Ray Robertson
Farmers Forum staff
OTTAWA — Add another hall of fame induction to Ray Robertson’s resume, this time on the new “Wall of Fame” established by the Ontario Forage Council (OFC).
The veteran agricultural leader and forage champion became the OFC’s first Wall of Fame inductee on March 10 at the Forages For Tomorrow conference in Elora.
The honour marks a remarkable run of recognition for the Grey County resident, a retired dairy and beef farmer. In 2023, Robertson was inducted into both the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame and the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. This latest tribute specifically celebrates his tenure as the manager of the OFC, a non-profit organization dedicated to forage production in the province.
“Ray has been the greatest ambassador for the forage industry in Ontario that I have ever met,” said Terry Nuhn, President of Nuhn Forage Inc. and past president of the OFC. “He helped raise Ontario’s profile as a forage exporter throughout all of Canada and to international markets. His hard work and dedication in the industry is second to none.”
Robertson spent years as a contract employee with the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association before taking the reins as OFC general manager in 2000. When local OMAF offices closed that same year, Robertson’s vision led to the creation of the Grey County Agricultural Services Centre, ensuring producers maintained access to vital extension programs.
Under his guidance and “boots on the ground” leadership style, the OFC didn’t just talk about hay. It pioneered the Ontario Hay Listing Service and spearheaded the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, which Robertson chaired from 2015 to 2019. He was instrumental in bridging the gap between academic research and the farm gate, working to transform “simply hay” into a profitable, exportable commodity that now reaches markets as far afield as China and Saudi Arabia.
“When I took it on, there were really no members, no money and no programs,” Robertson told Farmers Forum. “So it was a big job, really. But I really enjoyed it. I had a tremendous team of people I worked with over the years, and I owe a lot of credit to the people that worked with me.”
Forages, he noted, are the single largest crop grown in Ontario. They are “at the root of soil health,” he added, a fact that used to be “sort of the world’s best kept secret. But we’ve really got a lot more promotion now, and we hear a lot more about that now.”
His prior hall of fame citations denote Robertson as “the ultimate recruiter and fundraiser,” with a unique ability to bring people together to achieve a common goal. This vision led to the 2015 incorporation of the Ontario Hay and Forage Cooperative, which brought commercial-scale drying and compacting technology to Ontario’s fields.
While the Wall of Fame is a new initiative for the OFC, the board of directors noted that Robertson was the natural choice to lead the way.
