Ile des Chenes farmer, former deputy minister receives award from Manitoba Canola Growers

The Manitoba Canola Growers Association has awarded Dori Gingera-Beauchemin the 2025 Canola Award of Excellence, recognizing her long-standing support for agriculture in Manitoba and her lasting contributions to the canola industry.

“I was inducted into the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame in the fall, which is an amazing award, and so it was really exciting, but I told the Canola Growers to have a producer organization in Manitoba award me, you know, it was just as exciting because the national award comes from all kinds of folks all around the countryside that I’ve had the privilege of working with, and all of their accolades, but to come from our own group in Manitoba, our own farmer group, is just equally exciting and very important to me,” said Gingera-Beauchemin.

The Canola Award of Excellence recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the sustained growth and prosperity of Manitoba’s canola industry.

Gingera-Beauchemin grew up on a cattle farm in McCreary, just north of Dauphin, before her father got a job working in education and they moved to a small town. Currently, she and her husband farm near Ile des Chenes growing canola, cereals, and other oilseeds.

After finishing university, she got a job working in the Department of Agriculture for the province in 1979, spending 43 years there, first as a 4-H specialist in Steinbach for 10 years and then eventually growing into the position of deputy minister in 2011. She retired in 2023.

“I was in the department for 43 years. I was hooked. There was no other place for me. In every job I had along the way I thought, ‘Geez, this is the best job in the world. I could stay in this job forever.’ But more, I was fortunate that others maybe thought I could, if pushed along, I could take on some additional responsibilities,” said Gingera-Beauchemin.

One of the ways that Gingera-Beauchemin was instrumental in working with the Canola Growers was with its Learn to Lead program, a long-standing leadership development program designed to grow confident, informed farmer leaders within Manitoba’s canola sector.

The program focused on strengthening skills in advocacy, strategic thinking, communication, media engagement, and industry representation. Over its 10-year run, more than 170 farmers completed the program, creating a strong and active leadership network across the province, according to the MCGA.

“Dori was generous in sharing her time and expertise with farmers through the early years of our Learn to Lead program,” stated Warren Ellis, chair of MCGA, in a press release. “She took part in lobbying workshops and gave participants real-life, valuable experience on how to effectively engage with government.”

Through roleplay in mock advocacy meetings, Gingera-Beauchemin taught farmers leadership skills in how to work with government in advancing their ideas, raising issues, and being a part of informing government priorities by refining their messaging, improving their delivery, and building confidence.

“So, it was amazing. Lots of young people, learned lots from them. Wow, they’re smart. They’re quick. They get it. They’re well-informed. They know how to get their issues on the table. Their communication skills are strong. So really, we were just really taking what was really smart folks and just giving them real-life situations,” she said.

“If you’re going to walk through the door at the minister’s office in the Manitoba legislature, how to do it most effectively on behalf of your membership, not personally, right, and that’s a really important piece for leaders to remember.”

Last fall, Gingera-Beauchemin went to Mongolia on a contract working with farmers who had livestock. While there, she realized the importance of having a farming association, such as the MCGA, to advocate for farmers.

“So that, regardless though of the quantity, regardless of the crop, the importance of a producer organization is just equally critical. And so, it’s always about getting producer input, having producers identify what their needs are, and the association (MCGA) is trying to advocate and lobby for that,” she said.

Gingera-Beauchemin said the volatility in the world is affecting canola producers, which include the increase in costs for fertilizer due to the war in the Middle East, the lack of control regarding input costs, and trade challenges with the United States.

“They’re not sure, as the saying goes, when the next shoe will drop and what it will mean to them. And so that kind of uncertainty, stress, no control over it is just adding to…the stress level that they carry. Those things are very critical to producers.

“They’re always trying to make good decisions. But how do you make them when you don’t know what factor is going to come from the side that you’ve never planned for, right? And so that’s tough.”

In speaking with Gingera-Beauchemin it is evident that she is passionate about agriculture. She said her passion comes from growing up on a farm and participating in the 4-H Club, which has its origins in the agriculture industry. She also was exposed to the Department of Agriculture growing up and had a lot of people she looked up to in that department. In her career, she also worked with people who were passionate about their jobs and the producers that were equally passionate.

“I love the (agricultural) industry. I love the fact that it’s a cornerstone of the Manitoba and the Canadian economy,” she said.

“But you know, it was always one of those parts of my life that when I got up in the morning, I never regretted going to work. Never. And so, yeah…I’ve had a cool career.”