For immediate release.
Olds, AB (Feb. 16, 2017) – More than 50 people gathered to honour poultry farmers Marc & Hinke Therrien of Redwater, AB as Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2017. The winners were announced at the Alberta regional event held at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites in Olds, AB on Feb. 10.
Marc & Hinke both started off their agriculture careers in the feed industry, and as time progressed, Mark took on a job at a large broiler farm in order to gain hands on farming experience. In 2012 they were offered the opportunity to run Pine Valley Family Farm where they managed all of the poultry production.
According to Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmer First Vice President Carl Marquis, who attended the event, “Marc and Hinka Therrien have a personal and business profile that makes them winners. The couple has three young children and operate a most impressive turkey farm”.
Over the past five years of producing turkeys, Marc & Hinke have been able to double their production every year, starting with 450,000 kgs their first year and up to 1.65 M kgs in 2015. In addition to all of their hard work on the farm, they have become involved in their local community by hosting a local county agricultural farm tour and several university student group tours.
“It was inspiring to see such a passionate group of farmers that are all doing such amazing things for agriculture in Alberta,” says Harvey Walsh, Deputy Mayor for the Town of Olds. “A lot of our history in Olds is routed in agriculture so I was excited when OYF reached out to host their event here.”
Celebrating 37 years, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ program is an annual competition to recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession and promote the tremendous contribution of agriculture. Open to participants 18 to 39 years of age, making the majority of income from on-farm sources, participants are selected from seven regions across Canada, with two national winners chosen each year. The program is sponsored nationally by CIBC, John Deere, Bayer, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through Growing Forward 2, a federal, provincial, territorial initiative. The national media sponsor is Annex Business Media, and the program is supported nationally by AdFarm, BDO and Farm Management Canada.
Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2017 will be chosen at the National Event in Penticton, BC from November 29 – December 3, 2017.
For more information or a photo of Marc & Hinke Therrien, contact:
Carla Kaeding, Program Manager, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers
306.896.7833 ·kaedingc@hotmail.com · www.oyfcanada.com