Members of Manitoba’s cattle community are shaken after an industry leader died in a farm accident just before Christmas.
Major Jay Fox, 32, a cattle producer from Eddystone, Man., and former president of the Manitoba Beef Producers, died Dec. 23 after he was pinned under a front-end loader bucket.
MBP president Ray Armbruster said the timing and suddenness of Fox’s death has been difficult for many Manitoba cattle producers.
“Especially a day and a half before Christmas,” he said.
According to RCMP reports, Fox was trying to detach a front-end loader assembly from a tractor when the hydraulics released and the bucket fell. Fox was transferred to hospital in Winnipeg, where he died Dec. 23.
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Born and raised on a ranch near Lloydminster, Sask., Fox and his parents moved to Manitoba in the 1990s to start a new farm close to Eddystone. Fox and his wife, Angela, who was also raised in Saskatchewan, took over the operation in the 2000s, running a herd of 400 cows on more than 11,000 acres of hay and pasture land west of Lake Manitoba.
Although he was new to the province, Fox quickly made a name for himself in Manitoba’s cattle industry, becoming a MBP director in 2005.
“Jay was a young director and a young producer and he brought that enthusiasm and commitment to the board of directors,” said Armbruster, who served with Fox on the MBP board. “He brought years of knowledge, beyond his age.”
Fox was elected MBP president in December 2009 and his term ended in the late fall of 2011. Manitoba cattle producers suffered though difficult times during his tenure — floods wiped out hay and pasture land throughout the province in 2010 and inundated producers around Lake Manitoba in 2011.
In addition to his contribution to the province’s cattle industry, Fox and Angela were named Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers in 2008.
Kim Crandall, a producer and MBP director from Winnipegosis, will remember Fox for his commitment to the MBP and his dedication to family.
When the MBP didn’t have a general manager for a couple months in 2011, Fox drove to Winnipeg several times a week to work at the association’s office. However, Crandall said Fox didn’t stay overnight in Winnipeg because he wanted to be home with Angela and their children, Devon, Charlee, Porter and Major, aged two to 14.
Donations in Fox’s name can be made to any branch of TD Canada Trust. The contributions will go toward a trust fund for his children.
