Reviews mixed on OFA restructuring

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Photo: Bette Jean Crews

© AgMedia Inc.

by GEOFF DALE

It’s early days yet but the recent restructuring of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture –
including reducing its board of directors to 18 – is getting mixed reviews at the provincial and regional levels.

While stressing she doesn’t to view the process with “rose-coloured glasses,” OFA president Bette Jean Crews says, “this is something we should have done years ago.”

“We’ve got the right people in the right places,” she says. “The 18 directors from the different regions are already thinking like a team.”

But Nancy Walther, a former president of the Oxford County Federation of Agriculture and currently on the OFA’s 100-member Policy Advisory Council, says the first meeting of the council, held Jan. 20, was a disappointment in some respects.

“I wanted to see more teeth in terms of policy,” she says. “There was more of an overview of protocol, which may be necessary for new members but it was just too long.”

Adding she was willing to give the process a chance, she says a major concern is there may be only four meetings held a year.

“With only four or maybe more, we need more emphasis on policy and better preparation prior to the meeting,” she says.

Crews says the process is already working, pointing out preparations for a new communications approach are in full swing – which will mean structured agendas, more focus and members that are in touch with all issues. BF