One of the main players in the development of canola was recognized this month by the province of Manitoba.
Baldur Stefansson, an oilseed breeder who helped transform rapeseed into canola, was named one of the first members of the Order of Manitoba.
It was established this year to recognize people whose efforts and achievements benefited the social, cultural and economic well-being of the province and its residents.
Stefansson was surprised by the honor, but said it does not match the pride he draws from knowing that canola helped improve farmers’ livelihoods.
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“I think a lot of farmers are better off today because of the development of canola,” he said in an interview from Winnipeg, where he was a professor at the University of Manitoba until his retirement in 1986.
Stefansson was one of the leaders in research to remove undesirable fatty acids from rapeseed and replace them with more desirable fatty acids. The quality of the crop’s protein meal was also improved, making it more palatable and nutritious for livestock.
The end result was canola, which eventually become known as a Cinderella crop in Western Canada.
Bruce Dalgarno, chair of the Canola Council of Canada, said the foresight shown by Stefansson was critical to the success of today’s canola industry.
While canola added diversity to prairie farms, it also gave rise to a new industry in Western Canada, Dalgarno said.
Other appointees
Among other appointments to the Order of Manitoba are George Taylor Richardson, former chair of James Richardson & Sons Limited, and Reg Forbes, a Brandon resident considered instrumental in the development of Brandon’s Keystone Centre and the establishment of the pregnant mares’ urine industry in Manitoba. The Keystone Centre has become a hub for agricultural events in western Manitoba.
Richardson’s business dealings covered grain, oil and gas, real estate, securities, pipeline construction, freight hauling and the airline industry.
He also served on the boards of many national companies and was the first Canadian-born governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
Forbes, a life-long resident of western Manitoba, served as a commissioner on the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission, and is past-president of numerous organizations including the Manitoba Winter Fair, the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba and the Agricultural Institute of Canada. He is also a member of the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame.
