Award recognizes most significant contribution to Canadian agriculture in five years
BY RACHELLE COOPER
The University of Guelph presented its prestigious H.R. MacMillan Laureate in Agriculture to Peter Hannam, a leader in Canada's soybean industry, Nov. 8 at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. The $10,000 award is given every five years to an individual judged to have made the most significant contribution to Canadian agriculture during the preceding five years.
In making the award, president Alastair Summerlee said: “Peter Hannam is a pivotal figure in Canadian agriculture. This award celebrates his achievements in business and research, and also recognizes him for encouraging students, academics and entrepreneurs to strive for new ideas in soybean product development.”
Hannam noted that U of G “has been very important to me in my education, my farming and the industry of agriculture. That is why I very much appreciate this recognition from such an esteemed institution.”
The award was presented in the presence of Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food Steve Peters and MP Paul Steckle, chair of the federal standing committee on agriculture and agri-food.
Steckle noted that the Canadian agriculture industry has benefited greatly from Hannam's contributions throughout his lifetime.
Hannam is only the eighth recipient of the award. The late Harvey MacMillan of Vancouver, a 1906 graduate of the Ontario Agricultural College and a 1966 recipient of an honorary doctorate of laws from Guelph, established the award in 1969.
Hannam, a 1962 graduate of OAC, has been active in Ontario agriculture and agribusiness for more than 25 years. A former Ontario Federation of Agriculture president, he founded First Line Seeds Ltd. in 1982, retiring as its president in August.
His contributions to the agriculture industry have been recognized with a Queen's Jubilee Medal, a Fellowship in the Agricultural Institute of Canada, the Soybean Achievement Award from the Ontario Soybean Growers, the Innovation Award from Monsanto Canada, the Agri-Marketer of the Year Award from the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association, and the Distinguished Agrologist Award from the Ontario Institute of Agrologists.
“Peter continues to bring together different agriculture sectors,” said Peters. “His support for the Ontario AgriCentre, which will be a professional home for agriculture, processing and agro-industrial organizations, is proof of his ongoing dedication to this industry.”
The Ontario AgriCentre is scheduled to open in Guelph next fall across from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food's head office.
Hannam said he will invest the $10,000 award in specialized communication equipment for the media centre that is proposed for the Ontario AgriCentre.
“I will also make it available to students in the agricultural communications course at the university for enhanced media training.”
With his help, Soy 20/20, a program designed to help match soybean research with market opportunities and to co-ordinate information and opportunities along the value chain, was launched in 2001. He now serves as chair.
Hannam and his family established the $1-million Hannam Soybean Utilization Fund at U of G in 2001 to promote innovative medical, industrial and nutritive uses and marketing strategies for Ontario soybeans. The program has provided funding for up to six research projects each year.
In the 1990s, Hannam was also instrumental in creating Project SOY, an annual competition that encourages U of G students to develop new uses for soybeans.
He is a representative on U of G's advisory committee on bioproducts research, established to help launch new research projects in bioproducts that could be produced from Ontario agriculture. Since 2002, he has also been a member of the deputy minister of agriculture's advisory committee on life sciences.
