Two Ontario producers recognized locally

Apr 26, 2017

Two inductees will be honoured on April 30

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The Norfolk County Agricultural Hall of Fame will welcome two new inductees on April 30.

Ron Judd, a dairy farmer, and David McLaren, a late agricultural journalist, make up the class of 2017.

Ron Judd
Born in Simcoe, 89-year-old Ron Judd lives at Meadow Lynn Farm, which his father purchased in 1946. When not tending to dairy cows and cash crops, Ron volunteered with a number of organizations, including 4-H, Norfolk Soil and Crop Improvement Association and the Norfolk Federation of Agriculture.

He served as president of the Brant-Norfolk Jersey Club, and was honoured with a Jersey Canada lifetime membership in 2011. Judd’s involvement with the Norfolk Land Stewardship Committee exposed him to no-till farming, for which he advocates.

Judd was nominated by his son Fred and daughter-in-law Sharon.

Back to front: Thomas, Sharon, Fred and Ron Judd.
Photo: Meadow Lynn Farms.

David MacLaren
Born in Windsor in 1927, David MacLaren grew up on a tobacco farm near St. Williams. In 1928, the McLaren farm became one of the first to grow flue-cured tobacco.

He eventually took over the farm and his knowledge of the tobacco industry led to the creation of The Tobacco Forum – a column he wrote for the Delhi News Record and The Canadian Tobacco Grower.

He gained a reputation as a leading tobacco writer in Canada.

He was nominated by Bill Moore and will be inducted posthumously.

The induction ceremony takes place Sunday, April 30 at the Waterford Heritage and Agricultural Museum.

Farms.com extends its congratulations to the Judd and MacLaren families!

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.