CFFO president and vice presidents return for another year

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario is making a difference, says president Lorne Small who will be acclaimed to his position as president for 2014 at the federation’s convention next month.

“The current Ontario government is very open to listening to suggestions and ideas and it’s really gratifying when you can make a difference and see some progress being made,” says Small, who submitted his name for nomination to the president’s position. At the federation’s provincial council meeting this month nominations for the president and two vice president positions closed with the names of the current incumbents on it.

Small, a Kenilworth-area sheep and rabbit farmer, and vice presidents Ted van den Hurk, a poultry producer from Simcoe County, and Clarence Nywening, a broiler breeder and cash crop farmer from the Thamesville area, will all be acclaimed at the annual convention being held Nov. 13. Small will be starting his third year as president.

Nominations for two director spots will close at the convention. So far, the two incumbents, Richard Blyleven and Bethanee Jensen, have been nominated.

Small says he can’t outline the federation’s priorities for the upcoming year yet because that is set by the incoming board. The new board meets sometime after the convention and “for me to comment on it now would be a touch premature,” he says.

But some matters the federation is considering include the future of water; particularly the use and allocation of it, and that the urban community will have more to say about what happens in agriculture. The federation also plans to do some long-range thinking about how the farm community needs to fulfill its stewardship responsibility, including toward land, water and the entire environment.

Small says they haven’t assigned a priority to these matters yet. BF