1955 - 2016
Agronomist; CCA-ON. Born in 1955 in Ernestown Township; died on Nov. 10, 2016 in Chatham, aged 61.
In his earliest memory of Morris Sagriff, Dave Harwood recalled recently, he was to speak following the highly-regarded, DuPont Pioneer Hi-Bred agronomist at a crop information meeting in southwestern Ontario.
Sagriff was well known among colleagues for energetic talks. But Harwood, fresh out of school and working for a competitor, remembers thinking “that was a very tough act to follow.” They got better acquainted after Harwood joined DuPont Pioneer.
Sagriff was “absolutely passionate” about advising farmers, said Patrick Lynch, Ontario Certified Crop Advisor’s past-president.
In the late 1990s, Sagriff helped develop a corn seed sizing system adopted globally. He was a 1978 University of Guelph graduate with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.
Sagriff retired in 2015 after 35 years with DuPont Pioneer but remained active as a consultant until late last year.
He was the son of Kingston-area dairy farmers, his wife, Deborah, said. Sagriff received an Award of Excellence from the Ontario Certified Crop Adviser Association in 2013.
DuPont Pioneer photo
Written by Jim Algie.
Originally published in the April 2017 edition of Better Farming.