Stratford Perth Museum adding three inductions into Agriculture Wall of Fame

The Stratford Perth Museum is set to add three more inductions into its Agriculture Wall of Fame.

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Steve Dolson and Dr. Karen Galbraith, an Atwood dairy farming couple who run Legacy Holsteins, will be induced after running one of the top production and highly classified herds in Perth County for several years. The pair was in the office at the same time when museum general manager Kelly McIntosh called with the news.

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“We couldn’t believe it,” Galbraith said. “It was very surprising for us. We’re thrilled and humbled.”

“It’s nice to be recognized,” Dolson added, “but it’s not what we were ever looking for.”

Dolson grew up in a dairy farm in Peel region and comes from a family with more than 100 years of Holstein breeding, while Galbraith lived on a beef ranch in Huron County that started with cows and pigs.

“You have to have a passion for whatever industry you plan to succeed at,” Dolson said. “My family’s passion was there, and Karen’s animal passion was there as a veterinarian.”

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Both Dolson and Galbraith have helped lead a number of community organizations over the years, both farming related and otherwise, and they’re also involved with Kenyon Kids Foundation Canada, which is spearheading co-operative projects to improve milk production and quality on small farms in Kenya.

After getting married, the couple decided to raise a family on a farm and settled in Perth County.

“We’re glad we did,” said Dolson, an Ontario 4-H foundation trustee.

The farm has around 75 milking cows, and this November will mark 40 years since they purchased the property.

“A lot of (the appeal) is entrepreneurial,” Galbraith said. “You’re in control of your own destiny.”

Farming also provides a sense of belonging and creates relationships that thrive over time, Galbraith added.

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“Agriculturally, we have all kinds of community,” Dolson said. “We have the community we live in, but in agriculture you have the other producers who make the same product, and there’s a number of cooperatives. There’s all sorts of opportunities you work together in rural Ontario that we kind of gravitate towards.”

Sandi Brock, a sheep and grain farmer near Staffa, said she’s humbled by the recognition.

“I thought I was taken back. I’m honored for sure, just really shocked.”

Brock has used his farming experience to become an “agricultural influencer” on YouTube. Her channel, Sheepishly Me, has garnered more than 1.1-million followers since it launched in 2017 as a passion project to connect with those outside of the industry and bring them inside her farm.

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Brock takes footage of her day, whether it’s on the tractor or lambing, and posts them anywhere from three to five times a week.

“I feel like our urban counterparts have a lot of questions, and instead of answering they just come with me every day,” she said. “You’re seeing things as they’re happening. I do edit the videos, but they’re seeing it like I’m seeing it. There’s some true, authentic rawness, and it’s connecting with people who don’t have an opportunity to come out to farms.”

Brock has also held countless tours of her barns for farm and non-farm organizations, and been involved with numerous speaking engagements. It’s a big reason why Brock’s nominators felt she’s made a significant contribution to agriculture in Perth County, though sharing the highs and lows as a farmer and promoting the importance of animal husbandry.

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“It doesn’t matter what we do. At the end of the day we’re all human and we need to connect more on that side,” she said.

In addition to her leadership in consumer education, Brock has been a strong advocate for farmer mental health and is a tireless volunteer for the sheep industry.

Brock, her husband Mark and children Jack and Jess also crop 1,700 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and, at times, winter canola and winter barley, along with alfalfa grown for feed for her 400 sheep.

“It’s been a really cool journey,” she said, “not one I thought I’d get into when I bought my first 50 sheep.”

Inductees will be honored at the Stratford Rotary Club’s Rural-Urban night on Thursday, April 18, at Stratford’s Rotary Complex. Tickets are available at the museum by calling McIntosh at 519-393-5312 or visiting the museum at 4275 Huron Rd., Stratford.

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