The Weber Family of Ayton has finally received its BMO Ontario Farm Family Award.
The award was to be presented at the International Plowing Match in Mitchell but the event was rained out.
The Bank of Montreal and the Ontario Plowmen’s Association worked together to ensure the families were formally recognized!
On Saturday, October 26th, a special awards ceremony was held at the Institute for Learning (IFL), hosted by Susan Brown, Senior Vice President, Ontario Regional Division, BMO Bank of Montreal.
The families were individually honoured for their dedication to Ontario’s agriculture sector and the rural way of life, and were presented with a plaque to commemorate their accomplishment
Pictured from left to right:
– Carl Weber, Joyce Weber, Erich Weber, Heather Weber, Sarah Weber
WEBER FAMILY – Weblyn Farms
Historical Background
Weblyn Farms was originally purchased in November 1919 by Carls grandparents, Philip and Christine Weber. Carls parents, Wilfred and Iva, bought the farm in 1952. Wilfred Weber was instrumental in the formation of the Normanby Plowmens Association, while Iva was very involved with the Womens Institute in Ayton.
Carl graduated from the University of Guelph in 1970 with a Diploma in Agriculture, and in 1973, he followed family tradition by buying the farm from his parents. His wife Joyce is also from a farming background; she was born and raised on her family farm near Owen Sound. Their children Sarah, Heather and Erich are the fourth generation of Webers to be actively involved with operations at the family farm.
Type of Farming Operation
Formerly dairy farmers, the Webers now run a beef cow-calf operation, along with cash cropping and custom work. They take land stewardship seriously, and have an environmental farm plan. They use variable rate fertilization processes, follow appropriate nutrient management practices, and have completed several reforestation programs. The family is determined to preserve land quality by the use of manure, crop rotation, and cover cropping.
Family Participation
The whole family is actively involved in a variety of jobs on the farm, including raising the livestock, helping to feed and care for the animals, and growing and harvesting the crops. Decision-making is a collective family task, with a focus on environmental practices and sustainability.
Community Involvement
The Weber family is well represented at the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ayton. Carl has chaired the Church Council; Joyce has been organist, choice director and President of Women of Faith; Heather and Erich are readers and lay assistants; Heather is secretary of the Church Council; and Erich is a former Sunday school teacher. They have all played important roles in the 4-H organization, both locally and nationally; Joyce was an Ambassador and a Life Skills and Agriculture leader, Heather and Erich have been Ambassadors, and Heather is a Leader and Provincial Facilitator.
Carl helped form the Ayton Junior Farmers Club. A member of Normanby Plowmens Association since 1972, he has been Provincial Director of the Ontario Plowmens Association since 1983. He has served on the Community Care Access Committee and the Public Liaison Committee for Waste Management in Grey County, and is a past delegate to the Gay Lea Foods Co-operative.
Joyce has been heavily involved in extracurricular school activities and community initiatives. She has been a School Board Trustee and has sat on the Community Care Access Committee.
Sarah judges at the Bluewater Regional Science and Technology Fair, volunteers for the Kincardine Relay for Life event, and has taught German for an after-school program. She is also a member of the Southampton Bell Choir.
Heather helped to create the National Rural Youth Network, is a committee member and special events organizer for the Bluewater Regional Science and Technology Fair, and has chaperoned Team Bluewater at Canada-Wide Science Fairs. She takes part in a variety of extracurricular activities at Spruce Ridge Community School in Durham, and has been involved in MS Walk events since 2009.
Erich took part in the Peer Helper Program at the University of Guelph, and was a resident assistant and a U of G Ambassador. He is treasurer of the University of Guelph chapter of the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario, and director of finance on the Provincial Executive.
The Weber family have also taken part in numerous roadside cleanup initiatives.
Awards and Highlights
Carl was president of the Ontario Plowmens Association in 2009, when the most northerly International Plowing Match in history was held in Temiskaming. Members of the Weber family have won many awards at local plowing matches.
Joyce was awarded the Flora Durnin Scholarship for outstanding 4-H member, and this honour has also been won by Sarah, Heather and Erich.
Sarah won the International Plowing Match plowing competition (with Heather) in 1993. She represented Ontario at the Growmark Conference in Chicago, and won the 1999 Royal Bank Interprovincial Exchange to Saskatchewan. Sarah was crowned Grey-Normanby Queen of the Furrow three years running.
Heather was the first Canadian to sit on the National Member Conference Council, at the National 4-H Conference in Washington, DC in 2001. In 2011, she was identified as a difference maker by the Rick Hansen Foundation for the Man in Motion tour. Heather is also a former Grey-Normanby Queen of the Furrow.
Erich has won the John Deere Foundation, Agro and Roland Farms, and Petro Canada Plowing scholarships, the Gold Medal for Student Leadership at Ontario Agriculture College, and in 2008 was the first CKNX Farm Advisory Board Award winner from Grey County. He was the Ontario Plowing Champion in 2012 and Reserve Champion in 2010 and 2011.
Goals for the Future
The Webers aim to be stewards of the environment while producing the best quality products; to be champions of sustainable agriculture; to continue the Family Farm concept; and to be positive role models and actively involved in their local community and beyond.
