Shifting Focus

Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Steve Brackenridge now directs his attention to family & farm after 9 years on OFA Board

By Emily Mckinlay

Steve Brackenridge has been OFA’s Zone 10 Director for Durham, Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes/Haliburton for nine years. As he prepares to step back from his board role, he reflects on his biggest successes and looks forward to the projects awaiting him at home.

Brackenridge was first encouraged to join the OFA board by Brian Hancock, who was Zone 10’s member service representative at the time. He saw potential in the broad background that Brackenridge could bring to the role.

“Brian Hancock pushed me for an entire year to step up and let my name stand for a director position.

“I grew up on hog farm from 1975 to 2002, and we also had a feed business. I got a degree in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Guelph and came home and started doing feed sales for our business. I worked with dairy farms, feedlots, and did some sheep and goat nutrition. I sold poultry feed for Masterfeeds for a time. Our farm was also a Pioneer Seed dealership.

“My experience is broad, from crops to livestock, and I’ve never spent my life in just one lane. Through the feed business and different associations, I knew people across the province.”

Brackenridge brought these experiences, along with his ability to connect with people, to the OFA board.

“One thing I was involved in early on in my time on the board was the expansion of rural natural gas in Ontario.

“If you look at research papers with numbers for the impact on cost relief with increased access to natural gas, it can be up to $18,000 per household. This goes a long way to addressing rural poverty and improving rural agricultural businesses by giving families more money to spend locally.”

Brackenridge says the topic has gained some traction, with some areas seeing expansions. Progress in renewable natural gas also looks promising.

He has also seen some steps taken to improve rural connectivity.

“Not having high-speed internet or cell coverage restricts our ability to grow the agriculture industry.

“COVID was a good indicator that the government needs to step up and fill that gap.

“Our rural students were put at a disadvantage compared to their urban neighbours because they didn’t have access to broadband coverage.”

One of the most rewarding changes that Brackenridge saw during his nine years with OFA was the reception of OFA messages by politicians.

“During the last provincial election, it was refreshing to talk to politicians who were repeating pieces of our campaign from six years ago.

“It showed progress in the recognition of the importance of investing in rural Ontario, and I think that’s a big win. Advocacy is a long road and a hollow process at times. To hear them repeat our messaging moves the bar.”

He says that finding common ground is a critical piece of communication. Brackenridge recalls a time when he was speaking with an MPP from Mississauga.

“I asked, ‘What keeps your constituents up at night?’ and he responded with hospital wait times and ambulance services. I said, ‘In rural Ontario, we are looking at ER closures and reduced hours. The need in rural Ontario is every bit as great or bigger than in Mississauga.

“Then he said, ‘I never even thought about that. What do I need to know to help you lobby for rural healthcare?’ Making that connection between their needs and our needs, and opening their eyes to common ground when there appears to be no link at all, is critical.”

The commitment to serving on the board was perhaps greater than Brackenridge initially anticipated, but he doesn’t regret his time as a director.

“My dad was a director in the ’90s, and despite that, the one thing I didn’t realize was how much time it would take. It all takes time away from your business.

“I’ve always been passionate about agriculture, so I never saw this commitment as a burden, but rather thought I had a voice that had a balanced look at the ag industry and was important to use.”

Now that Brackenridge is stepping back from the OFA board, he will be able to focus on his expanding home operation at Squirrel Creek Farm in Millbrook.

“I won’t have much more free time. Our farming operation has grown over my time on the board. When I first got on, we were cropping around 400 acres and had our commercial feed business.

“Now we also have a small commercial elevator and crop around 1,000 acres, as well as a growing maple syrup business. We put a major expansion on our retail business two years ago, with a warehouse and showroom addition, aiming to increase our presence in the maple industry in Ontario. My time will be quickly eaten up.”

It’s not just farming that Brackenridge has lined up. He has also started a wetland restoration project and plans to spend time with his growing family.

“We are getting into a wetland restoration project, in collaboration with Freshwater Conservation Canada, on a stream that’s on the last farm we bought, and there are students from Trent University doing some tree planting.

“I also just became a grandfather. My son who works with us had twins back in June, so I get to spend some of my free time now as a grandfather.”

The wetland restoration project builds on a previous project, which was led by Brackenridge’s father in the 1980s.

“Our farm gets its name because the Squirrel Creek cuts through one corner of the land. Back in the mid-’80s, we had sows in a farrow-to-finish operation that created a lot of liquid manure.

“With a creek that comes through the farm, Dad decided that the land around the creek was not farmable, and reforested it in the mid to late ’80s. When I purchased the farm next door, which the creek also flows through, I wanted to do the same thing.”

Brackenridge’s father, who passed away in 2023, had a legacy of being ahead of his time in implementing environmentally conscious practices on the farm. While he initially expressed some skepticism about the reforestation project, he now sees the value in leaving these parts of their land for future generations to enjoy.

“During the project in the ’80s, I originally thought, ‘What the heck are you doing?’ But to walk through it now as a mature bush is kind of cool. My dad passed away two years ago, and we were talking about the new stream restoration project before he passed. He’d be ecstatic to see what’s going on.

“He had essentially retired and mostly helped with parts runs and tractor driving, but if he were here, he’d be spending all his time down there in their faces, trying to be a part of the project.”

Brackenridge adds, “He was ahead of his time for environmental stewardship. He was planting cover crops and rotational grazing for 40 years as part of his normal farm practices.”

This long-term stewardship has developed soil resiliency that has buffered some of the yield damage caused by the drought across Ontario this summer. Brackenridge notes that it is a commitment to follow these practices, but he believes in the benefits.

With Trent University just a short drive away, Brackenridge also sees these projects benefiting the students involved. It is an opportunity for future environmental scientists to get their hands dirty on a project, with the added bonus of seeing the work and care that farmers put into their land.

“We have an opportunity to show these students the work that farmers do to protect the environment. I think it’s a great hands-on teaching moment. Because of our proximity to Trent University, it’s a good chance for them to get hands-on and see what restoration can look like and how these projects impact agriculture.

“It also shows that farmers are doing things to make farms more sustainable. I think, for the most part, farmers in Ontario do look at what they are doing with an eye on future generations. This takes it one step further by actively protecting water sources.”

Brackenridge anticipates this project will take two to three years, but it will be enjoyed by future generations on the farm.

As Brackenridge turns his attention to his farm and family, he says one of the critical lessons he learned on the board was the importance of understanding people to be better understood yourself.

“We have two ears and one mouth for a reason. We are eager to get our messaging out and have people hear it, but without understanding what they are dealing with, it’s hard to make messaging that connects to them.

“Too often, we are so eager to spout off our messaging that we are not listening to what other people are dealing with. The more we ask about the issues they are dealing with, the easier it is to connect to them.”

Brackenridge looks fondly at his time on the board.

“For the most part, it has been a great experience to meet other farmers and engage with politicians, especially those from urban areas, and tell our story to let them know where their food comes from and the importance of investing in Ontario agriculture.

“I would like to thank Ontario farmers for allowing me to sit on the OFA board and provide my voice and input, as much or as little as it was, for the last nine years.” BF