Chatham-Kent agricultural specialist receives award

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

by DIANNE FETTERLY

A Chatham-Kent man’s dedication to, and love of, agriculture has garnered him the Farm & Food Care Ontario Champion award.

Kim Cooper, the agricultural specialist with Economic Development Services for the municipality of Chatham-Kent received the 2013 champion award during Farm & Food Care’s annual meeting held April 3 in Guelph.

According to Farm and Food Care communications manager Kelly Daynard, the award is presented annually to individuals, organizations or businesses who are good ambassadors for agriculture in Ontario. And there could not be a more worthy recipient than Cooper.

“Kim has been involved in many organizations over the years and has a true love of agriculture. We usually try to surprise our recipients, but Kim is so busy that we had to break the news to him early so he could be there to accept the award,” Daynard said.

Fortunately, Cooper was able to attend the presentation ceremony and after accepting the award said he was “very honored and humbled,” but added he felt it is really a team effort.

As agricultural specialist for the municipality, it’s Cooper’s job to boost the agricultural economy. He works with local farmers and agri-businesses to provide assistance if they want to expand and also helps businesses wanting to re-locate to the area. As well, he addresses consumers concerns and is involved with several agricultural organizations.

But Cooper has taken the job a step further, and that may have contributed to his nomination for the award. In his spare time, Cooper writes a column for the local newspapers entitled Food For Thought. The articles feature ag-related topics as a means of educating the public about agriculture, he explained.

Cooper has worked for Chatham-Kent for about five years and previously worked for a number of agricultural-related organizations, including the soybean growers. While he didn’t grow up on a farm, he attended Ridgetown College and the University of Guelph where he studied agriculture.

“I love agriculture and have a lot of respect for farmers. When I worked for the soybean growers, I travelled a lot and found that there is a huge respect for Canadian agriculture all over the world,” he said.

Daynard explained that the award was started in 1999 by the Ontario Farm Animal Council as the Friend of the Ontario Farm Animal Council Award and continued until 2011 when the council amalgamated with AGCare to form Farm and Food Care. In 2012 it was renamed the champion award and the first recipient was eastern Ontario dairy farmer Jeff Robinson of Osgoode.

The council posts the application for nominees on its website. BF