RRFA reelects same board at meeting in Stratton

Heather Ogilvie
Staff writer

There was no new president to welcome all to the 29th annual dinner and meeting of the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture (RRFA) held Saturday evening at the Stratton Hall.
Trish Neilson, last year’s president, was eligible to let her name stand in the nominations for another term. When no other nominations were put forth, Neilson accepted the position.
In fact, all of last year’s board was elected to serve again, each willing to let their name stand, with no new nominations brought forth - Secretary, Linda Armstrong; Treasurer, Angela Halvorsen; Zone 1 Director, Linda Armstrong; Zone 3 Director, Clayton Teeple; Zone 4 Director, Kim Jo Bliss.
“It won’t be like this next year, though,” she warned, noting most of the current board will not be eligible to run in the nominations another year and new people will step up.
Rick Boersma was nominated to be the RRFA Delegate to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) convention and annual meeting Nov. 21-22 and he accepted. Bernie Zimmerman accepted to be the Alternate Delegate.
Anna Boily and Dianna Gamsby were appointed to be reviewers of the financial statements for the 2005 annual meeting.
During her president’s report of 2004/2005, Neilson informed those in attendance how the Federation undertook a strategic agriculture framework process, highlighting three main categories which emerged from reviewing the strengths and weakness of the Rainy River District - alternative crops, added value, and communication plan.
In the framework, having the opportunity to introduce and support alternative crops in the region was discussed. One way to do this is to have people and groups with expertise, such as the Soil and Crop Improvement Association. The Federation would like to see Eric Busch, a one-year research intern with this association, continue his position for an additional four or five months, Neilson said. It is hoped the Rainy River Future Development Corp. (RRFDC) will pay his salary, if the RRFA sponsors him.
The RRFA would also like to see value added to Rainy River District products.
“If you have a guest speaker you want to bring in, or a trip or venue you want to attend, approach the Federation and we will try to make it happen,” she said, noting this would be an action to take to focus on added value.
Throughout the night, the need for better communication within the agricultural community was also mentioned as a way to share ideas and opportunities and to stay informed.
Neilson inquired whether an agricultural website for the district would be a useful way to obtain information about events, programs, and news pertaining to local farming. Changing the existing road signs to better promote agriculture was also addressed, along with whether the cost of purchasing the Rural Voice, a monthly publication featuring local agricultural news, is an effective way of communication.
Guest speaker, Al Hunter, Land’s Claim Liaison and Negotiator of the Rainy River First Nations, spoke about land purchasing and the communication between farmers and the First Nation’s people.
“I think the farming community and the Native community are two of the most natural allies we have today,” he said. “There is something that ties us together that we need to protect and we can only protect together - and that’s rural culture.”
Hunter also made a proposal to the farming community: “If you have no one to leave your farm to and you want to keep farming, but you’re getting up in age, we [the Rainy River First Nations] will purchase that land and you can keep farming. We’ll make sure there’s someone behind you to keep farming.
“How does that sound?” he asked over the applause.
Other speakers were Paul Mistele, Howard Hampton, and Ken Boshcoff. A Rainy River Rural Safety Skit was also performed as the evening’s entertainment.