply chain, and routes to market, actively supporting the growth of an organic market that is now worth over £3 Billion a year.

Lynsey is an experienced marketer who has focused her career in the natural, organics and wellness industry – working with brands like Genuine Health, Bio-K+, Silver Hills Bakery, One Degree Organics, Navitas Organics, Greenspace Brands, and The Green Organic Dutchman (an organic and sustainably focused cannabis company). With a passion for brand strategy, creating great consumer experiences and taking innovative products from idea to commercialization, her goal is to get better for your products into the hearts and minds of more Canadians.

Ryan Koory is Mercaris’ Vice President of Economics. With more than a decade of agricultural market research experience, Ryan leads Mercaris’ data partnerships development and identity preserved market data analysis. Prior to Mercaris, he developed market forecasts for global livestock, dairy, and biofuel markets. Ryan has a B.S. in Economics at Missouri State University and studied for his M.S. in Agricultural Economics at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Marla Carlson has worked in the organic sector in Saskatchewan since 2006 and has been an organic consumer since the mid-1990’s. Her passion for organic food and farming has grown as my involvement in the sector has deepened. Marla has been working for SaskOrganics since 2014 and in the Executive Director role since February 2016. In her leadership role, she is always looking for innovative ways to fulfil the organization’s mission to cultivate a healthier world for the benefit of all through organic food and agriculture. Before moving back to Saskatchewan, Marla lived in England and worked for Bristol City Council as their first Democratic & Statutory Services Manager. In addition to Marla’s role with SaskOrganics, she is President of Organic Connections – the largest organic farming conference in Western Canada and is a member of the kwayēskastasowin wâhkôhtowin Steering Committee (Prairie Food System Vision Network), a Rockefeller Foundation Food Systems Top Visionary Prize winner, a thirty-year project with a vision to decolonize the food system on the Canadian Prairies. She is also a member of the Food Systems Game Changers Lab’s Elevating Indigenous Knowledge Cohort. Most recently Marla has taken on a position with the Prairie Organic Development Fund managing the Canadian Organic Ingredient Strategy project.

Hugh Martin is an organic inspector and consultant and has worked as an agronomist in Ontario for 43+ years.He worked for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs for 34 years (retired 2011) and has worked with organic farmers for 35 years.He has a BSc (Agr) and MSc from U of Guelph and grew up a farm in Essex County.

Tom was a past:

• president of the Organic Council of Ontario.
• member of the national board of Canadian organic Growers.
• president of the Ottawa Chapter of Canadian Organic Growers.
• chair of the organizing committee of Eco Farm Day in Cornwall Ontario.
• member of the Cornwall Carbon Reduction Initiative.
• member the advisory committee of Sustain Ontario.

Mary–Howell Martens and her family farm 2000 acres of certified organic grain, forage and dairy in upstate New York.  They have been certified organic since 1992. Additionally, she owns and operates Lakeview Organic Grain, an organic seed and animal feed operation serving dairy, poultry and vegetable farmers throughout the Northeast.   She served on the USDA Advisory Committee for Agricultural Biotechnology, the Cornell University Dean’s Advisory committee, and the NOFA-NY Board of Directors.  In earlier years, she worked in the grape breeding program at Cornell University and taught biology and plant physiology at Finger Lakes Community College.  She has a BS in Horticultural Science from North Carolina State University, and a MS in Plant Breeding/Vegetable Crops from Cornell University.  She also loves to bake with home-grown, home-ground grains!

Melissa McKeown grew up in Centre Wellington and graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, minoring in Molecular Biology and Genetics in 2008. She immediately joined a Geothermal installation company as an office manager and ultimately transitioned to grow their export market for products before leaving in 2012 after the birth of her first child and ultimately in pursuit of an entrepreneurial lifestyle. Melissa holds an Agricultural Operation Strategy or Plan Development certificate (AOSPCD) and still performs nutrient management consulting for farmers and developers.  In 2014,  Melissa McKeown and her brother Trevor founded 1847 Stone Milling when they recognized all major premium organic flour brands sold in Canada were based in the USA. Melissa continues to manage 1847 Stone Milling and in 2020 established 1847 Estates, an operating farm and tourist destination promoting the beauty and productivity of Southern Ontario farmland. Melissa does regular speaking engagements and volunteers on not-for-profit Boards that promote community and agriculture. Melissa has been featured on culinary shows and podcasts where she provides accolades to the hard work of women in agriculture and the opportunity for growth in the Canadian agricultural sector. Melissa continues to live on an active farm in Fergus, Ontario with her husband, 10-year old daughter and 7-year old and 4-year old sons.

Dr. Erin Silva is an Associate Professor and State Extension Specialist in Organic and Sustainable Cropping Systems in the Department of Plant Pathology as well as the Director for the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW-Madison. Dr. Silva has taught courses on organic vegetable production, an experiential learning course integrating the working student organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm on campus. She has also initiated several organic research projects at NMSU, including work on cover crop-based reduced tillage for organic vegetable crops and breeding vegetables for organic production systems.

Organic Certification professional, consultant and local food eater.

Gerald Poechman and his wife Marlene farm 400 acres of food and feed crops for 30 cows and 6,000 hens near Hanover in Bruce County. The farm has been organic for 30 years and is still improving. The eggs are sold under the Yorkshire Valley brand. They look forward to the market acceptance of grass-fed eggs 365, the result of their ‘winter garden’ where the birds can scratch, root, dig, play and exercise.

Krysten Cooper is the Director of Corporate Culture and Sustainability for Yorkshire Valley Farms (YVF), Canada’s leading organic poultry producer. Her work with YVF focuses on how the organization can achieve its goal of Make Food Matter More and ultimately have a climate-positive impact through its actions. Krysten holds an Honours Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Chef Training certificate from George Brown College. She has pursued continuing education around Sustainable Business Strategy, earning certificates from the Harvard School of Business and Stanford University. Krysten currently sits on the Board of the Organic Council of Ontario in the role of Vice President.

Michelle Carkner, PhD Candidate, University of Manitoba Michelle is a 2021 Eco-Scholar recipient.

The potential for organic, farmer-led wheat breeding to maintain yield potential under low-phosphorus conditions on the Canadian Prairies:

Michelle will present research exploring the mechanisms of phosphorus use efficiency of organic cultivars from a Canadian participatory wheat breeding program under low phosphorus conditions.

Olivia is a 2022 Eco-Scholar recipient. She studies the immune response of sheep to better understand how to select for more disease resistant animals. She will be presenting the results of a study looking at differential gene expression between sheep that are resistant and susceptible to gastrointestinal nematode infections.

Krista Long is a passionate advocate for family farms, farmland protection, ecologically viable farming practices, and local, equitable food systems. She has over 20 years experience in the not-for-profit sector with a variety of organizations including the Canadian Organic Growers, the Waterloo Region Food System Roundtable, and the Ontario Farmland Trust. She brings her experience in fundraising, policy, research, and program development to her role at the NFU-O.

Darrin Qualman is the Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action for the National Farmers Union. He is the author of the 2019 report Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis, the 2022 report Nitrogen Fertilizer: Critical Nutrient, Key Farm Input, and Major Environmental Problem and the 2019 book Civilization Critical: Energy, Food, Nature, and the Future. He farmed for two decades and has academic degrees in history, biology, and political studies.