Many Eastern Ontario farmers will be able to vote for two Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) directors later this month.
Elections are held every three years, and there are only two Eastern Ontario zones voting this year.
OFA members in zone 8 (Arnprior, Lanark, Ottawa and Renfrew) and zone 11 (Dundas, Frontenac, Leeds and Grenville) will be getting information packages in the mail the week of Aug. 14 and can vote between Aug. 21 and Sept. 8. Farmers can vote by mail, phone or online using a code that will be included in the package.
Here is a look at the zone candidates:
Zone 11 (Dundas, Frontenac, Grenville and Leeds):
Jacqueline Pemberton: The former president of the Dundas Federation of Agriculture, Pemberton runs Pemdale Farm — a 200-acre cash crop farm that grows soybeans, corn and raises grass-fed beef — at Inkerman, south of Winchester with her husband. Pemberton has been the agricultural rep for South Nation Conservation Authority’s source water protection committee since May, 2015.
Eleanor Renaud: The current zone 11 director since 2009, Renaud owns and operates a 1,000-acre fifth-generation farm in Leeds County. Renaud runs a cow/calf operation and grows corn, beans, barley, oats and hay and has been part of the Leeds Federation of Agriculture board of directors since 1988.
Zone 8 (Arnprior, Lanark, Ottawa and Renfrew):
Andrea McCoy-Naperstkow: The former president of Lanark Federation of Agriculture, McCoy-Naperstkow owns a crop, beef and horse breeding operation in Lanark County with her husband, Arvin. Their major commodity is horse hay. She earned a BA honours in English and psychology, a masters of social work from Carleton University and a bachelor of social work from Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Debra Pretty- Straathof: The current zone 8 director, Pretty- Straathof has been an OFA vice-president and executive member of the board. She is vice-chair of the Ontario Agri-Food Technology Board, the chair of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) taxation committee and represents the OFA on the Ontario Agriculture Commodity Council. She has been married to a dairy farmer for more than 25 years.
