- By Brent Royce, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

The strength of any organization depends on the involvement of its members in providing guidance and participating at the grassroots level. For the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), one of the key ways of encouraging local participation is at regional annual meetings that are happening across the province over the next few months.

OFA encourages all members to take the time to attend their local meeting to vote for local delegates, engage in discussions about the issues and priorities for the farm sector, and connect with other OFA members in your community.

Some regional meetings also add in farm tours to feature local markets, products and emerging businesses in the area. And they are always a great opportunity to get updates on OFA activities firsthand from county federation directors, presidents and zone directors.

Regional meetings are where Policy Advisory Council (PAC) members are voted in to provide valuable input and direction on OFA policies and priorities throughout the year. OFA regional meetings are also where delegates are elected to attend the annual meeting in November to represent their region when they vote on resolutions, OFA priorities and provincial leadership positions. The OFA annual meeting is a great networking and learning opportunity featuring several in-depth workshops on key issues.

OFA regional meetings are an easy way to get involved and informed about OFA activities, and to support your local agricultural community. Members can attend to get up to date and observe the meeting or to jump into an elected position.

OFA depends on the decisions made and ideas gathered at the local level. Your input provides important direction and feedback to OFA so we can align our larger activities with local needs.

A full list of regional meetings, times and locations are posted at www.ofa.on.ca/regional-meetings.