By Tom Collins BRANTFORD The chair of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) is poised to step down at the groups annual general meeting on Jan. 15, saying he always gave himself a time-limit to be on the board. Brantford-area farmer Bill Emmott who, along with his wife Jean and son Wesley, runs Emcrest Farm in a partnership with James and Sara McLellan promised himself when he first got on the board of the DFO back in 1999 representing region 7, that he would only stay on as a member for 16 years. He spent the last six years as DFO chair. “Nothing sinister,” he said about his reasons for stepping down. “If you cant make your mark by then, you might as well move along.” Emmott said one of his biggest successes was taking the board out of the day-to-day running of the DFO, and letting staff have a free hand to get things done. For now, Emmott will oversee the building of a $2-million barn on his farm, which will house 75-80 milking cows and have two robotic milkers. “Im looking forward to cleaning up my shop and going back and tinkering with machinery like I always loved to do and have gotten away from,” he said.
|