“I love this industry, it’s fantastic,” said Leblond, adding he’s honoured by the trust and confidence the board has in him. “We’re super lucky (with this board.) My ambition is to do what the industry and producers are telling us to do. It’s that simple.”

Why it matters: There’s been unprecidented growth in beef prices, meaning a need for leadership in the sector.

The first-generation Powassan producer is a certified engineering technologist and operates a 35-head grass-fed cow-calf operation with his family.

Leblond is committed to bringing his Northern Ontario perspective, municipal government experience and positive yet determined solutions-based attitude to address any issues presented to the board.

Alongside Leblond, the board welcomed newly elected vice-president Don Badour of Perth. Two new directors also joined: Grey County’s Lisa Pallister for the feedlot sector and Don Scott from Grenville County, who replaces outgoing president Craig McLaughlin for the eastern region.

“His leadership, dedication, steady presence and sense of humour have made him a valued part of this team,” said Leblond of the outgoing president. “He made a genuine effort to include directors and staff in the decision-making part of that process; he gave everyone time and space to share their perspectives. He led thoughtfully, respectfully and with appreciation for the team around him.”

The two men worked closely together this year on the provincial beef association working group to develop a unified path for the Canadian Cattle Association’s future.

Leblond’s top priorities are advancing traceability, streamlining the Beef Cattle Marketing Act and securing a provincial guarantee under the Beef Breeder Loan Program.

“When you look around this room and see all these young producers, that’s who it’s going to help,” he said. “That program I’d love to see get across the finish line.”

McLaughlin’s confident that Leblond will step handily into the role and help accomplish whatever the board sets out to do.

“When people just sit down and roll up their sleeves, they can find solutions and make the industry better,” said McLaughlin, adding Leblond is a “fixer,” which has and will continue to serve the organization well.

“I’m just estimating, but approximately 20 per cent of our voting delegates are under the age of 35,” said McLaughlin. “We were trying to provide them with opportunities, because sometimes that’s their biggest challenge — getting an opportunity.”

One solution was to establish the Ontario Beef Youth Alliance five years ago, which now has over 300 members. Another was BFO’s BUILD leadership program, revamped and relaunched in 2024 with the Rural Ontario Institute after a seven-year hiatus.

“It currently has over 20 applicants. Sadly, we won’t be able to accept them all this year,” he said.

StrongHER in Beef, a new, sold-out event launching in March, was created to celebrate, connect, and empower women across Ontario’s beef industry, rapidly growing from a seed into a cohesive event within a few years.

“There’s a demand for that (kind of programming),” McLaughlin said. “We have realized, just like on your farm, what you invest in BFO will come to fruition years down the road.”

Along with the newly elected directors, several were re-elected or acclaimed for another term. Don Hargrave secured a third term representing cow-calf operators. Jairus Maus will serve a second term as feedlot director, and Joost van der Heiden will serve a second term as background director. Emily Bromley will complete her term as the BFO youth representative this year.

The post Jason Leblond steps into Beef Farmers of Ontario presidency appeared first on Farmtario.

I remember liking the singer’s voice but didn’t really understand the song. I asked my mom why she was singing about women roaring. As far as I knew, only lions roared.

Mom tried to explain the woman’s rights movement and feminism, but I was still puzzled.

Unlike my mom and her mother before her, I was fortunate to grow up in a time when I was not told or made to feel I couldn’t do certain things because I was a girl. It never occurred to me that some things could be off limits because of gender.

I’ve never felt that I shouldn’t or couldn’t attempt a particular sport, school subject, job or activity. My parents encouraged my sister and I to do well in school, find what interested us and try our best.

We benefitted from the equality struggles of previous generations.

My mother worked, as did most moms and other women I knew at the time. Some worked part-time, some had full-time or professional careers. Some worked with their husbands or partners in the family business.

Later I realized the struggles for equality fought by generations before me were only the beginning. In my youth, few working women owned or ran a business. They were rarely paid the same salary as men for doing the same job, and there was bias about the types of jobs women could do.

This continues to improve, but inequality still exists.

In university, many young women in my program came from farms. They were studying agriculture because they had an interest and wanted to remain within the industry. Many knew they would not take over the farm from their parents, whether because they had a brother, or because they didn’t feel they could manage it financially or physically.

I knew several women with more traditional fathers who wouldn’t even consider transitioning the farm to a woman, even if that woman was their daughter.

But the gap on inequality in the agriculture sector is closing.

The most recent Canadian census of agriculture statistics show the proportion of farmers that are women is greater than ever before, at 30 per cent.

More significantly, the number of women who are sole managers of a farm increased by 26.5 per cent from the previous census. And women aren’t operating small farms. Statistics show the growth in woman operators came primarily from the top three classes, farms with annual revenues ranging from $500,000 to more than $2 million.

In an op-ed for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, director Vanessa Renoud says census data shows that more women are stepping into leadership roles on farms of all types and sizes. She has first-hand experience, because she works with her father on the family farm near Green Valley, and is also as a Certified Crop Advisor and crop input consultant with farmers in her area.

She notes that for young women especially, “it’s not always easy to step into roles in this sector, whether it’s part of a farm business or in a wide range of other jobs and careers.”

Lack of mentorship is part of the problem, and that, too, is changing.

Renoud said a new agricultural mentorship program designed specifically for women is now available. It’s called AgriMentor and offers individual, one-on-one mentorship coaching nationwide for women working in agriculture.

The program was launched as a pilot by Quebec’s organization of farm women, the Agricultrices du Québec, and was a success.

In Ontario, AgriMentor is led by the Union des cultivateurs franco-ontariens (UCFO), with OFA support. Renaud said UCFO will match mentors and mentees, and the program is seeking both.

She said she didn’t have mentorship earlier in her career, and “although I had colleagues in similar situations that I could lean on, we weren’t able to give each other the type of guidance and insight a more experienced mentor can offer.”

I’m happy to see this type of program being offered. It’s more recognition that women have a greater role to play in the agriculture sector, and there is support to make that happen.

The post Editorial: For women in agriculture, opportunities abound appeared first on Farmtario.