The Rural Voice, 2004-03, Page 62People in Agriculture
Jim and Fern Van Herk honoured in Perth
Fern and Jim Van Herk (centre) receive the "producers of the year" award at
the Perth County Pork Producers' Association annual meeting in Mitchell
from PCPPA president Pat Louwagie (left) and John Nyenhuis.
Jim and Fern Van Herk who
operate a 120 -sow farrow -to -finish
operation near Rostock were named
Producers of the Year by the Perth
County Pork Producers' Association
at the group's annual meeting in
Mitchell, February 2.
Jim Van Herk has served six years
Deb Campbell gets promotion
"She is someone who exemplifies
talent in promotion," said Bert
Groenestege as he presented the
Perth County Pork Producers'
Association Promotion Award to Deb
Campbell on February 2.
The long-time Exeter home
economist has been working with
the Perth and Huron Pork
Producers' Associations under
the Farm to Fork program of
Ontario Pork. Though the Ontario
Pork program has been
discontinued due to budget cuts,
she has been retained by the two
county organizations.
In her work Campbell helped
organize opportunities for
producers to build bridges with
consumers, from the Flavours of
Perth and Heartburn Day chili
contest in Perth to the pork part
of pork and beans at the Zurich
Bean Festival. She also helped
the Perth County Junior Farmers
with their Pizza Project,
Groenestege said.
"She was well organized and
1
always helpful," he said.
Campbell also works with retailers
to promote pork by distributing
recipe booklets.
Campbell thanked the volunteers
who helped with the programs. "I
on the executive of the PCPPA, two
of them as president. "He's not
afraid to get up and express himself,"
said John Nyenhuis as he presented
the award.
Jim contributes to the association's
newsletter in The Rural Voice. He sits
on the policy and steering committee
of Ontario Pork.
The couple has been avid
volunteers for the PCPPA, helping at
the annual Heartburn Day. They are
also active in their community. Jim
talks to Grade 5 students at the local
school helping them learn about pork
farming.
Jim Van Herk called it a real
honour to accept the award.
"We've made a lot of new friends
in nine years (association with the
PCPPA). I enjoyed my position on
the executive. I feel the Perth County
Pork Producers' Association is
important and it has a lot of respect
with other county associations and at
Ontario Pork."0
award
can't do it without the guys to work
with," she said.
The workload for volunteers can be
heavy, she said. The PCPPA is
sponsoring an open house at the
Stratford Festival which will mean
extra work. The group is also part
of the Garden Festival and the Taste
of Perth food fair is also happening
again this year.
The PCPPA passed a resolution
calling for the reinstatement of the
Farm to Fork program, particularly
the "Faces of Farming" calendar
which features ordinary fanners on
the large -format calendar.
The resolution noted that the
calendar costs only $25,000 to
produce and gets an enormous
amount of free publicity.
In moving the motion, PCPPA
director Phil Anwender said when
he learned how much publicity the
calendar received he didn't want to
see it discontinued. It gives
producers a chance to deliver the
calendars and puts a face on
fanners, he said.0
Deb Campbell accepted the promotion award
from the Perth County Pork Producers at their
annual meeting in Mitchell. Presenting the award
was Bert Groenestege (right) and PCPPA
president Pat Louwagie.