Oxford County farmer wins prestigious travel scholarship

A local agri-tourism guru has been awarded a $15,000 travel scholarship from Nuffield Canada.

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Cheryl Haskett, who, with husband Greg, owns Udderly Ridiculous and Udderly Ridiculous Farm Life near Bright, was thrilled when she heard she would be the recipient of this scholarship. A prestigious rural leadership program available to anyone mid-career involved in agriculture in any capacity of primary production, industry or governance, the scholarship helps the recipient “research a topic of their choice and travel the world to find their answers,” Nuffield executive director Teresa Whalen said.

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Haskett said she felt a combination of emotions when she heard the news: “Shocked. Excited. Terrified. Pretty much every emotion.”

She described the scholarship an incredible opportunity “for me and hoping for not only agriculture but tourism, based on the project I am doing.”

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While Haskett doesn’t yet know where her trip will take her, she is researching the best locations across the globe.

“I haven’t formalized that yet. Part of it is going through the orientation first and figuring out where the networks are to make sure I am going to places that are going to be the highest value. I have some ideas about where I want to be going but I want to do some research to make sure I’ve got the best of the best,” she said.

Some potential destinations include Costa Rica and some of Europe, including Italy, France, Spain, Scotland and, possibly, London, England. Haskett added from there a trip to New Zealand could be in the cards.

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Part of her voyage will involve bringing home ideas, insights, and best practices from around the world to enhance Udderly Ridiculous in the future. Haskett, though, explained the main reason she applied was to support agri-tourism businesses here.

“My real aim is to look at what the best practices already in place, and how do we make Ontario and Canada really an agri-tourism destination? How do we enhance our standing in that? We have so much to offer geographically and in terms of different landscapes and people. There’s a lot more to offer there,” Haskett said.

She suggested people want to get back to understanding food and agriculture, an educational goal that she wants to achieve through a tourism lens.

Haskett said she also believes that more tourism in the agricultural sector will go a long way in preserving Ontario’s prime farmland, which is regularly being lost to development.

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“A lot of people domestically could be traveling within Canada having these amazing experiences in rural parts of the world and really helping diversify and protect those family farms that are leaving. We are losing, I think on the CBC it was, 319 acres of farmland every day. That’s a shame,” Haskett said.

She suggested agri-tourism may be another avenue to diversify, educate, and to save and protect those areas while bringing joy to a variety of people.

Whalen said Haskett was a worthy recipient of the scholarship, noting the leadership capabilities she brings to Udderly Ridiculous and her other endeavours.

“Cheryl’s pretty outstanding,” Whalen said. “There is a lot of creativity, diversity. You can see the teamwork with her spouse and family, and they have strong roots at home. She’s well spoken, well presented, and you can see and feel when you are in her presence that she is a leader, and we are going to fine tune those skills.”

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Haskett’s application was a combination of a written statement and a three-minute video answering a provided question.

The scholarship itself lasts for 24 months, and recipients are required to travel for at least 10 weeks – six of them consecutive – during that span.

“Part of the reason for it being consecutive is to take them out of their comfort zone and leave home at home. They have to entrust the management of their farm or business to somebody else,” Whalen said.

Once Haskett has completed her traveling, she will be required to write a report of 8,000 to 10,000 words detailing what she learned and how she will be able to transfer that knowledge to her operation.

This isn’t the first award for Haskett and Udderly Ridiculous. Her accolades include an Ontario Tourism Award of Excellence, and a number of Oxford Tourism awards.

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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