JFAO provides opportunities for young people age 15-29 of all backgrounds, but especially those in rural Ontario, to take on the challenge of exploring their individual talents and potential to develop personally while being involved in bettering their communities, networking, and having fun. JFAO’s mission is “To build rural leaders through personal growth, travel, experiences, and community betterment.”
Self-directed programs and opportunities provided by JFAO and its 15 affiliated clubs help to develop a member’s sense of social and environmental responsibility, the ability to provide effective leadership, and an awareness of good citizenship within the community and world around them.
Members across the province have the opportunity to participate in exchanges with several countries and one province, as well as provincial sport, cultural, and skills competitions.
Leadership Camp, Communications Workshops, March Conference, Director’s Training and the Ontario Young Farmers Forums round out JFAO’s personal development opportunities, not including the many locally organized inter-club challenges and events. JFAO also works with 4-H Ontario, its own alumni and many other partners to further increase the opportunities for youth in Ontario.
Each year JF members collectively donate to charitable projects across the province, along with countless hours of volunteer service. A provincial charity is designated each year, a list of which can be found here on our website. JFAO also operates the Ontario Century Farm recognition program, which began as a centennial project in 1967.
The first JF clubs formed in 1914 in Durham, York, Peel, and Middlesex. JFAO is a charitable organization established in 1944 with the support of the rural extension branch of the Ontario government, with a membership of approximately 10,000 at its peak. Today JFAO is funded solely with the support of members, donors and sponsors.
Hey there! My name is Jordyn Domio, and I am honored to serve as the 2025-2026 President for JFAO. I am from the Niagara Region where I grew up on my family’s fruit farm, and I am a member of the Wentworth-Niagara club. Over the years I have had amazing opportunities to participate in many club, zone and provincial events across the province, and really enjoy the community that JFAO offers. Outside of JFAO, I work as an agricultural programs analyst for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, and have been a Director with the Niagara Federation of Agriculture for 4 years now. These positions give me the opportunity to be very connected to the agricultural sector, and I hope to use these connections for the betterment of JFAO. Agriculture has always been a passion of mine, and I believe in the power of young farmers to shape the future of the industry. As President, my goal is to continue building opportunities for education, leadership, and networking within JFAO. I look forward to working alongside our members to continue to grow this organization and support the next generation of leaders in Ontario’s farming sector. Together, we can create a bright future for agriculture and rural life in our province.
My name is Carson Wagner, and I am your Past President for the upcoming year! I am from New Hamburg (which is technically in Waterloo County), but I am a member of the Oxford County Junior Farmers! I have been a member for about 9 years but time flies by when you’re having fun each year. I help run my family dairy farm with my parents where we are milking around 60 cows with a robot. I also run a custom bale wrapping business. I am now in my last year of Junior Farmers. I have had the chance to meet a lot of members and alumni as my time being OFA Rep and being President. I have been able to attend Club Socials, Zone Socials, Provincial events, and even OFA events as my time as the OFA Rep and it has given me lots of connections with fellow members and opportunities for the future. I am looking forward to working with everyone throughout JFAO and am excited to have the opportunity to represent Junior Farmers. If anyone has any questions or concerns, I would be happy to talk to you about it.
Hi everyone, I’m Karen. I have been a proud Oxford JF member for 11 years. I was born and raised on a farrow to finish pig farm in Salford, and I work fulltime in management at a boar stud. I have been very involved in my local club, serving many of the executive positions and helping organize our largest annual event, the Embro Truck and Tractor pull. I was fortunate to travel to Ireland in 2019 on exchange. I served as CIP director on the 2022-2023 board. I am very passionate about Junior Farmers as I think it provides opportunities and connections that you won’t find anywhere else. In addition to carrying out the finance director’s duties, my goal for the year is to build membership to ensure we have an organization for many years to come.
Hello everyone, I’m Christena and I joined the Middlesex Junior Farmers in 2019. This will be my 3rd and final year on the board as this is my last year with JF. I am excited to be returning to this role as the Director of Communications. I graduated from Ridgetown College in 2015 with an Associate Diploma in Horticulture and in 2016 with an Associate Diploma in Agriculture. I then went on to the University of Guelph and graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Degree. I currently work at Beechwood Agri Services, a food grade soybean processing plant, where I am the Location Manager. I am involved in 4-H as a one of the leaders for the Middlesex Go for the Gold club and the Ilderton Sheep club this year. I can’t wait to see what adventures are in store for 2025!
Hi everyone, my name is Keely Henderson and I am going into my 5th year as of the Renfrew County JF member. My favourite part of JF is attending provincial events and connecting with other members from across the province. I recently graduated from Nipissing University with a double major in Biology and Computer Science, then decided to get my post-graduate certificate in Cybersecurity. My goal is to eventually further my education with a Master's in Cybersecurity, specializing in the agricultural sector. If you have any questions about membership or upcoming provincial events this year, please feel free to reach out to me at any time. I’m excited to see what 2025 has in store!
Hello everyone! My name is Sarah Danen and I am excited to be returning to the position as the Director of Community and International Programs. Previously, I had the opportunity to travel on an exchange to the Republic of Ireland. I enjoyed every chance I had to make new friends, embrace new experiences and the agriculture industry. I look forward to allowing other members to have the same experiences that I did. I am currently in my 9th year as a member of the Oxford County Junior Farmers. I live and work on my parents dairy farm and have a full-time job as a Agriculture Client Relationship Manager at Scotiabank. During my free time I enjoy baseball, curling, and being outdoors. I am excited to return to this role and look forward to this year and what it will have in store!
