Neilson reelected to lead RRFA

By Heather Latter
Staff writer

There was no change in the executive of the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture during their annual meeting held Saturday night in Stratton.
Last year’s executive of President Trish Neilson, Secretary Linda Armstrong, and Treasurer Angela Halvorsen all agreed to let their names stand again and were acclaimed to their respective positions.
The board was also filled with directors representing zones within the district.
Linda Armstrong just completed a two-year term as director of Zone 1, but with nobody willing or able to fill the spot, it was left open and an appointment would be made later.
Kristine Carpenter let her name stand as a director-at-large and was acclaimed, while Rick Boersma agreed to fill the second position as a director of Zone 2.
Bernie Zimmerman was acclaimed to be a director in Zone 3 and there were no vacancies in Zone 4.
Meanwhile, Peter Aalbers earned the title of Ontario Federation of Agriculture Regional Director, while Neilson was also named as the delegate to the OFA convention and Zimmerman the alternate delegate.
The board is completed with the existing directors of Rudy Sinninghe, Amos Brielmann, Rick Neilson, Ken Fisher, and Tracy Hyatt.
“We had a really busy year,” stressed Trish Neilson in an interview Monday, as she was unable to attend the annual meeting. 
“We began in the fall by offering support to the Local Food for Local People committee—the meat issue,” she said. “Although we weren’t front and center, we did a lot of work in the background. So that took up quite a bit of our time and energy.”
She indicated they also provided support to the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association in the efforts to gain compensation for area farmers for damage done during last year’s drought.
“We were successful in supporting the Clover Valley Farmers’ Market in getting an intern,” Neilson noted. “And assisted in the hiring of Jeannette Cawston, the rural agricultural co-ordinator . . . We’ve been supportive of the local food initiative too.”
She explained although they weren’t entirely successful with the outcome of the meat situation, as regulations have not been changed in regards to processing uninspected meat, she was thrilled with how the community came together and content with how everything was resolved.
“It certainly has kept the abattoir project front and center in light of that,” she voiced. “The abattoir committee is still committed to having a kill facility in place by the summer of next year. I think it’s just a path you have to go down to get where you need to be. Some paths are easy, but that was a difficult one to have to go down.
“But hopefully we grow from it and I think the district did,” she added.
And Neilson noted she feels optimistic about the coming revisions of programs to assist farmers if another drought should occur.
“I think the powers that be realized that we don’t have the right type of safety nets in place that are appropriate for some of the issues that could come up,” she expressed.
She indicated dealing with these issues also help the RRFA contribute to the redevelopment of the “Next Generation of Agriculture and Agri-food Policy.”
“We were quite involved in that,” she said, citing they requested and received a local meeting to discuss the framework. “We did a lot of work in pre-meetings to have solid strategic thoughts on the process and I think our input was heard.
For the year ahead, Neilson noted the RRFA will deal with changes to the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s organizational structure. It’s been in the works for a while now and will be implemented this year.
“It will be an issue for our members. We just have to make sure the voice of the north is heard and heard effectively,” she voiced, citing at the local board’s first meeting they will review where they want to go.
“There’s all sorts of work we can do. We just have to decided on a priority and figure out a plan to get something done for the upcoming year,” she added. “Hopefully it’s a year we see more progress. We always want to be play an encouraging and supporting role.
“I feel really good that we’re getting ourselves set up to keep forging ahead into the future.”