An Elite service in agriculture is growing and attracting the best people.

It’s the dream of any business that employs people: find the best, retain them, grow the business strategically and build a team that’s the envy of the sector it serves. Admittedly that’s easier said than done, especially with an economy that’s proceeding with cautious optimism. Regardless of the relative strength of the agri-food and agri-business industry, most companies want the same thing.

Most managers and owners would be satisfied with two or perhaps three of those pillars, yet somehow Jonathan Giret has managed to excel with all four. He’s found the right people and retained them, he’s grown Elite Agri Solutions carefully and consideringly, and he’s building a team of industry specialists that’s garnering more attention around the agri-food industry.

Giret launched Elite Agri Solutions in 2017, following his return from the oil industry in Alberta. At the time, he had purchased his first poultry farm and navigated several applications for grants only to realize there was a notable void providing that kind of service to producers. That’s when he hired his first employees and began assisting primary producers wanting to implement new systems, technologies or management practices on their farms. By 2020, he was still operating from his chicken barn but he’d hired his first four employees.

Late in 2024, there are 20 employees and the level of expertise has expanded beyond grant writing to nutrient management plans, business planning, health and safety training and conducting on-farm energy audits. Account managers are complemented by claims specialists and grant writers, each with their own specialized training, including environmental issues and climate change. The health and safety team has broadened its reach, with partnerships formed with farm organizations wanting to augment the many safeguards available to members. Elite resources are also available in French and Spanish.

“With time, good people and effective management, we can build a company that every farmer will want to work with,” says Giret. “It comes down to getting great people in the door. We’re on to something pretty cool with Elite. We need to find a balance of up-and-comers and those who are highly-skilled and already in the market.”

Greater diversity
The notion that those who work in agriculture must always have a farming background is untrue and can hold the added benefit of having no preconceived biases about the industry. Kerri Wood exemplifies that notion, spending six-and-a-half years working as a law clerk in Glencoe before making the transition to Elite Agri Solutions, where she is the claims and communications liaison.

“If farmers didn’t need what we offer, we wouldn’t be here.”
Kerri Wood, Claims and Communications Specialist

“I wasn’t actively looking for a new job but if the right one came up, I’d consider it,” says Wood, who wanted to stay in Glencoe versus commuting out-of-town. “A previous employer of mine reached out and asked if was looking to make a job switch. I showed up for my interview and I knew this is where I needed to be.”

Regardless of the area of expertise, the work is always challenging and the learning curves often tend to be more vertical lines. But Wood accepts that as part of the process with any new job. What makes Elite different is the atmosphere.

“Employees investing themselves in a company should expect nothing less than a returned investment in you,” she adds. “Elite embodies this with employees by supporting opportunity for growth and success. Mutual investment supports optimal growth in a company and I’m all about that investment.”

The other key difference in Wood’s view is Giret’s background as a farmer; he started Elite recognizing there was a void in consulting resources for farmers. Proof of the company’s success comes from the growing demand for all of the services offered.

“If farmers didn’t need what we offer, we wouldn’t be here,” says Wood. “We’re changing the game, and the number of businesses and other agriculture agencies that have asked to mention us in articles, magazines, flyers and websites has grown quickly. This is opening a very large door for Elite’s recognition of who we are and what we do.”

Distance a strength, not a problem
Tom Shackleton also believes in the need for what Elite is doing, and speaks from personal experience, starting with his own farm operation in Selwyn, near Peterborough in 2003. Five years later, he moved to Ailsa Craig to work a small cash crop farm and raise beef cattle. He joined Elite early in 2024 as an account manager and moved back to Central Ontario to take over the home farm near Ennismore.

He’s enjoying the opportunity to work with a team that has similar core values while realizing he can make a difference to many farm businesses, helping to contribute to a sustainable ag industry in Canada. What attracted him to working at Elite was the wealth of varied talent he would be working with, particularly in an area of agriculture that’s not understood or accessed by many producers.

“As Elite grows, it’ll take highly skilled team members to contribute to the sustainability of this business,” says Shackleton, referring to ongoing opportunities within the company for added training. “By furthering our education, the possibilities are endless of how we can service the business of agriculture.”

That’s one of the key facets of the industry he sees as rapidly evolving: farming is a business. It’s an evolutionary path for many different aspects within the agri-food sector and reflects the changing dynamic of farming, particularly its rapid adoption of technology alongside its pledge of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

“Ag is becoming more business oriented -more than ever, with the idea of growing beyond just the family farm and involving consults and advisory services,” says Shackleton. “Many aspects of the traditional farm include a nutritionist, agronomist and financial specialist. Before, most of these tasks were done by prior generations teaching the next.”

That speaks to the strengths and diverse culture that exists at Elite.

