View our previous speakers from years past. Choose a year:
Grain Market Reconnaissance - What’s ahead for 2025
Chuck Penner
Chuck Penner started LeftField Commodity Research in 2010, providing independent research and analysis for special crop, small grain and oilseed markets. LeftField’s services include weekly market analysis and client-specific research projects. Chuck grew up on a family farm in Manitoba’s Red River Valley and has 30 years of experience in the Canadian grain business, including 15 years in various roles at United Grain Growers and Agricore United, followed by 5 years at Informa Economics as Senior Consultant.
Update of the 2024 season at NARF
Ishita Patel
Ishita Patel joined NARF as the Research Manager in October 2023. Ishita has always been passionate about plants and the environment and was drawn to agriculture while pursuing her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario. She then moved to Saskatchewan to further her knowledge in agriculture and earned a Master of Science degree in Plant Science from the University of Saskatchewan. Her Master’s project focused on insect resistance, drought tolerance, and herbicide tolerance in lentil. Prior to joining NARF, Ishita worked as a Research Agronomist for three years at the Southeast Research Farm in Redvers, SK. During her time in Redvers she was involved in conducting regional variety trials, agronomy trials, demonstrations, and intercropping trials. Ishita is an Articling Agrologist with the SIA and is en route to becoming a Professional Agrologist in 2024. Ishita will be working along side the Operations Manager for the 2024 season to conduct all of NARF’s research and demonstration trials.
Have we taken too many withdrawals from the banks of Potassium
Lyle Cowell
Lyle Cowell is the Senior Canadian Agronomist with Nutrien Wholesale and supports the agronomy and sustainability of the N, P, K, and S fertilizers that are manufactured by Nutrien. His previous career was as a regional agronomist in northeast Saskatchewan where he extended agronomy research to the farm gate. Lyle has always had the goal of connecting good research, sound soil fertility principles, and agronomy extension to honest farm gate advice
Does rain really make grain? Understanding and managing agriculture-water interactions in the Canadian Prairies
Phillip Harder
He grew up on a family farm near Saskatoon and studied
Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan (PhD 2018). His research
interests are focused on understanding the relationships between
hydrology and agriculture on the Canadian Prairies. The overarching
motivation of his work is to develop understanding, and tools, to
improve agricultural outcomes and reduce water-related risks for
producers in this water challenged environment.
Drone spraying and spot spraying
Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe is a spray application specialist, based in Saskatoon. He grew up on a farm in Manitoba and studied agriculture at the University of Manitoba (BSA, M.Sc.) and the Ohio State University (Ph.D.). Tom has 35 years of research experience in spray technology, starting with AAFC in 1989 and now as a private consultant. With Jason Deveau, Tom now hosts and writes for the world’s number-one sprayer website, Sprayers101.com. He is a past president and Fellow of the Canadian Weed Science Society and has been named Distinguished Agrologist with the Saskatchewan Institute of Agrology.