The L.B. Thomson Award, administered by the Soil Conservation Council of Canada (SCCC), was presented to Andrew Graham at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
Andrew Graham, outgoing Executive Director of Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA), has devoted many years working alongside government and industry partners on soil health including the development and delivery of stewardship education projects, innovative incentive programming, and applied research initiatives. During Graham’s 43-year career, he led numerous education and stewardship programs and held positions with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority in London and the Oxford County office of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in Woodstock.
The L.B. Thomson Award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made a significant regional contribution to soil health and conservation and was established in 1987 in honour of Leonard Baden Thomson. Thomson was one of a group of agrologists who played a key role in developing soil conservation practices that minimized the effects of severe wind erosion that plagued the Prairies in the 1930s.