The elections were held at a board meeting following the organisation’s annual general meeting in Niagara Falls
The Chair and Vice Chair of the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers’ Association have been re-elected to their positions for another one-year term. The elections were held at a board meeting following the organisation’s annual general meeting in Niagara Falls.
Vegetable grower Shawn Brenn will continue to serve as Chair, supported by Vice Chair Mike Chromczak, an asparagus grower from the Tillsonburg area.
Brenn is president of Brenn-B Farms Ltd near Waterdown, where the fourth-generation family business grows potatoes, onions, cilantro and dill, and corn, soybeans and wheat as rotation crops. He represents the potato sector on the OFVGA board and is also Chair of the Ontario Potato Board. Brenn first became Chair of OFVGA in 2023 after serving one year as Vice Chair.
Chromczak is the owner and operator of M&J Chromczak Farms Inc., growing asparagus, watermelon and row crops. He is also Vice Chair of the Asparagus Farmers of Ontario and Chair of the OFVGA’s Safety Nets Section. He was first elected as the OFVGA Vice Chair in 2023.
Brian Rideout, already ex-officio on the Board as Chair of the Crop Protection Section, becomes the new director representing apple growers, taking over from Cathy McKay.
Other directors on the board are Jan VanderHout (greenhouse), George Gilvesy (greenhouse), Glen Gilvesy (ginseng), Joanne Chechalk (fresh vegetable – other), David Enns (Tender Fruit), Morris Gervais (small fruit/berries), Matthias Oppenlaender (grapes), Tracy Gubbels (processing vegetables) and Quinton Woods (fresh vegetable – muck).
VanderHout is also Chair of the Environment and Conservation Section. Other ex-officio section chairs include Bill George (Labour) and Brian Gilroy (Property, Infrastructure, Energy, and Food Safety).
