The Huron Expositor, 1995-03-15, Page 50Paas 32 -Farm Progress '96'
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Soybean director leads public life
John Stafford leads a very public
life. Over the past 25 years, he has
spent almost as much time on the
road working for farm and com=
munity organizations as he has
spent at home on the farm itself.
Stafford, of R.R. 1 Wroxeter, is
the 1995 director of District 8
(Huron and Bruce) of the Ontario
Soybean Growers' Marketing
Board.
In 1994 alone, Stafford devoted
over 40 days away from the farm
on business as a Soybean Board
director for the counties of Huron
and Bruce, and more than 90 days
away acting as chairman of Gay
Lea Foods Co-op, with its proces-
sing facilities in Guelph, Uniondale,
Teeswater, Baden and Toronto.
"I'm keenly interested in farm
politics," says Stafford. "It's part of
my life." but Stafford believes
every farmer is equally affected by
farm organizations and municipal
councils, whether those farmers get
involved in trying to shape policy
or not.
"We won't survive if we all try to
keep to ourselves as completely
independent growers," Stafford
believes. "Consumers are changing
and we have to be able to keep
pace with those changes. To do
that, we need a farm organization in
the middle to help coordinate the
efforts of growers and the in-
dustry." Stafford says that farm
organizations can also take on
projects that individual farmers
can't afford, whether they involve
agronomic research or market
development. "The Soybean
Board's trade missions to Asia are
a good example," he says. "The
board can take a longer term view
than you or I could as individual
producers."
In the midst of all of the changes
to the industry of agriculture, Staf-
ford knows first-hand about the
stability that a life on the farm can
offer. He and wife Beuy live on the
home farm just north of Wroxeter
near Wingham. Their farm has been
in the Stafford name since 1856,
when John's great-grandfather ob-
tained the title from the Crown.
Stafford also knows all about
change. He was born and raised on
a dairy farm, but made the difficult
decision to sell the herd in 1985 to
make the transition to cash crop
farming because of fears of the
impact of a new GATT agreement
on supply management on supply
management. Even now, the Staf-
ford operation continues to evolve.
For instance, John never dreamed
that he'd have a son who would be
raising red deer.
Stafford currently crops 750 acres
with his son Will, focusing on seed
crops of soybeans, barley, white
beans and hard red wheat, with
about 90 per cent of the seed grown
under contract .to seed companies.
About a third of their acreage is
seed soybeans, but John and Will
also grow a smaller amount of
commercial grain corn. "We try not
to
ke put all of our eggs in one bas -
In" addition, John and Will do
some custom planting, spraying,
and harvesting, as well as trucking.
They also try to get maximum use
out of their two low -heat, stir -
aerator equipped bins. "We fill and
empty the bins as many times in a
year as we can."
Over the years, Stafford has seen
an evoluuon in farm and com-
munity organizations, and an
evolution in his participation in
them. He traces that evolution back
to 1969, when he got involved on
the 'yes' side of the vote for a
general farm organization for On-
tario. He's been involved with the
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
ever since, serving locally in
several positions, including
president of the Huron federation,
and on the provincial board as a
director. That involvement con-
tinues, with the OSGMB naming
Stafford as its alternate represen-
tative to the OFA for 1995. He has
served as Gay Lea's representative
to the OFA and the Canadian
Federation of Agriculture since
1984.
Stafford served 14 years in
municipal politics, including terms
as deputy reeve and reeve of
Howick Township, as well as in
many positions on Huron County
Council. Stafford has also devoted
time to the Ontario Farm Debt
Review Board, and as a dire" -tor of
the Ontario General Insurance Cor -
pany of Grand Valley.
Stafford is now serving a two-
year term on the Ontario Grain
Financial Protection Board, which
administers funds and makes
payments to farmers whose grain
disappears in the wake of an
elevator failure. In this position.
Stafford supports the resolution that
was passed at the Ontario Soybean
Growers' Marketing Board Annual
Meeting, leaving the compensation
level for soybeans at 90 per cent,
rather than raising it to 95 per cent.
John's long list of activities also
•see Stafford, page 40
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