“Get Up Stand Up” reggae spirit will be on full display this year as Jamaicans celebrate the 60th anniversary of their countrymen coming to Ontario farms. It’s an important milestone honouring growth in a relationship that’s delivered $1 billion in wages to date.
At the other end of the spectrum, Robert Shuh is just marking his first anniversary as president of the Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS). That’s the Ontario-based, non-profit agency responsible for managing 32,826 temporary foreign workers coming and going last year. In addition to Jamaica, FARMS has branched out to include workers from other Caribbean countries and Mexico under the Ag Stream, and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP). Although Shuh was appointed president after only a year as a director, he’s personally been hiring Jamaicans for his 50-acre, high-density apple farm near Elmira, Ontario through the agency since 2014.
Shuh has come to lead FARMs at a pivotal time. The organization has been under some pressure in recent years, dealing first with the COVID pandemic and then with negative media coverage about on-farm conditions for workers. Navigating past this maelstrom brings Shuh’s many skills to the fore. Central to his re-organization of the agency was adopting a co-leadership model with FARMS vice-president Andy Vergeer, a tobacco grower farming near Delaware, Ontario.
Quickly recognizing the depth and breadth of the file, they split the responsibilities. Together they present a united voice in dealings with the Ontario and federal governments. Vergeer leads on housing issues and negotiations with source countries while Shuh, working closely with the FARMS management team, represents the agency at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and chairs FARMS board meetings.
Step one has been meeting with the executive directors and chairs of the various Ontario commodity groups to identify immediate needs and determine future goals.
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