Beef Farmers of Ontario Welcomes New Directors

Feb 23, 2015

Guelph, ON – Three new Directors were elected by over 200 delegates, representing all areas of the province, at the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) 53rd Annual General Meeting held in Toronto this week.

Joining the BFO Board of Directors this year, representing the feedlot sector, is Jack Chaffe who was acclaimed to the position and who will serve a three‐year term. Jack and his family reside in Mitchell, Ontario and operate a large feedlot, marketing 2,000 animals a year through the Ontario Corn Fed Beef program. Jack will replace Steve Eby who stepped down after serving three years on the Board.

Jason Reid of Thunder Bay will represent the cow‐calf sector for a three‐year term, and will replace retired Director and current Canadian Cattlemen's Association Vice President Dan Darling who served nine years on the Board. Jason and his family run a cow‐calf and backgrounding operation on 300 forage acres.   Garnet Toms of Peterborough will join the Board of Directors for a two‐year term representing eastern Ontario. Garnet was elected as interim Director for the region in November of 2014 and will continue in this position until 2017. Garnet operates a 50 head cow‐calf operation on 350 acres.

Matt Bowman and Tim Fugard will return to the Board of Directors. Matt Bowman of Temiskaming was acclaimed to the position of Northern Director for a three‐year term, a position he has held for six years. Tim Fugard of Lambton County will return as Director‐At‐Large for a second three‐year term.

Bob Gordanier of Dufferin County was re‐elected as President of the Association for the year ahead and Matt Bowman was re‐elected as Vice President.

"I look forward to focusing our efforts on expanding Ontario's cow herd with our new and returning Directors in the year ahead, and I commend them on taking a leadership role within our Association," shares Bob Gordanier, BFO President. "What lies ahead of us in 2015 is exciting, and I believe we are well positioned to create a plan that will see growth for our industry for years to come."

BFO Board of Directors and staff welcomed over 400 attendees at this year's AGM and were pleased to welcome the Honourable Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Thursday morning to address the delegates. BFO was also thankful to have Dr. Greg Douglas, Chief Veterinarian of Ontario, briefly speak on BSE and the ongoing investigation.  Minister Leal’s Parliamentary Assistant Arthur Potts joined the Honourable David Zimmer, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, at the AGM banquet on Wednesday evening.

BFO's Board of Directors consists of 12 elected officials ‐ three from the cow‐calf sector, three from the feedlot sector, one from the backgrounder sector, one each representing the southern, northern and eastern regions of Ontario, and two elected at‐large. Directors are elected for three‐year terms on a rotating basis

Source: BFO

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