Scott Graham humbled over induction into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame

Scott Graham is being inducted into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame. His nomination came from the Egg Farmers of Ontario for all of his farming achievements.

By Wendy Lamond

St. Marys resident Scott Graham was honoured to find out he is being inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame along with four other inductees at a ceremony in June taking place in Elora.

All five nominees are being recognized for their contributions and dedication to the farming world. Graham, who was nominated by Egg Farmers of Ontario, said he was overwhelmed and surprised when he received the call from current chair of the board Scott Helps and feels so fortunate to be included with other leaders from the industry who brought agriculture to where it is today.

“Being inducted into the hall of fame really does mean a lot to me, but I never forget all the good farmers on all the different concessions across the province,” Graham said. “In my mind, they are stay-at-home hall of famers; guys that have contributed so much on what has gone on in this province. I have a lot of respect for those farmers that just do their own thing on their farms and are so good at it.”

Graham grew up on a farm on the outskirts of St. Marys and is a second-generation egg farmer. Owing much of what he learned to his father, Tom, who Graham feels deserves to be in the hall of fame more than himself, he said he always looked up to his dad as a mentor. He was instrumental in moving hybrid chickens into the marketplace in the ‘50s and in the ‘70s, he was one of the first to introduce Red Angus cattle into Ontario.

Graham was chair of the Egg Farmers of Ontario board for eight years and served on the board for 13 years. His career in the egg industry greatly advanced initiatives like the Quota Transfer System. This system, which Graham considers a highlight and one of his proudest achievements, was based on putting control and value on quota instead of selling it face to face. Currently, it is sold through an auction process. The previous process was cumbersome and put pressure on the industry partners and needed more structure. Graham took part in over two years of research and worked with farmers for the transfer system to come into play in 2014.

Graham also spearheaded the development of the Consumer Choice Campaign, which was based on consumers learning more about the safety, nutrition and the quality assurance behind Ontario’s egg production.

Examples of these campaigns included education about Ontario egg-farm families, the Get Cracking strategy, the egg quality strategy and much more. Graham says consumers love the sticker on their egg cartons.

More recently, Graham took part in the development of non-invasive technology for gender identification of eggs prior to hatching through a project called Hyper-eye.

Before the last tariff talks, Graham travelled with the federal minister of agriculture to the United States and met with 13 different agricultural secretaries, stopping in approximately six states to try and get a handle on the concerns they were dealing with south of the border and to build relationships. This was a highlight for Graham, who said he learned the differences between countries and how lucky we are to have the support of the provincial and federal governments.

“You have to travel a long way to see a farm landscape like we have here in Ontario with the diversity of different commodities. I think everybody should be really proud. We have some very good farmers here,” Graham said.

Graham discussed supply management and its three pillars: border control, supply control and production control. In the egg business, trade talks have resulted in 7 per cent of eggs coming from the United States. The other 93 per cent comes from Canada. With so many fluctuations with tariffs in place, responsible and accountable controls are very much needed.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a tough time for Graham as it was for many. After being around people as much as he was, he said it was hard to make that change to isolation. To help improve that, he was recruited to participate in a Tim Hortons commercial that was filmed in Stratford. When he was filming in Stratford, takes were sent to the Tim Hortons group in Toronto and they decided whether a retake was to be done. Graham said he ate many Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches that day, but it did restore his emotional wellness during that time and was a fun experience.

Graham’s son, Brett Graham, is the third generation and took over the family egg farm in 2008. As Scott Graham spent more time on the board, Brett Graham took on more responsibilities at the farm. Scott Graham is very proud of what his son has accomplished to carry on the family tradition.

Though there were some challenges associated with serving on the Egg Farmers of Ontario board, Scott Graham said there were so many positives.

Laurie Graham, Scott Graham’s wife of almost 50 years, was a huge part in his success.

“You must have a good partner to be away as much as I was in those days,” Scott Graham said. “Although she likely scratched her head at times, she was always supportive and I couldn’t have done all of this without her. I truly appreciate all she has done.”

According to the press release about the induction by the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame, Scott Graham’s legacy is defined by his commitment to building trust between farmers and consumers while mentoring the next generation of agricultural leaders. Nowadays, Scott Graham can be found coaching his grandkids, playing hockey and volunteering on the St. Marys Healthcare Foundation.