Ottawa—Ron Bonnett won't be running for re-election as president when the Canadian Federation of Agricultue holds its annual meeting in February but he intends to remain involved in a mentoring role for future farm leaders. “I never wanted to stay in the job too long,” he said in an interview. His experience in the CFA, Ontario Federation of Agriculture and other bodies taught him fresh blood is needed in any organization. “I want to do what's best for the organization. “I'm a great believer that you've got to encourage leadership to move up through an organization. I've seen some organizations where people sit in the position for years and years and it almost discourages people from taking the opportunity to move forward and have new blood and new ideas come in.” CFA has a strong board of directors and staff ready to take on all the challenges the sector faces in the coming years, he said. Bonnett, a cow-calf producer from Bruce Mines in northwestern Ontario, has a long history with farm groups dating back to the 1980s when he  helped form the Algoma Federation of Agriculture and served as its founding president. He then became a board member and later president of OFA. That position made him a member of the CFA National Council board and he was elected president in 2010. Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said Bonnett “has provided solid and dedicated leadership in Canadian agriculture over four decades and his impact will be felt by farmers and all those in our agriculture sector for years to come. Canadian farmers have been well served by Ron's leadership. “It has been a pleasure working with him and the CFA to help push forward important files including improving grain transportation, the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, vital trade deals for Canadian farmers and boosting our agricultural exports to $75 billion, significant investments in agricultural science and trade diversification, and the recent accelerated investment incentive in the Fall Economic Statement which allows farmers to triple their tax write off for new equipment,” he said. Former Conservative agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said Bonnett was a dedicated agriculture advocate who directed CFA through difficult times. Former CFA President Bob Friesen, who advises the organization of transportation and trade issues, said Bonnett “was a steady hand on the helm through a hectic decade. I was always impressed with his handle on every policy files and his calm manner.” In addition to the European, North American and Pacific trade talks, Bonnett also had to work harmoniously with a growing Grain Growers of Canada and many other farm organizations with national roles as well as all the value chain roundtables. He was a kep player in convincing Dominic Barton to use agrifood as an example of a growth sector in the 2016 economic advisory council report, which set the tone for campaigns to boost agrifood's importance during the last few years. In addition to CFA President, Bonnett is currently CFA's representative for Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) Advisory Committee and Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC). As an advocate of agriculture at the international level, Ron sits on the Board of Directors for the World Farmers' Organization as the North American representative and played a lead role in the development of the organization, acting as interim President. He is also the current President of Beef Improvement Ontario and planning committee chair for Ontario's Agricultural Management Institute. His leadership really showed through when CFA's hard-working and popular executive director Brigid Rivoire died in 2017 after a long struggle with cancer. The organization now has a mental health award named after her. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.