Formosa, ON. The annual Summer Tour and meeting of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement
Association (OSCIA) was held in Bruce County August 12-14, 2018 hosted by OSCIA’s 1st Vice
President, Les Nichols and his wife, Mary. The event started at Formosa Lion’s Park with a tour,
dinner, and entertainment. Les Nichols has been acclaimed as the President Elect, setting the stage to
be named President in 2019. He currently represents the counties of Bruce, Grey, Dufferin, and
Simcoe in the Georgian Central Region. Les is the first president elect from Bruce County since 1997
and will be the sixth president from the Georgian Central Region. The past presidents from Georgian
Central include Henry Davis (1971), Don Hill (1988), Allan Brown (1995), Jim Fischer (1997), and
Joan McKinlay (2012).
After hosting a reception at the Formosa Lions Park on the Sunday, there were tours of the area
for attendees and their families on the following days. Peter McLaren, current OSCIA President
in the Ottawa-Rideau Region commented that " Mary and Les showcased the uniqueness as well
as the similarities of the Bruce county area to the rest of the province. Bruce Nuclear being an
outstanding showcase for the area as well as the Walkerton Clean Water Training Center. The
rolling hills similar to home without the rock outcrops that we have."
Les and Mary cash-crop about 250 acres in no-till soybeans and wheat and strip till corn. The
cropping system has not used any heavy tillage – plow or chisel plow for more than 15 years. In
addition to cash cropping, Les operates Crop Watch Crop Consulting working as an independent
CCA. He is a Licensed Seed Crop Inspector and has 30 years of experience in ag retail, primarily in
the crop input and custom application business. Les has also served on several organizations
including Bruce Federation of Agriculture, Source Water Protection Committee, Bruce County
Library Board, two terms on local council, church council, Lions Club, and a local business
association.
Source : OSCIA