Mac Parker

Mac Parker’s involvement with the local agricultural community started early. As a youth, he was a member of the Watford 4-H Beef Club. After graduating, he became a leader of the same club. He lived by the 4-H motto, “Learn to do by doing”.

Parker bought his first farm when he was sixteen years old across the street from the family farm where he grew up. He graduated from Ridgetown Agricultural College in 1960 and began farming with his father. He eventually accumulated 450 acres of land, in parcels near enough to be effectively used for livestock and crops.

Beef cow calf formed the basis of his farming operation. According to Bryan Boyle (who submitted this nomination for the Lambton Agricultural Hall of Fame), Parker “recognized shifting realities in the beef production system and progressed into a cross breeding system to capture the hybrid vigour that it allowed.” He created “new beef products on his farm including breeding bulls, 4-H Club steers, and replacement heifers for other producers as well as freezer beef for consumers.” His high-quality herd was in always in strong demand.

As president of the Lambton Federation of Agriculture, Parker was an active grassroots initiator of stable funding for farm organizations. This led to the Ontario Farm Registry Program. He was the first president of Lambton Rural Childcare and established the pilot program to provide reliable childcare to farm families. He also helped rejuvenate Warwick Township Junior Farmers. A respected conservationist, Parker was one of three people recruited by the Environmental Stewardship Program to promote, administer, and peer-review potential conservation projects in Lambton. These included windbreaks and no-till planting.

At the provincial level, Parker was an early adopter of Polled Shorthorn cattle and became president of the Ontario Polled Shorthorn Club. He was a director of the Ontario Performance Testing Association and encouraged performance testing for beef cattle. He was active in the Ontario Bull Sale, breeding bulls, and making superior genetics available to Ontario beef farmers.

Parker is described as a man of integrity who works for the common good. Concerns about farm drainage led to a two-year term as Warwick Township Councillor. Issues surrounding the expansion of the local landfill brought him back in 1991. He served three terms as Mayor of Warwick Township, a period that included the amalgamation with Watford.