Meet the speakers

2026 Managing risks, mastering markets

Building financial resilience: Capital access and cost control for today’s farms
Amanda Hammell, Senior Manager, Farm Management Consulting
MNP

Amanda Hammell, B. Comm, CAFA, is a Senior Manager with MNP’s Agriculture Farm Management Consulting team in Stratford. Amanda brings a wealth of experience and a deep-rooted passion for Agriculture. Amanda is dedicated to developing innovative solutions that help clients achieve their business and financial objectives within the Agricultural sector.

Her understanding of the importance of planning and financial management is not just theoretical but deeply personal. Amanda’s husband, Steve, along with their three daughters, Madison, Hailey, and Ava, own and operate a dairy farm near Tara, Ontario. This firsthand experience of managing a family-run farm provides Amanda with unique insights and a practical perspective that she leverages to benefit her clients.

Economics of feeding veal cattle
John Molenhuis, Business Analysis and Cost of Production Specialist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness

John has been the Business Analysis and Cost of Production Specialist with OMAFA for the past 25 years. He leads financial benchmarking projects and the development of the crop and livestock cost of production budgeting tools and resources. John has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Business from the University of Guelph.

Market situation and outlook
Steve Duff, Chief Economist
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Agribusiness

Coming from a dairy and beef background in Ontario’s Northumberland County, Steve is an Ontario Agricultural College ‘94 grad who completed a Masters in Ag Economics from the Food, Agriculture, and Resource Economics (FARE) department at the University of Guelph in 1996. Steve joined the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF) in late 1997 after a year as a policy researcher within FARE for the Dairy Farmers of Ontario.

During this time Steve chaired several federal-provincial-territorial committees including the Business Risk Management (BRM) advisory committee, the BRM administrators committee, and is currently the co-chair of the Farm Income Forecasting Committee. Steve is currently OMAF’s Chief Economist. Since 2011, Steve has been an Adjunct Professor in the FARE department teaching 4th year Agricultural Policy analysis. In 2016, Steve was the recipient of the first FARE distinguished alumnus award. Steve and his wife Robyn operate a beef and cash crop farm near Colborne, Ontario.

Questions for our speakers? Email them to events@vealfarmers.ca and the responses will be shared in the Finishing grain-fed veal in Ontario private Facebook group.