Five people were selected to enter the hall
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame welcomed five new inductees at a ceremony on November 22 in Regina, Saskatchewan.
“We are celebrating five outstanding individuals this year, and the tremendous and lasting contributions they have made to the landscape of Canadian agriculture,” said Herb McLane, President of the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame Association. “Just as our industry is diverse, so are this year’s inductees – representing all the segments that weave together to support and sustain our progressive and innovative industry. Through their leadership and vision, they have contributed to advancing agriculture over the last 100 years – from primary research to marketing to organizing commodity groups, and educating young agricultural leaders.”
The inductees are:
Dr. Ron DePauw
Any farmers who plant AC Barrie wheat have Dr. DePauw to thank as he developed the wheat variety. He earned the title “billion dollar man” because other varieties he developed helped increase revenue for farmers in western Canada.
Honorable Grant Devine
Mr. Devine served as the leader of Saskatchewan’s Progressive Conservative party in 1979, the province’s 11th Premier from 1982 to 1991 and spent time as the province’s agriculture minister. He created Ag-West Bio Inc. in 1988 – Canada’s first biotechnology industry-government association and helped fund a new agriculture building at the University of Saskatchewan that’s known today as Innovation Place.
Edgar Ward Jones
The late Edgar Ward Jones is known as a founding father of Canada’s 4-H movement. In 1913, he helped co-found the Boys and Girls Club, trying to use innovative techniques to further education in farming and management practices. As manager of the Alberta Stockyards Company in Calgary, he helped implement higher standards of animal husbandry and crop production.
Ovila Lebel
The late Ovila Lebel was an egg farmer from Quebec who worked to unite egg producers across the country. In 1964, he founded the Quebec egg producers’ federation which led to the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency being formed in 1972. Today, that organization is known as Egg Farmers of Canada.
Anthony von Mandl
A Canadian winemaking pioneer, von Mandl dedicated his career to raise the status of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley on an international wine scale. His Mission Hill Family Estate winery has become an agritourism destination in the province. He was Canada’s first wine merchant in 1972 and acquired his first winery in the Okanagan Valley in 1981.
The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame was created in 1960 to “honour and celebrate Canadians for outstanding contributions to the agriculture and food industry and to publicize the importance of their achievements to Canada.”
Farms.com would like to extend its congratulations to all the inductees and thank them for their contributions to Canadian agriculture.