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Quebec producer scores Seed for Life

Pilon, a third-generation farmer whose fields already span 1,000 acres, was named the grand prize winner of DuPont Pioneer’s Seed for Life contest yesterday. He will receive up to $1.25 million in Pioneer brand products over the next 25 years — a prize he says will make a big difference in his operation.

“It adds a lot of security for a young farmer like me who took over not that long ago,” Pilon said. “It opens the door to a lot of projects that we had to slow down. Now we can move a bit faster.”

One of those projects includes adding those extra acres to the existing farm, which currently grows 500 acres each of corn and soybeans.

“I believe that the practices I have are already most suited to the type of soil I have, and machinery-wise, what I already have will be okay,” Pilon said. So, expanding the farm’s footprint makes good economical sense.

Creating opportunities for producers to invest in their operations is the whole idea behind the Seed for Life Contest, according to Collin Phillip, DuPont Pioneer’s business director for Eastern Canada.

“What we wanted to do was do something a bit different with our traditional marketing spend. So we took dollars that we would usually put into newspapers or radio and those kinds of things, and did something bigger and splashier and more exciting, and something that would give value to each of you,” Phillip told the crowd assembled for a VIP reception at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont.

DuPont Pioneer also announced five secondary prize winners, who will receive “Seed for a Season.” The following producers will receive up to $10,000 worth of Pioneer brand products for the 2017 planting season: Denis Moreau of St-Flavien, Que.; Royalair Farms Ltd. of Dublin, Ont.; Geoff Buckrell of Burgessville, Ont.; Harcan Farms Inc. of Petrolia, Ont.; and Shar View Farms of Sharon, Ont.

Farmers in Quebec and Ontario will get another crack at winning Seed for a Season in 2017, when Pioneer expands the contest to offer 20 winners up to $25,000 each in Pioneer brand seed products for one season.

Customers who purchase Pioneer brand corn or soybean products from their Pioneer sales representative by the entry deadlines will be automatically entered to receive one entry per corn or soybean unit invoiced. Double entries will be offered for producers who purchase Pioneer brand corn products with new DuPont Lumivia insecticide seed treatment.

Full contest details and rules are available at www.seedforaseason.ca.