Wheat Industry Newsmaker
C&M Seeds recognizes DAVID HOOKER
 Field Crop Agronomist and college professor, Dr. David Hooker is
also a farmer. The University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus
researcher and innovator says all his agricultural roles fuel each
other and drive him to seek more knowledge that will, ultimately,
help Ontario growers. He feels his hands-on farming experience
gives him added credibility when he meets other growers but his
farm also serves as his personal laboratory.
“I enjoy science and getting into the factors of why crops respond
the way they do to technology,” Dr. Hooker admits. But, the 850 acre
Belmont farm he operates with his father also provides him with the
questions and inspiration for his research projects.
“The farm helps to fuel my drive for knowledge and the research
helps Ontario farmers and the industry,” Dr. Hooker explains. He left
the farm after high school to get a diploma in agriculture from
Ridgetown College and that education spurred him on to University
of Guelph for more education culminating in a doctorate in Crop
Science in 2000. “I kept going to feed my quest for knowledge.”
Now, Dr. Hooker is putting that knowledge to work developing
‘Greenseeker’, a promising tool that may guide growers to improve
on nitrogen management for winter wheat. He is modeling
Greenseeker after similar work at the University of Guelph for corn.
“I like to help Ontario farmers gain profitability and increase crop
yield and this current project excites me,” says this enthusiastic
researcher who credits a team of associates, including OMAFRA’s
Peter Johnson, for supporting his ideas and helping him find the
answers to many questions.
What Dr. Hooker has learned on his farm and in the classroom, he
anxiously shares with students and growers who are just as eager
for knowledge.
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