GUELPH, ONT. (Nov. 16, 2017) - The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association is pleased to name Bill Thomas as winner of the 2017 CFGA
Leadership Award.
Thomas is the recently retired director of the field services division at Perennia Food and Agriculture Inc. He has 30 years of extension service in Nova Scotia specializing in forage crops and livestock production, adaptive research and leadership working directly with agricultural commodity groups, farmer clients and the public.
Thomas is well-known as a tireless advocate, educator and leader in the Atlantic forage sector. During his career, he co-ordinated forage cultivar evaluations, variety trials and forage and corn management and pasture management trials.
Thomas was also an initiator of the development and delivery of numerous programs related to profitable production, storage, marketing of forage crops, research collaborations and trials on nutrient management, nutrient leaching and water quality, pasture management, forage and corn hybrid development and cultivar evaluation. He developed and implemented educational forage production programs at the former Nova Scotia Agricultural College, now part of Dalhousie University, and his work as a lecturer at Dalhousie continues in the forage and soil management and livestock production courses. At the same time, he developed policies on nutrient management, beef development and agricultural awareness. He has extensive refereed journal publication credits.
Professional organizations were a pivotal part of Thomas' career. He is a long-standing member of the Nova Scotia Institute of Agrology, Agrology Institute of Canada and the Canadian Society of Agronomy. He has also served on several forage and crop committees and research and development committees.
In 2011, Thomas was named a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Agronomy, the society's most distinguished award.
The CFGA presented Thomas with its 2017 Leadership Award at a special luncheon on Nov. 16 during the 8th Annual CFGA Conference in Guelph. The award is sponsored by agriculture equipment manufacturer New Holland Canada.
About the Award
The CFGA Leadership Award was established in 2012 to recognize
and encourage leadership in the forage and grassland sector. It recognizes individuals, groups or organizations who exemplify or enhance the goals of the CFGA and whose leadership has impact of national and/or international significance.
