Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers Program (OYF) is a unique program designed to recognize farmers and farm couples who exemplify excellence in their profession.

The program was founded in 1979 by the Canadian Junior Chamber/Jay-cees and is open to farmers or couples who derive at least two-thirds of their income from farming operations.

Learn more about how to participate or nominate a young farmer.

The Ontario Region of the OYF is one of seven regional programs. Each region holds an event where local nominees are judged on specific criteria. All regional winners represent their areas at an annual national event where they compete to be named Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers. See our alumni for all our past regional and national winners.

2012 Awards Program Information
March 26-28

Join us as we celebrate the achievements of top young farmers and award one farm family with the title of 2012 Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers.

Hotel Information
Hilton Fallsview, Niagara Falls
6361 Fallsview Blvd
Niagara Falls, On
(905) 354-7887)

Room Rates
2 Bedroom Deluxe Suite Fallsview - $129
2 Bedroom Delux Suite, City View - $109

Call 1-866-873-9829 before February 25 to book your room at these great group rates.

Banquet - Tuesday March 27
Reception at 5:30
Dinner at 6:30
Grand Ballroom

Banquet tickets at $55 each are available until Tuesday March 20.

Order through Karen Daynard - kdaynard (at) sympatico.ca

Alumni AGM to follow on the morning of Sunday March 28 at 9 am.

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Congratulations to Wes and Briar Wiens
2011 Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmers

Nominated by the Grape Growers of Ontario, Wes Wiens was born and raised on a grape and tender fruit farm in Niagara-on-the-Lake and learned two important lessons early on in life – that agricultural success is built on innovation and adaptation, and that agricultural survival is attained through commitment and stamina. He feels that “both of these life lessons have helped me become one of Canada’s leading grapevine propagators.” 

And one of Canada’s leading propagators he is. Gemmrich W. Nurseries (www.gwnvines.com), named after Wes’s mentor and former partner, Martin Gemmrich, a 3rd generation propagator of grapevines, has 60% market share in the Canadian grape vine industry. Within the last 5 years the Nursery’s production has almost doubled from grafting 800,000 vines in 2006 to 1,400,000 vines in 2010.

Commitment to quality supersedes all other aspects of management practices at Wes and Briar’s nursery. They add value to operation by providing services such as producing potted vines, doing custom grafting and brokering for imported vines. They are also affiliated directly with another family operation which provides custom planting, trellising and harvesting services, making them a one-stop operation. In the future they would like to add vineyard GPS mapping, soil sampling, viticultural consulting, missing vine counting and over-grafting to their list of services.

The Wiens find that keeping up with new developments in the industry is challenging, as there is no educational institution that deals specifically with viticultural propagation.  Due to this they and their 36 employees travel to more established wine regions around the world in order to learn more about their practices and technological advancements. Wes has also made it a priority to have a their own research and development program and conducts joint research projects with various educational institutions including the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre.

Wes is also a director for the Grape Growers of Ontario, and a member of the Canadian Grapevine Certification Network and the American Society of Enology and Viticulture. The whole family, including their four children, Kaityn (8), Berlin (6), Rowan (4) and Addisyn (1) are heavily involved with the Community Church, and with regional minor hockey and baseball teams.