Three Albertans have been posthumously inducted into the Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Calvin Ausenhus, James Graham and John Toogood were honored during a recent ceremony.
Ausenhus, of Didsbury, co-founded Chinook Grain, which pioneered producer car grain loading and on-farm grain pickup.
He also co-founded the Western Barley Growers Association and was the first Alberta representative on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange.
Graham, of Rainier, was the chair of the Alberta Cattle Commission and the Beef Export Federation, as well as president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. He took a stand in 1986 against importing heavily subsidized European beef. During his tenure he also expanded the Canada Beef Export Federation into Mexico and the Pacific Rim.
Toogood spent 30 years at the University of Alberta’s soil sciences department.
He worked to improve agricultural production through research into soil testing, fertility, erosion control, production systems and agrometerology.
He helped save and expand the Breton Soil Fertility Plots, a tool used to gauge long-term agricultural practices.
