Glen Findlay dedicated a large chunk of his life to public service, but he’s most proud of his family farm near Shoal Lake, Man.
Findlay was Manitoba’s agriculture minister in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a provincial MLA for 13 years and director with the Canadian Wheat Board.
He is one of eight new inductees into Manitoba’s Agricultural Hall of Fame.
The organization released the names of its inductees last week.
Findlay learned about the honour two weeks ago, when a Hall of Fame representative called his house
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“The committee called on April 1. That’s when I first found out…. You can imagine how I might of reacted,” he said with a laugh.
“I was very humbled. I’m 75 years old. So you kind of appreciate that people think you’ve done something over the course of your life.”
Findlay still lives on the family farm, 70 kilometres northwest of Brandon, where he grew up and later inherited the operation from his parents.
He earned a master’s degree at the University of Manitoba in animal nutrition and went on to obtain a PhD in nutritional biochemistry from the University of Illinois.
He returned to the farm with his wife, Katherine, in 1970 and was a U of M agriculture faculty professor for seven years.
Despite his time as Manitoba’s agriculture and transportation minister, Findlay said the most satisfying moment in his career was the day his son returned to Shoal Lake.
“My son graduated university and came back to the farm,” Findlay said.
“That was the most enjoyable part because you could see a reason to keep everything going.”
Findlay’s grandson is now involved in the family business, which should preserve the family legacy for another generation.
“I have more passion now (for agriculture) than I ever did because my grandson is the sixth generation on the farm,” he said.
“The success of a family farm de-pends on two people, husband and wife…. Your opportunity and challenge was to grow it and pass it on to the next generation. That’s was the motivating factor for both my wife and I.”
Findlay remains active in the family business, taking care of the books and doing whatever is necessary to help out.
He is fascinated by the evolution and innovation in prairie agriculture over the last 25 years.
“The rate of change in the industry, it’s been incredible,” he said.
“I’ve really enjoyed watching the progress of the industry, on-farm and off-farm…. It’s exciting to see that happening…. We’re not doing the same thing over and over again.”
Part of the evolution is the shift toward corporate farms and investment funds that own agricultural land.
Findlay is worried about the trend, but he has faith in the family farm structure.
“I don’t think that (corporate farming) will be a successful model,” he said.
“They don’t have the emotional commitment or the work ethic that a family farm has…. The family farm model will always be successful because of that intuitive desire to succeed and work hard, and sometimes don’t ask for rewards except for the success of the operation.”
The hall of game will induct seven other members as well as Findlay at a ceremony this summer:
- Harry Airey, Rivers
- Clarence Baker, formerly of the Beausejour area
- Morris Deveson, Winnipeg
- Bill Gregor, Brandon
- Bob Hopley, Brandon
- Dave Jeffries, Portage la Prairie
- Bob Roehle, Winnipeg
