Herman Simons is the Manager of Smart Agriculture Applied Research at OCCI, and is at the forefront where new and exciting technologies are tested in a practical setting for the ag industry and producers.
Herman was born and raised on a farm in the Netherlands and the youngest of five children. He always had a soft spot for Canada and recalls sending hand-written letters to the Canadian embassy asking questions about Canada at 12 years old — foreseeing this would be his future home.
Herman first stepped foot in Canada in 1986 and worked for a few months on a farm in Alberta. After completing his degree in Agricultural Business Management in the Netherlands, Herman returned by participating in the Young Farmers Exchange Program and landed back in Alberta in 1988. He decided to stay, and happily his future wife moved to Canada to be with him after she finished university back in Holland.
Over the years, Herman’s career in Canada evolved from farmhand, to owning and operating his own farm for over 25 years, to representing farmers at provincial and national levels and as a farm management consultant in the private and public sector. Herman has experienced the ebbs and flows in the agriculture industry over the past few decades, and finds it rewarding to be in this exciting and positive space at Olds College that has great potential and significance for the future of agriculture. Herman joined the OCCI team three and a half years ago and is quick to highlight the immense learnings his team has experienced.
Herman says there’s never a boring day at the College, and enjoys the variety of projects and technologies the Smart Ag team works on. He believes the greatest strength of OCCI is the ability to validate equipment, technologies and processes — and be able to provide honest feedback on how the technologies work. Herman explains that his team has practical and agricultural farming experience with a diverse range of skills which gives depth to applied research activities and results.
Herman’s project management expertise is invaluable when working with clients from SMEs to large organizations and everything in between. He enjoys being able to demonstrate how working with the research team on the Smart Farm can help clients address their needs, and see how the research brings value to both the producers and industry. He finds it rewarding to set up research trials with such a wide range of clients to work towards the best outcomes and success.
When he isn’t working on applied research at OCCI, Herman enjoys the slow pace of fine furniture woodworking on the farm. He takes pleasure in designing pieces of furniture and slowly crafting them as a relaxing hobby. Herman and his wife live on the family acreage where they raised their four children and fully enjoy the yard and country life — especially bike rides.
They enjoy peaceful country living as empty nesters with their one dog, but look forward to their granddaughter coming for visits on the farm. As their siblings are all back home in Holland, Herman and his wife enjoy traveling back home as often as possible.
Smart Agriculture Applied Research
