The new president of the Lambton Federation of Agriculture wants more people to know about modern agriculture.

Brooke Leystra recently took over the position. The mother of three young children says she has a passion to get people to realize what it is like to live and work on a farm. “Farming is such a business now…People still think of a farmer on the tractor,” Leystra says. “They’re surprised by some of the issues that the LFA and Ontario Federation of Agriculture work on, it’s the political type of issues which surprise them.”

One of the areas Leystra believes the LFA should focus on is building relationships with Sarnia residents and business leaders. She says there is a gap in communications. She’s now a member of the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors and she’s finding there are a lot issues where business and agriculture share concerns.

Leystra says farmers have significant concerns about border issues which the chamber could help work through. “There are a lot of issues that crossover…including hydro…that’s a huge thing for farmers, too. “

Leystra wants to form partnerships with the chamber and the city to try to educate people as to “what we do and why we do it…We need to try to get our message out in a positive way.”