John was raised on a crop and cattle farm in Appin, Ontario.
He received his BA from the University of Western Ontario.
He began his career working as Secretary Manager for the Middlesex Federation of Agriculture in London, Ontario.
John then developed a widespread listenership for his farm show as a broadcaster for CFPL Radio 980 in London in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
John later launched DePutter Publishing Ltd., which grew to become a leading source of agricultural commodity news and market analysis throughout Canada.
In that role, John contributed to a wide variety of publications and designed and taught commodity marketing courses. He was a frequent speaker at farm meetings and conferences and built relationships with farmers and agribusiness people across the country.
In his 45 years in the business, John developed sets of principles and theories about commodity markets and crop marketing, communicating them widely, from coast to coast, through numerous DePutter Publishing newsletters and seminars.
DePutter Publishing was sold to FarmLink Marketing Solutions of Winnipeg, Manitoba in December 2021.
A year later, on December 31, 2022, John retired from his market analysis work with DePutter Publishing/FarmLink, to pursue other interests.