Our Board of Directors - Annapolis Valley Farmland Trust

Richard Melvin

Chair

Richard is President and co-owner of Melvin Farms Ltd. Melvin Farms is a 5th generation family farm located in the Annapolis Valley near Canning, NS where they specialize in production of fresh vegetables for sale throughout Atlantic Canada.

Richard graduated from NSAC with a diploma in Agricultural Engineering in 1975. In 1983 he was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship during which he studied Vegetable Production and Marketing as well as agricultural policy in Europe.

Richard has served as a director of Acadia Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Feed Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Potato Marketing Board. As well he has served as President of the Nova Scotia Vegetable & Potato Producers Association, Kings County Federation of Agriculture, Horticulture Nova Scotia, Kings Produce Limited, Kings Processing Limited and Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture. He is currently Chairperson of the Nova Scotia Food Policy Council and Farm Works Investment Cooperative.

Richard and his wife Jacqueline have three children, a son and two daughters. They are all in Halifax. Allan and Rebekah are employed as Chartered Accountants and Mishelle is employed as a Hairstylist.

Janice Lutz

Janice Lutz has worked and lived in the Valley for 30 years. She graduated from NSAC and has held several positions within the agricultural sector.

She and her husband own an apple and peach farm in Rockland, Kings County. Their four children are the 5^thgeneration on the original farm property. Janice and Larry continue to expand their tree fruit operation and are pleased that their grandson and new granddaughter live on a recently acquired expansion (now 6 generations).

Janice has held various volunteer positions over the years and is currently a director of the Western Kings Memorial Health Society and a member of the Women’s Institutes of Nova Scotia.

Janice works full time at the home business. She enjoys travel, the outdoors, being physically active and riding motor bikes with her husband.

Leslie Wade

Leslie worked for 16 years in social work. For over ten years she ran a small business and since 1997 has been managing the family farm.

She is concerned about all things environmental including the need for a healthy and sustainable future, hence, her interest in farmland protection.

Marilyn Cameron

Secretary

Marilyn has lived in Kings County for over 20 years and currently resides in Grafton, on a 50 acre farm property, with husband, Paul, and daughter, Hannah. Marilyn is a part-time small animal veterinarian who graduated from the Atlantic Veterinary College in 1997 and is employed at Cornwallis Veterinarians Ltd. Marilyn and her husband operate a small, no-spray fruit and vegetable farm and sell their produce at two local farmers’ markets. The farm’s largest crop is organically-grown garlic. Marilyn also owns a small flock of 16 Shetland sheep for wool and 70 or so free range laying hens. The registered family farm now has an easement with the Farmland Trust, of which they are very proud.

Marilyn has been a long time advocate for the protection of farmland and has been a long standing member of NoFarmsNoFood. She actively participates in land use issues at the municipal level as well as at the provincial level ever hoping that policies will be reframed to better preserve and protect our existing and future farm land; to support existing farms so that they can thrive and prosper; and, to help young farmers gain access to affordable farmland through transition programs.

Brian Newcombe

Chair

Brian is a partner in Cornwallis Farms Ltd. located in Port Williams, Kings County. He is the ninth generation to farm on the original farmstead which was first settled in 1761.

Cornwallis Farms is a mixed operation consisting of dairy, layers, broiler chickens, and cash crops. He and his wife Edna were named among Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers in 2003.

He is currently a director of Annapolis Valley Chamber of Commerce, and past President of the Outstanding Young Farmers of Canada. He is also chair of the Annapolis Valley Farms Trust Society and has been involved in Agricultural land policy for many years.

Brian enjoys hockey, golf and camping with his wife Edna and three children Leah, Evan and Ryan.

Barry Kendall

Treasurer

Barry is a CPA and Principal with Grant Thornton LLP in the Kentville office. He has worked with Grant Thornton for over 31 years including the last 5 in Kentville. Barry works in the accounting, assurance and business advisory practice of Grant Thornton providing services to a broad range of clients across the Annapolis Valley with particular focus on the agricultural sector. Barry lives with his wife in Cambridge.

Mark Tipperman

Mark Tipperman is a real estate lawyer, first admitted to the Bar in 1974 and residing in Nova Scotia since 2009. He background include serving on the Annapolis Valley Farm Land Trust land acquisition committee, the Real Estate Financing Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office, as chair of the Real Estate Section of the Canadian Bar Association – Nova Scotia Branch, as a member of various Bar association real estate committees, on a county appointed land use advisory committee, as a member of an agricultural committee of a state-wide land use group, as organizer and president of a community based land use group, and has otherwise been active in efforts to preserve the agricultural land base. Mark has created conservation easements on 2700 acres of land that he or his family-owned company owned. Mark and his wife live in the Gaspereau Valley.

Peter Hicklenton

Peter Hicklenton has been a resident of Grafton, Kings County for the past 32 years. He is a former research scientist and National Science Director with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, based at the Kentville Agricultural Centre (Kentville Research Centre). His research focused on greenhouse crops, and later small fruit production. From 2005 until his retirement in 2012 he directed AAFC’s national effort in sustainable crop production systems, with special responsibility for programs in Winnipeg, Kentville, Charlottetown and St. John’s.

Since retiring from AAFC he has served as advisor and recently as Chair of FarmWorks Investment Cooperative, a Community Economic Development Investment Fund (CEDIF) created in 2011 to promote and provide financial resources to food and agriculture businesses throughout Nova Scotia.

Peter is active in the cooperative movement in the Annapolis Valley having served on the board of Valley Credit Union and chaired VCU’s Audit, and Social and Environmental Responsibility Committees. He also volunteers with several community organizations including Friends of the Kentville Ravine, Black Rock Trails Society and, through 2014, the Out of the Cold Emergency Shelter. Peter is married with one daughter, living and working in Halifax. He enjoys sailing, bicycling and medium-distance running, not necessarily in that order!