The Rural Voice, 2002-07, Page 62People
Hall of Fame gets new members
Three men with midwestern
Ontario ties were among five people
named to the Ontario Agricultural
Hall of Fame in a ceremony June 5.
The late R. Gordon Bennett, one-
time Ag Rep for Huron County;
Norval Richard "Rick" Richards, a
native of Lucknow; and Donald
McQueen Shaver, father of Donald
Shaver of the Newton area; joined
Oliver Augustine Bradt of St.
Catharines, and George Graham
Earley of Kerwood as the latest
additions to the hall.
Bennett contributed significantly to
the rapid changes that took place in
Ontario agriculture in the 1950s, '60s
and '70s. He was a 4-H pioneer both
provincially and nationally by having
Ontario's Boys and Girls Clubs
transformed into 4-H clubs. He also
worked to have the Federated
Colleges form part of the University
of Guelph, advocated development
improvement of animal health
programs like the Meat Inspection
Act and the Brucellosis Control
Program and presided over the
upgrading of many of the rural
telephone systems to improve the
telephone network in rural Ontario.
As deputy minister of agriculture he
was instrumental in the purchase of
land leading to the establishment of
the Ontario Agriculture Museum at
Milton.
He died in 1995. His nomination
was sponsored by the County of
Huron, Ontario Soil and Crop
Improvement Association and
Canadian 4-H Council.
Richards, chaired the Department
of Soils at the Ontario Agricultural
College and later became head of the
Department of Soil Science. He was
instrumental in building a strong soil
survey unit in Ontario that classified
and mapped soils on their capability
for various uses including
agriculture.
At Soil Science, his department
developed the fertilizer requirement
tables for major field crops. Under
his leadership, a major expansion
occurred in soil conservation, soil
testing, farmland use planning and
preservation of good agricultural
land. He was the first dean of the
OAC.
He also strongly supported
agriculture and food programs in
developing countries and has played
a major role in the Rural
Development Outreach Program
which has brought recognition and
honour to University of Guelph. He
lives in Guelph.
Shaver, still living in Cambridge,
became involved in poultry breeding
after his military service in World
War II. He developed the highly
successful and world famous
leghorn-cross called Shaver Starcross
288. Later he expanded to create
brown egg layers and meat birds. He
started small but recruited
distributors across Canada, then in
the U.S. and eventually around the
world.
He developed a beef breeding
program based on the same
principles as those he had applied to
poultry. His "Beefblend" live
animals, semen and embryos are
currently exported to countries on
four continents.
Currently he is chair of the
Canadian Farm Animal Genetic
Resources Foundation which seeks to
ensure the survival of genetics in
threatened breeds and varieties of
animals in Canada and beyond.
Bradt, now nearly 90, is credited
with transforming the Niagara
Peninsula into a world-renowned
wine -producing area as an
exceptional breeder of grapes as well
as peaches, nectarines and apricots.
He bred peach varieties suitable for
processing that saved Ontario's fruit
processing industry. He was also a
prolific writer and an educator.
Earley, who, born in 1943 is the
youngest of the inductees, guided the
Aberdeen Angus Association, as
Canadian president, through
mediation to maintain the purity of
purebreed Angus cattle. He was also
a pioneer in introducing exotic
breeds and crossing them with
traditional British breed to create
hybrid vigour and better feed
conversion.0
Junior Barrow Show
winners get awards
early this year
With the Junior Barrow Show at
the Ontario Pork Congress held
two weeks prior to the annual
event, participants found out early
this year who were the winners.
Michael DeKroon of Perth
County had the grand champion
barrow while Andrea Ypma of
Oxford had the reserve champion.
Peter Minnema of Middlesex was
named grand champion show -
person and also picked up the
senior showperson award. Cory
DeKroon of Perth County took
home both the reserve grand
champion showperson and the Lyle
Heldman Memorial Award.
Andrew Simpson of Elgin
County was awarded the junior
champion showperson award and
Wellington County's Jason Schill
was the novice champion.
There were 77 barrows in the
competition that took place June 8.
John Bancroft, president of this
year's Pork Congress, said the
Saturday date allowed better
participation by older students
while having the show separate
from the Congress brought a more
relaxed atmosphere.0
Pasture award goes to
Middlesex couple
Don and Shirley Campbell of
Coldstream were named winners of
the Ontario Pasture Competition at
the annual meeting of the Ontario
Cattlemen's Association.
For their environmental and
pasture improvements, the
Campbells received $750.
The Campbells began using
rotational grazing almost a decade
ago on 15 acres of land and have
now expanded to 150 head of cattle
on 70 acres of land using 10
paddocks.
Honourable mention awards
went to Paul and Nora Sweeney of
R.R.1, Druro and Jim and Helen
Cook, RR4, Tara who each
received $250.0