Nominations are open for the 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards

Jun 18, 2024

The Province of Ontario recognizes outstanding achievements in the agriculture and food sectors.

By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com; Photo by Akshayan on Unsplash

The Ontario government is opening nominations for the 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards, which recognize the outstanding efforts driving the agriculture and food industry forward.

These awards celebrate farmers, processors, industry organizations, people, and businesses who demonstrate excellence in their field and are paving the way toward a more sustainable and profitable industry.

“The Excellence in Agriculture Awards honour those who set a high standard and lead by example to ensure Ontario’s agriculture and food industry can continue to grow and prosper,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. “Our province is full of devoted and forward-thinking farmers, businesses, and organizations working to grow the industry, and I look forward to celebrating their successes.”

This year, the province will recognize agricultural excellence in 12 categories:

Youth Excellence;
Food Processing Excellence;
Research and Innovation Excellence;
Northern Business Excellence;
Workforce Excellence;
Women’s Excellence;
Education Excellence;
Supply Chain Excellence;
Indigenous, Métis, or Inuit-Owned Business or Community Excellence;
Promotional Excellence;
Farm Family Excellence;
Urban Agriculture Excellence.

Through this initiative, the province is encouraging the pursuit of excellence across the broader agriculture and food industries, which will be key to realizing the goals set out in the Grow Ontario Strategy.

Nominations are being accepted until July 22, 2024. You can submit a self-nomination or nominate another person or business to the email address: excellenceinagriculture@ontario.ca.

The application form, which must be filled out using Adobe Acrobat Reader, can be accessed HERE.

Should you be unable to access the form because you do not have Adobe, email excellenceinagriculture@ontario.ca and request an alternate form.

Video: A Farm Song (Busy) | Parody of A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey

Lyrics:

My days begin with workin’, Alarm’s at 5 o’clock,
I Fill 5 gallon buckets, The feeders and the troughs,
This five to nine ain’t workin’, why the heck do I work so hard?,
I can’t worry ‘bout health problems, I can sleep in when I’m gone,

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

I’ve been working pretty stressed but,
I ain’t changing for some cash,
Lord knows that I’m very blessed (More chores),
But I gotta say it’s hard,
Workin’ outside gettin’ charred,
Living out here on the farm, (more chores)

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history
There’s another 20 chickens that still need feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm getting’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Fun, here on ranch that’s what you can’t ignore,
Might be pretty hard but I love it to its core,
Flannel’s gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores (Tell ‘em sing with me)

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
Watching cattle in the dark, don’t miss me,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
(Yeeeeeehaw)
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
It’s the best bro, go get yourself a farm