More than one way to say the same thing
As an industry, agriculture is one of the more diverse, ranging from horticulture to dairy, feathers to beef to row crops. Within that unique blend comes a growing demand for workers, with many Canadian farmers now employing those from non-English-speaking countries. Sabrina Reaume’s arrival last spring offered a distinct advantage in Elite Agri Solution’s business model: being able to offer health and safety training and other services in English, Spanish and some in French.

Reaume joined the team at Elite with an educational background in Environmental Sciences, including two years studying at agricultural schools in Europe to complete her Master’s. She also holds a post-grad diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Management from Western University in London.

“I find it interesting and rewarding to interact with our clients in Spanish,” says Reaume, who was raised speaking English and Spanish at home and learned French while attending a French-immersion program in Ottawa. “My dialect is from Argentina, which is kind of distinct from the rest of Latin America but makes for a good laugh with the farm employees. Imagine the equivalent of someone from Scotland and Texas speaking English to each other. Every time we train, I learn more of their specific vocabulary and customs, but we understand each other, no problem.”

“The cohesion and balance between the four of us has made me really appreciate everyone on the team.”
Sabrina Reaume, Health and Safety Specialist

As a health and safety specialist, she’s used many of her teaching-oriented skills from past experiences -as a tutor, a lifeguard, and farm assistant responsible for interns and students -to augment her duties. She’s expanded her education and training with Elite, learning more about health and safety programs available to the company’s farm clients, including developing policy books, consulting on Worker Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and Ministry of Labour dealings and become a certified trainer for several courses. It’s been a whirlwind start to her career, but Reaume -like Wood and Shackleton -credits her co-workers and management for creating a supportive environment in which she can learn and grow with her skills.

“We’re a small department but the cohesion and balance of strengths and skills between the four of us has made me really appreciate everyone on the team,” she adds. “I’m able to both learn from them with grace and a sense of humour yet have a place that’s unique to my skillset and able to support them where they need it.”

She also places a high value on her interactions with clients in the field. Helping them complete their training, seeing their commitment and engagement in what they’re trying to communicate creates a level of satisfaction Reaume values. Most of the training they provide can be perceived as being “dry”, but she and the rest of the health and safety team try to make it as engaging as possible.

“And any excuse to spend time on a farm is a highlight for me,” she says.

Closer to home
For Josh Caza, working at Elite provided him with a unique entry into agriculture. Although he attended the University of Guelph, it was in sociology instead of agriculture, following that with the post-graduate Human Resources Management program at Conestoga College. After a co-op placement, he joined a logistics warehouse and was “nudged” into a health and safety role by his employer at the time. Gradually, realized he enjoyed that part of the job, connecting people with the function -and importance -of health and safety training in the workplace.

In March 2021, he heard of the position for health and safety trainer at Elite and applied for it immediately, partly because it was the field in which he wanted to work. And being based in Glencoe meant he could live closer to home in Chatham-Kent.

“Jonathan and the Elite team took a chance on me, because I didn’t know even a quarter of what I know now, and those were all things I needed to know,” says Caza. Management acknowledged his work ethic, his willingness to learn and be reliable. “(Jonathan) gave me an opportunity to grow and learn. There are things we can strive to do better and I’m grateful I’ve had that opportunity.”

One of the more surprising discoveries in his three-plus years at Elite has been how much he enjoys engaging with clients. In his previous work experience, he was content to “blend in” without contributing. Now, he talks to new people every day, presenting information and facilitating.

“If I don’t get that attention in front of the people in the room, I’m not doing my job correctly,” says Caza. “Even when I started for Elite, I didn’t expect I’d be doing training as much as I do now. And I don’t think anyone had a set-in-stone plan for what my role looked like. It was more that there was an opportunity to offer safety services in the agriculture space, let’s give it a shot and see how it goes.”

He also notes the topic of on-farm safety has seen a significant shift in its importance in agriculture. In the past, safety was a topic that garnered a reaction of, ‘Of course, safety is important!’ Yet producers and employees took too many risks, yet when something goes wrong with regards to on-farm safety, it can go horribly wrong.

“(Safety) was being overshadowed by timelines and bottom lines, by having things that need to be done at a certain time, with costs involved,” says Caza. “But in three-and-a-half years with Elite I’ve seen a significant change in the attitude and the buy-in of the farmers I work with, how they view safety and how much of a priority it’s becoming.”

There’s a common theme with some clients where they say, ‘That doesn’t apply to me because I’m on a farm’. But it does apply where a farm has even one employee. Another change taking shape is the trend of younger or new people taking on greater responsibility for safety on the farm. Some have been raised in an environment where they’re more aware of the changes pertaining to health and safety and can use the training Caza and the rest of the team provide as a refresher or a confirmation.

“Our in-person training and online safety courses are ways of starting the conversation and getting the information out there, it starts to spread and becomes a more normal thing that people are starting to talk about, says Caza.”

Special note: Look for Part 3 in this series about Elite Agri Solutions early in 2025!