Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Crews steps down as OFA president

Friday, September 30, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

She won’t run for re-election this year but Bette Jean Crews, Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s president, says she will return to the board table as the acclaimed zone director for Northumberland, Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington Counties.

Crews announced her intention to step down from the province’s largest general farm organization in a Sept. 26 letter on the Federation’s website. On Thursday, she explained it was time to focus on the farm business.

“I’m 10 or 11 years into this,” she says of her involvement on the OFA executive. “We had organized things at home with the son coming into the farm and all of the support with my husband and the other kids to enable me to do the OFA time commitment. We were doing pretty well with that . . . But over three years bit by bit I knew things would be better if I were back home contributing like I always used to.”

Update: The organization budgets 42 days a year to pay each director, 200 days for its president, 135 days for vice presidents and 90 days for executive members, writes Neil Currie, the organization's general manager, in a Sept. 30 email. BF

Crews says there have been many highlights over her three years as president. She’s pleased with the way so many industry organizations came together to push for risk management: “For me that’s a huge success because it’s a change in the way we do things.”

Maintaining that unity and fostering its spread to other organizations may well prove challenging, she says. “We came together under OASC (Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition) because there were a lot of crises and disasters and we really needed each other and when things are going well there’s less of a tendency to talk to each other.”

On a personal side, she says she enjoyed attending local meetings and meeting farmers. “That might sound sappy,” she says. “There’s just something in the personalities and the outlook on life and even when they’re frustrated, there’s a sense of community there.”

Crews says she will miss representing the organization at meetings with government ministers as well as the challenge of helping members understand the OFA’s policy on different issues.

Mark Wales, OFA vice-president, says he plans to run for the president’s position. Elections will take place during the annual meeting November 21-22.

“I’ve been vice-president now for three years so it’s time,” he says.

Wales says one of the biggest challenges the organization faces is a four-year “era” of government cost cutting. The industry’s challenge will be to make sure governments understand “agriculture and agrifood and agribusiness are the biggest job creators in this province as well as a huge job creator in this country.”

Don McCabe, OFA vice-president, could not be immediately reached for comment on whether he planned to run for the top job. McCabe ran against Crews for the president’s position last year.

Wales notes that changes to the organization’s board model means that only those on the board are eligible to stand for the position. Nevertheless, there may be a number of people who decide to add their name to the election ballot, he says.

Crews’ words of advice to her eventual successor are to remain optimistic, trustworthy and true to your word: “I never lied to a minister and I never lied to a farmer. That’s key.”

The general farm organization represents about 37,000 farm families across Ontario. BF
 

Current Issue

May 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

New board members for Ontario Pork

Friday, April 25, 2025

Ontario Pork, an association representing the 1,898 pork farms that market 5.9 million hogs in the province, has announced its new board lineup for 2025. As a Guelph, Ontario-headquartered organization, Ontario Pork is engaged in the areas of research, government representation,... Read this article online

Sheep farmers win Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Sheep farmers and wool producers from Wallenstein, Ont. are Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2025. “It’s great to be recognized by your peers in the industry with an award like that,” Ryan Schill told Farms.com. “When we started the sheep farm, there were people questioning us... Read this article online

Ontario ag connections in the NHL playoffs

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The 2025 NHL playoffs are underway, and some of hockey’s biggest names got their start on an Ontario farm or have invested in agriculture since becoming professional athletes. Farms.com went through each of the 16 playoff team rosters to uncover which players have a connection to... Read this article online

New Alcohol Trade Freedom in Ontario

Thursday, April 17, 2025

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has welcomed Ontario’s bold step in eliminating trade barriers and allowing direct alcohol sales to consumers. This new legislation aims to ease internal trade across provinces and support small businesses. One of the key changes... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top