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| NEWS RELEASES - 2004 |
| Agricultural Adaptation Council Elects New Board |
For immediate release - February 9, 2004 - Guelph, ON
The member organizations of the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) elected their 2004-2005 Board of Directors at their 8th Annual Meeting on February 3, 2004.
The AAC administers and delivers funding that assists Ontario's agri-food sector and rural communities to remain competitive, grow and maintain their economic strength. The AAC oversees various funding programs including:
• CanAdapt,
• CanAdapt Small Projects Initiative,
• CanAdapt Value Chain Initiative,
• Canada-Ontario Research and Development Program,
• National Soil and Water Conservation Program and its successor,
• the Agricultural Environmental Stewardship Initiative.
The AAC’s board includes 16 elected representatives from Ontario’s diverse agricultural sectors and two ex-officio representatives one each from the federal and provincial governments. This 18-member Board of Directors and specialized committees make decisions on all funding applications.
The re-elected chair, Bob Bedggood, has been an AAC director since 1999. As the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario representative to the AAC, Bob has served on the executive since 2000, was vice-chair in 2001, and was elected chair in 2002. Bob and his wife Sandy operate a 350-acre cash crop farm in Thorndale. Active in water quality issues, he is a former vice-chair of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. He was a member of the Agricultural Policy Framework advisory committee on the environment and the Odyssey group.
Bette Jean Crews, one of two Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) representatives on the AAC board, was re-elected as vice-chair. At the OFA, she is a member of the executive, a regional director for Northumberland County, and serves on several committees. An active volunteer, she was provincial treasurer of the Ontario Farm Women’s Network, a founding member of the Apple Route, and a member of the Northumberland Land Use Committee. She and her husband operate a 600-acre family farm. This mixed operation is comprised of an apple orchard, road side market and grain crops. She received the Agri-Food and Rural Volunteer Recognition Award from the University of Guelph.
Kim Turnbull, one of two representatives in the Grains, Oilseeds and Specialty Crops sectors is the newly elected executive member. Kim has been the District 6 (Haldimand, Norfolk and Niagara counties) director of the Ontario Soybean Growers since 1998 and a director on the Agricultural Adaptation Council for the past four years. Kim has also been a director of ACC Farmers Financial since 1998 and is currently the ACC chairman.
The AAC is a non-profit coalition of 58 agricultural, agri-business and rural organizations dedicated to providing financial resources to assist Ontario’s agri-food sector and rural communities to remain competitive, grow and maintain their economic strength. The AAC receives its funding through Ontario's share of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) $60 million-per-year Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development (CARD) fund.
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Agricultural Adaptation Council
Directors 2004/2005
EXECUTIVE:
Chair: Bob Bedggood, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario
Vice-Chair: Bette Jean Crews, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Executive Member: Kim Turnbull, Grains & Oilseeds
BOARD MEMBERS
Allan Burn, Red Meat
Alain Delorme, Rural Life
Wayne Dorsey, Horticulture
Scott Graham, Poultry
Gord Hardy, Red Meat
Gord Johnson, Dairy Farmers of Ontario
Alvin Lindsay, Tobacco
Hugh Loomans, Agri-Business
Paul Mistele, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Tom Smyth, Agri-Business
Howard Staff, Horticulture
Gord Surgeoner, Other Commodity
Fred Wagner, Grains & Oilseeds
EX-OFFICIO’S
Wayne Parlee (ex-officio), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Hugh Berges (ex-officio), Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
For more information contact:
Nadine Buitenhuis
Communications/Program Coordinator
Agricultural Adaptation Council
Phone: (519) 822-7554
Fax: (519) 822-6248
E-Mail:
Nadine's e-mail
Web site: www.adaptcouncil.org |
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