TORONTO — The delegates at the 2010 Ontario Cattlemen’s Association annual general meeting made a surprising decision to elect new faces to the board of directors over the tried and true experience of OFA’s past president Ron Bonnett. Bonnet ran for three positions but was not elected.

"I’m surprised really, I can tell you that," stated newly elected Vice President Dan Darling, of Castleton, "With Ron’s qualifications, as far as being a leader in the ag industry, I thought that he would get one of the three spots he was running for."

Athens cow/calf producer Kim Sytsma was also surprised. "He is a good speaker; a very polished speaker," she said. "You can’t fault Ron for that. I don’t know what happened, but I have an idea that it was Ron himself – the group at my table thought that. He spoke volumes while he was president of the OFA but his delivery was sometimes short. People may think that it was his fault but the government at the time was difficult to deal with so I don’t think it was always him."

Curtis Royal, a feedlot operator, from Creemore, will lead as OCA president while new faces are Tom Wilson, of Lambton County, representing the southern region and John Lunn, of Peterborough, elected as a director-at-large.

"It’s been overwhelming," admitted Lunn. "My main plan is to see if we can get a better way to do communications."

While Lunn was a member of the Peterborough cattlemen group that advocated for a controversial business risk plan, he is no longer able to lobby for that plan. "It’s a good program," he stated, "It’s easy and it’s not complicated. But now that I am a director, I can’t do anything with it."

 Even though the Peterborough group occasionally butted heads with the provincial OCA, their approach was respectful, said Darling. "I know that they are frustrated about how slow things go. But, obviously their commitment is to OCA ‘cause they chose to run one of their guys to move things along. And, who knows, that may be one of the reasons that John got in."

While Lunn has put communication at the top of his agenda, he recognizes his new role as team player. "I’m going to work hard for the grassroots person; but at the end of the day, whatever the board decides will take place. We have to be united to be strong, to be a large vocal voice."

Lunn entered the OCA political arena because he believes in Ontario’s cattle industry. "I firmly believe that if we do things right, Ontario will see the return of a good beef industry in 2012 and 2013. I truly believe that."

The 2010 executive: