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ADVANCING THE ART OF PRINTING
PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1996
Research beckons longtime OMAFRA staffer
By Janice Becker
Huron County is losing the ser-
vices a man who, for more than 25
years, has been involved in agri-
culture in the district.
From student, to teacher,
research and administrator, Jim
O'Toole of the OMAFRA office in
Clinton has spent most of his years
studying different aspects of agri-
culture and passing that knowledge
on to others.
After graduating from Guelph
University in 1967, O'Toole briefly
spent time at Kempville College, in
the Ottawa region, as a researcher
and teacher, before returning to
Southwestern Ontario to continue
those duties.
During his time as an instructor
at Centralia Agricultural College,
from 1971 until it closed in 1993,
O'Toole helped educate more than
1,200 prospective farmers for a
future on the land.
"The students I saw at Centralia
were there because they had a love
of the land and animals. They stud-
ied agriculture because they wanted
to work the soil. That never
changed over the 22 years of teach-
ing," says O'Toole.
Though students of the 1990s
may enter the course with different
skills than those in the 1970s,
O'Toole says it is still the basics
they learn from college.
"Students today have better train-
ing in leadership skills, public
speaking, meeting and dealing with
the public, research skills and
accessing resources, but the basics
of farming are needed. It is animal
care and nutrition, how to treat the
soil and implementation of research
results, that college teaches them."
It is now that O'Toole sees many
of his students moving into leader-
ship roles in the field of agriculture,
whether it be as executives on pro -
ducers' boards or taking lead man-
agement rotes in agricultural
companies:
"Though 80 per cent of Central-
ia's students had the desire to return
to the land, some have gone on to
work in areas of farm finance,
equipment dealerships, feed or crop
companies," he says.
As most who have lived in rural
areas over the last two decades can
attest, the agricultural boom of the
1970s was followed by a recession
in the early 1980s and again enter-
ing the 1990s.
The general economic conditions
influence to some extent the partic-
ipation in courses at the college,
says O'Toole.
The good times of the 1970s
allowed students to be encouraged
by their parents success and talk of
expansion. There was room for
them to attend college then return
to the family farm.
As interest rates rose in the
1980s, and farm failures increased,
future farmers were discouraged as
family farms disappeared or were
certainly not thinking of increasing
a herd size or buying more acreage.
Man caught
without
insurance
An Ethel man caught driving
without insurance was fined $500
after appearing before provincial
court Judge Garry Hunter in Wing-
ham Feb. 21.
Joseph Hoover, who entered a
guilty plea, had been charged on
July 15.
Despite tough times, O'Toole
says the students still came because
of their love for the land.
Though there were few prospects
for going back to the family farm,
students looked to industry for
employment until the time came to
return to the land, he says. That
hope was never taken from them.
As well as teaching, O'Toole was
instrumental in many research
developments which came out of
Centralia over the,years.
Though initially set up as a
teaching institute, crop research
specific to the area, began 1975,
with work on white beans and
rutabaga.
"This was a time of expansion for
white beans and due to research at
Centralia, the crop was able to
spread through Huron County.
Within a few years, soya bean
and canola studies were the focus.
Over the years, Centralia has also
looked at herbicides, vegetable
crops, coloured beans (for export
markets to Cuba and Europe) and
tillage practices.
O'Toole has also seen the role of
OMAFRA change over the years.
"Where the agency once took a
lead role in agricultural develop-
ments, there is now a team effort.
We are now working together with
the players in the game. We are
looking at the entire system instead
of only one aspect at a time."
Since the closure of Centralia in
1993, O'Toole has been working as
a manager of budget, personnel and
programs for Huron and Perth.
O'Toole leaves OMAFRA March
1 to begin work as a researcher in
the private sector for Vaughn Agri-
cultural Research Services of Cam-
bridge through he will still work in
the Huron region.
"OMAFRA has very good staff
who are committed and dedicated
to the job in spite of cutbacks. They
enjoy working with the farmers and
community groups. It has been a
tremendous experience. I have
never regretted a single day of
work."
Beginning a new phase
After spending more than 25 years with OMAFRA, Jim
O'Toole of the Clinton office, is returning to the private
sector to continue agricultural research.