Photo Karen Graham
Millbrook Agricultural Society President Ann Nelson presents this year’s Lifetime Membership Award to Steve Brackenridge.
The local agricultural community came together to share comradery, a meal and some history at their Annual General Meeting at the end of October.
With many generations of local farm families on hand, attendees enjoyed dinner hosted by the Millbrook Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary and a live auction conducted by Keith Monk, followed by a discussion of the business side of the organization, where Ann Nelson was selected as the President for the third consecutive year.
Nelson had the honours of presenting this year’s Lifetime Membership award to Steve Brackenridge, who has a long history serving this organization, beginning at age 17 when he assumed the role of Junior Director and later serving as President for several years. On accepting his award, Brackenridge shared fond memories of organizing the annual agricultural fair in Millbrook. In his experience, fair volunteers bond with the common task that often feels like a man-against-nature struggle, as weather usually plays havoc at some point during the preparations for this annual event. During one of his years as President, weather forced the cancellation of the livestock shows, which could have spelled disaster for the fair. As luck would have it, the conditions improved so dramatically that buoyed by the encouragement of radio ads and grassroots efforts, attendance late that Saturday resulted in the organization’s most profitable Fair event ever. Brackenridge also congratulated Fair Board members for the impressive improvements they have made to the Fairgrounds in recent years.
While he is well known in the local agricultural community, Brackenridge is also gaining recognition further afield, as this year he joins the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) board as a zone representative for Durham, Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton. He officially assumed this position at last week’s Annual General Meeting. This organization serves 36,000 farm business members, representing the agricultural sector through the promotion of improved efficiency through the use of science based technology in the sector, encouraging sustainability in the production of agricultural products, developing consumer education and engagement with the food sector, and increasing the availability of nutritious, locally-produced food for Ontario consumers.
While new to this job, Brackenridge has a few items on his agenda to raise during his three-year term on the Board. One of them is a proposal to establish an industrial rate class for the agricultural sector’s hydro use to control the soaring costs farm operators are facing. He has also worked behind the scenes to encourage the launch of the new provincial Soil Mapping Initiative which began this summer. This tool will provide critical information about agricultural land to assist land owners and provincial and municipal planners in land use plans. More accurate land classifications will ultimately improve the quality of land use decisions, ensuring the protection of prime agricultural land across the province.
Brackenridge has a broad range of agricultural experience. He operates a Pioneer seed dealership, a grain elevator, a maple syrup production equipment supplier and grows cash crops, and he has also operated a hog farm in previous years. Brackenridge brings knowledge and commitment to his new role, and his balanced perspective will serve the agricultural community well both here and across the province as he steps into his new role on the OFA Board. KG
Congratulations Steven