Hello, my name is Cecelia Darling and I have been a member of Peterborough County Junior Farmers since 2020. I am the seventh generation on a beef farm and have always had a strong interest in the agriculture industry. I am currently studying at Nipissing University, completing a Bachelor of Science Honours Specialization in biology, in the concurrent teaching program. Attending provincial events and planning socials with my own club has always been great fun, and I look forward to doing this with other clubs. This is my first year as part of the executive team, and I am very excited for all the learning opportunities ahead! I am looking forward to connecting with and representing each club within the central zone!
Hey everyone! My name is Brady Wytenburg, and I am currently a member of the Renfrew County Junior Farmers. Although I have held multiple positions on our local club’s executive, this will be my first time on the provincial executive. Outside of Junior farmers, I currently work at Bromley Farm Supply in Douglas, Ont where we sell and service tractors as well as equipment. In 2022, I graduated from Algonquin college with a diploma in Business-Agriculture and have used my knowledge from that to continue to help out on our family farm where we cash crop and finish beef cattle. Farming has always been one of my biggest passions, from the long hours in the spring during calving and seeding to the harvest in the fall. I mainly joined junior farmers so I could continue on from my 4-H journey but as well to meet others and learn from them to help continue to build my skillset. I am excited to be this years East Zone Director so that I can use my experience to continue to connect with others, as well as help new members start there career in junior farmers.
My name is Brandon McLeod, and I am a dedicated member of the Essex-Kent Junior Farmers. Since joining in 2022, I have had the privilege of serving as President, as well as holding previous roles as Vice President and Assistant Provincial Director. Through these positions, I have worked closely with delegates and contributed to various initiatives that give back to the Essex-Kent community. I was raised on a dairy farm near St. Marys, Ontario, and now reside in Morpeth. Agriculture has been a lifelong passion of mine. After graduating from Ridgetown College in 2017 with an Agricultural Diploma, I gained valuable experience working in Saskatchewan and Australia. Currently, I work as an Agronomist in the Chatham-Kent region, specializing in processing vegetables and field crops. I am honoured to be nominated for the position of West Zone Director. In this role, I look forward to strengthening communication between clubs, fostering collaboration, and building on the strong foundation already in place. My goal is to enhance connectivity within the West Zone and support initiatives that drive our organization forward. I am eager to see what we can achieve together in the year ahead. I appreciate your support and look forward to the opportunities ahead.
Hi everyone, my name is Natalie VanderWal. I joined Middlesex Junior Farmers in 2024 and this will be my first year on the board! I’m very excited for my new role as the 4-H representative. I currently go to the University of Guelph where I study One Health with a minor in agriculture. After I graduate I hope to pursue a career in zoonotic disease research. I grew up on my family's cash crop farm, which previously grew tobacco and ginseng, but have become even more passionate about agriculture and livestock since starting University. My involvement in 4-H began at age nine and continued throughout high school, leading me to transition into Junior Farmers. I know how valuable 4-H is in shaping young leaders, and I want to encourage senior 4-H members to continue their involvement in agriculture by joining JF as they age out of 4-H. In my free time, I love riding horses, line dancing, and kayaking. I’m looking forward to an amazing year with Junior Farmers and can’t wait to help bridge the connection between 4-H and JF!
Hi everyone, my name is Mark Ruiter, I am the OFA representative for JFAO. I live and work part time on my family dairy farm while working full time for a cash crop operation. I have been a Carleton County JF member for 9 years. My time in JF has changed my perspective of how I see JFAO, as it’s all about the members but even more about the community we support. While I am a new face at the provincial level, I believed that more hands make light work. OFA and JF have always had a prosperous relationship and I look forward to keeping those conversations rolling.
I am part of both the Huron Perth and Wentworth-Niagara clubs and work on a broiler breeder farm in Oxford. As someone who has reaped many of the benefits JFAO has to offer including going on exchanges to both Scotland and Republic of Ireland I’d like to try and promote these opportunities on our socials to try and recruit new members. I feel we have a strong executive and am excited to see what we can accomplish this year.
My name is Matthew Sterling, and I was born and raised in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. I come from a cash crop family farm. I have always enjoyed being a part of the farm wherever I can. I attended Fanshawe College in the Electromechanical Engineering Technician program. I am the 2025 website and IT manager for JFAO. I am a proud member of Middlesex Junior Farmers and represent them as the provincial director for the club. I joined Junior Farmers when I was 15 years old because my older brother was involved for many years and always talked about how much he enjoyed it. Now at 22 I love being a part of such a great organization. I have many hobbies, but one that is a very large part of my life is competitive plowing. I have been plowing competitively since I was 10 years old. In 2022, I was the Junior Canadian Plowing Champion at the Canadian Plowing Championship that was held in Rivers, Manitoba. I am looking forward to a great year representing JFAO as the Website and IT manager. If you have any questions or concerns for myself, feel free to send me an email at:
For over 65 years, JFAO has played an important role in the development of leaders – most visibly in the rural and agricultural sector. JFAO alumni know the value of the training they received in JF and support our continued efforts to help shape the next generation of leaders. Our alumni also fondly recall the fun and lifelong friendships that began during their time as members. The real beauty of Junior Farmers is that the skill development is disguised in so much fun! See More
Junior Farmers has developed as a result of many people’s efforts over the last 90+ years. JFAO, which serves as the means through which our mission and principles may be developed and maintained throughout Ontario, provides co-ordination and leadership to clubs and opportunities to network through a variety of inter-club competitions, activities, and exchanges. JFAO gives future leaders a voice in related organizations… See More
In 1943, there were 3834 members in 56 local Clubs and 27 County Associations. Within the first 5 years of the formation of the Provincial Association, membership soared to nearly 10,000. In 1974 there were 7045 members in 125 local Clubs and 47 County Associations. Through the 1980s and 1990s a number of factors (including the absolute loss of public funding and staff support) led to a steady decline in membership. The unfaltering dedication of some key members… See More
