Monsanto launches 2015 Canada’s Farmers Grow Communities program

Jan 19, 2015

Applications accepted until September 30, 2015

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

Agricultural industry giant Monsanto is giving back in a unique way.

Since 2011, Monsanto has maintained the Canada’s Farmers Grow Communities program, in which farmers choose their favourite charities or non-profit organizations and apply for funding on their behalf.

There are 66 grants, worth $2,500 each available for charities and other non-profits that provide services for rural communities across Canada. The funds are awarded by the Monsanto Fund, and in the program’s four-year existence, they’ve given over $480,000 to charities all across the country.

"Our goal is to collaborate with farmers to help rural communities thrive," said Kelly Funke, public affairs manager for Monsanto Canada in a release. "The great organizations that Canadian farmers so clearly believe in and support are truly the glue that binds these communities and allows them to flourish."

Farmers can nominate a charity of their choosing to receive funding, and members of the community can suggest charities that would benefit from the funding.

Past winners include Garry Hamilton, who nominated Quebec’s Expo Ormstown during their 100^th anniversary celebration to help them continue to raise agricultural awareness for everyone. Expo Ormstown 2015 will take place June 11-14.

Joyce Johnston from Huron County, Ontario used the $2,500 to donate to the Huron County Foodbank Distribution Centre.

Applications will be accepted until September 30, 2015.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.