b'MEET OUR SPEAKERSCedric Porter commitment to agriculture is deep- Homer Vander ZaagCedric Porter is therooted. When hes away from theHomer Vander Zaag farms editor of World Potatooffice, he enjoys spending time within Alliston, Ont. and is the Markets his wife and two daughters, alongpresident of H. J. Vander , a weeklywith keeping active and playing a briefing on potato andvariety of sports. Zaag Farms Ltd. He has potato product trade,farmed since 1990, and in prices and production read by potatothe last four years his daughter Karen professionals across the globe.Dale Lathim and son Garrett joined the farm. They Based in the United Kingdom, hefarm 1,900 acres of potatoes for the has written and consulted on globalDale Lathim is thechip market and an additional 1,500 agricultural supply and business forexecutive director ofacres of cereal rotation crops.25 years. Cedric is vice-chairman ofthe Potato Growers of Linking Environment and FarmingWashington, Inc. (PGW) (LEAF) which promotes sustainablewhich is the bargainingJacob van den Bornefarming through the use of the LEAFassociation that represents theJacob van den Borne is Marque, farmer-focused research andgrowers of contracted potatoesthe owner of Van den engagement with the public. He issupplying the processing plants in theBorne Potatoes and is also a non-executive of a U.K. farmingColumbia Basin of Washington andan arable farmer in the business which grows 1,000 acres ofOregon. This is a position Dale hasNetherlands. In 2004, potatoes. held for the past 27 years.In additionhe received his bachelors degree to his role with PGW, Dale is also thein arable farming and soon after president of the Potato Marketinghe became involved with national Chad Berry Association of North America which isprecision farming research and Chad Berry partner inan association of all of the bargainingdevelopment. Today, Jacob is a Under the Hill Farms,associations whose members growforerunner in the use of precision Over the Hill Farms,contract potatoes that supply thefarming technology with a strong and Pleasant Valley Golfprocessing plants in Washington,belief precision agriculture is the way Course. He is also chairOregon, Idaho, Alberta, Manitoba,the next generation of farmers can of the Keystone Potato ProducersNorth Dakota, Wisconsin, Ontario,really start to understand location Association. Berry grows processingQuebec, New Brunswick, Maine andspecific growing processes and potatoes and 11 other crops acrossPrince Edward Island. minimize environmental impact. After 13,000 acres. His farm is alwaysmore than 10 years experimenting trying new techniques to make itDeb Hart and applying precision farming at more efficient and sustainable. scale, Jacob co-founded on his Deb Hart has beenproperty the Practice Centre for part of the seed potatoPrecision Agriculture, an official Smart Chris Vanthuyne industry for 21 years.Industry Field lab, with the goal to Chris Vanthuyne is aShe recently retired ashelp suppliers and colleague farmers senior product ownerseed coordinator with thediscover benefits in using technology with the Farm CreditPotato Growers of Alberta after 16.5and data to better understand nature Canada (FCC) AgExpertyears, however she continues industryand get more sustainable yields.team. He works closelywork as vice-chair of the Canadian with producers from across CanadaPotato Council/Seed Potato Sub-to develop software solutions toCommittee. She is also the Canadian help digitize their farm records. HePotato Council representative on has a passion for understanding andthe Seed Regulations ModernizationACCESSutilizing technology to help advanceWorking Group and industry co-chairour FREE virtual Canadian agriculture. Chris has beenon the Seed Potato Regulations with FCC for over 15 years, workingModernization Working Group. congress platform at primarily in IT roles. Originally a farmCanadianSpudCongress.cakid from central Saskatchewan, his 8 CANADIANSPUDCONGRESS.CA FEBRUARY 24-25, 2021 #SPUDCONcongress_TR.indd 8-9 2021-01-28 1:45 PMBMO.indd 1 2019-10-17 8:24 AM'