Michael Philpott honoured by OAAS

Kids who come to the West Niagara Fair should love Michael Philpott. He’s the chairperson of the Kidz Zone at the fair. He is the one who makes sure there is toy tractors and corn to play in, mystery farm objects and saddles to try out. His area is pretty popular.He is also in charge of parking (that might not make him so popular) and he runs the successful Junk in the Trunk garage sale every spring. It is also been said that he keeps the floors of the Community Building nice and shiny.

 

Philpott was recognized by his peers and awarded a Meritorious Service Award at the recent Ontario Association of Agriculture Societies convention in Toronto.

 

“My history with the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies started with the Lincoln Agricultural Society and then the joining of the Lincoln and the Smithville Agricultural Society.”

 

In 2006, he took on the challenge of becoming a District 6 associate agricultural director and then an agricultural director, which he was until 2017 when the OAAS started downsizing the provincial board.

 

“Presently I am a District 6 director along with Shirley Peer and Rachel Anderson. Together with the district executives – provincial director Heather Dillon, secretary Sylvia Parr and treasurer Kathy Smith – as a team we try to inspire and support our 12 fair/societies in our district. Our mission is to act as a resource for the societies, providing leadership through communication, resources, education and encouraging the promotion of a rural way in Ontario.”

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.