Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer Program - History The Outstanding Young Farmers Program was founded by a local Junior Chamber of Commerce in the United States, and was adopted as an official program of the US Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1954. In 1979, the Calgary Jaycees, with the support of the Alberta/Northwest Territories Region Jaycees, proposed the introduction of a similar program at their national convention. It was adopted as an official program of the Canadian Junior Chamber/Jaycees, with its first national recognition program held in November of 1980.
Today, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers Program is designed to recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession. Bayer CropScience, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, John Deere Limited, Ad Farm and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada now sponsor the program at the national level.
To qualify for the Program, nominees must be farm operators between the ages of 18 and 39 who derive a minimum of two-thirds of their income from their farms. Each year, a farming couple is selected from a list of nominees in each of seven regions. These seven couples then go on to represent their respective regions at the National Awards Program, where they are recognized for their achievements and judged by a distinguished panel using the following criteria:
Two of the seven honorees are chosen by the judges to be named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers.
The Program’s vitality is maintained by the continued participation of its alumni members, who are invited to the annual National Awards Program to honor and welcome new members.
The seven regions:At the 2002 annual general meeting, the membership voted to adopt a rotational plan that will see the national recognition event move across the country, with the next few years to progress as 2011 in Manitoba, 2012 in the Atlantic region, 2013 in Saskatchewan, 2014 in Quebec, 2015 in Alberta, 2016 in Ontario and 2017 in British Columbia.
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