I am married to Arlene, have 2 sons (Peter and Paul) and reside near Wallaceburg, Ontario.

I own, operate and manage a 1200 acre commercial cash crop operation in northern Chatham-Kent which includes the production of processing tomatoes, commercial corn, soybeans (commercial, seed & specialty IP), winter wheat, and hi-bred seed corn.

I graduated from the University of Guelph (Ridgetown Campus) in 1979.

I was a graduate of Class 3 of the Advanced Agricultural LeadershipPprogram in 1991, which included a North American travel experience to the mid-west and an international travel experience to China.

I have served in various positions on the District 1 Vegetable Growers Association.

I am a past director of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers’ from 1995 to 2000 and 2005 to 2007.

I am a long term and current member of the Kent County Soil & Crop Improvement Association.

I have completed the 2^nd and 3^rd editions of the Ontario Environmental Farm Plan.

I am a founder, member and current director of Agrevision, a 32 member collective buying group for the procurement of farm input supplies.

I recently attended a 12 day agricultural tour of the Parana and Mato Grosso areas of Brazil.