GFO Newsletter
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new agent for grain farmers of ontario
Grain Farmers of Ontario would like to recognize North Gower Grains as a new agent for wheat. North Gower Grains is a family owned grain elevator in eastern Ontario.
We welcome the opportunity to work with Dwight Foster on behalf of the producers in eastern Ontario. North Gower Grains will be a delivery point for spring wheat for Grain Farmers of Ontario this upcoming harvest season.
grain farmers of ontario
Below you will find our next segment of director and staff profiles in our ongoing effort to introduce you to our GFO?Team.
communications coordinator: public relations focus
Grain Farmers of Ontario would like to welcome Andria Louca as she begins her new role as Communications Coordinator: Public Relations Focus.
Andria Louca’s career has followed an interesting path. She’s been an educator with the public school system, a media relations and communications professional in the health care industry, a freelance publicist for some aspiring musicians, a television producer for more than a decade and most recently, a small business owner in the food industry.
Andria’s role at Grain Farmers of Ontario will be to coordinate public relations activities that target the general public and stakeholders. Andria will bring her past experience as both media advisor and a television producer to Grain Farmers of Ontario to highlight and promote grain with provincial and national mainstream media and end-users.
As a media relations advisor she helped raise the profile of Saint Elizabeth Health Care, a visiting nurses organization. As a television producer, Andria has produced, written and shot hundreds of hours of television.
Andria is a mother to a highly energetic five year old boy. While spending time with her son is her favourite activity, you might also find her cooking up a storm just for fun, maybe catching up on reading one of the many books she has on the go.
marketing/financial assistant
The Marketing/Financial Assistant position is currently being filled by both Colleen Clark and Martina Cherubin. Colleen will be off on maternity leave beginning in June and Martina will be filling in for her while she is away.
The role of Marketing/ Financial Assistant is an integral one at Grain Farmers of Ontario. This position is responsible for buying wheat from farmers and working with terminals and agents to oversee the inventory of wheat. As a wheat buyer, this position is on the front lines of Grain Farmers of Ontario fielding calls from farmers on markets, contracts and payments.
When you call the Grain Farmers of Ontario marketing office, it will often be Martina or Colleen who answers the call. Both Martina and Colleen purchase wheat for the pool and issue forward contracts with producers.
This position is also responsible for assisting the finance department with payables to producers, terminals and agents.
Colleen has been with Grain Farmers of Ontario since its inception in 2010 and prior to that she worked in the marketing department at the Ontario Wheat Board. Overall, she has been working for Grain Farmers of Ontario and its historical organizations since 2002. She lives in Elora with her growing family: her fiancé Josh, her daughter Ashley, 9 and her stepchildren Amelia, 6 and Rowen, 3.
Martina is one of Grain Farmers of Ontario’s newest employees. She was born and raised in Guelph and currently lives in town with her fiancé Matt. Prior to this position she worked at the Co-operators. She has a commerce degree from the University of Guelph where she studied marketing.
is your field up to the challenge?
Each challenge features great prizes! Try your hand at winning a trip for 2 to the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky or win a cash prize of $1,500.
Check out www.gfo.ca for all the rules and to download a registration card today!
Soybean Yield Challenge
Registration Deadline: July 29, 2011
Spring Wheat Challenge
Registration Deadline: June 30, 2011
Winter Wheat Challenge
Registration Deadline: May 2, 2011
www.gfo.ca/soybeanyieldchallenge
www.gfo.ca/springwheatchallenge
www.gfo.ca/winterwheatchallenge
sellsmart for iphone and ipad
Grain Farmers of Ontario has released the iPhone and iPad version of, SellSmart, its mobile application. The application, launched on BlackBerry devices at the beginning of the year, provides local price information, head-to-head price comparisons, and price alerts.
SellSmart is a game-changer for Ontario’s grain farmers and with positive feedback and high uptake of the BlackBerry version there was no doubt an iPhone version was needed.
“This application is changing the way farmers access information,” says Erin Fletcher, Manager of Public Affairs and Communications, Grain Farmers of Ontario. “The success of the BlackBerry version drove demand for iPhone and iPad versions – and we are very excited to be meeting that demand now.”
SellSmart is a custom application designed to put local price information at farmers’ fingertips. The price data for corn, soybeans, and wheat is adjusted by Farm Market News and is provided on ten minute intervals. To streamline the data, the application is personalized by the user to only display their elevators and commodities of interest. The user is able to set a target price which they want to sell at for each crop and elevator and they are then notified by their device when the price is achieved.
SellSmart for iPhone and iPad can be downloaded, free of charge, through the Apple App Store by searching with the keyword “SellSmart”. Questions can be directed to info@gfo.ca. •
