'Bert is a leader': Andrews' Scenic Acres founder joins Agricultural Hall of Fame

This article first appeared on HaltonHillsToday April 8.

Decades of hard work, experimentation and advocating for his fellow farmers have borne fruit for Bert Andrews.

He is one of six people who've been inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame this year. A ceremony on June 9 will officially recognize his accomplishments alongside his fellow inductees. 

Many of the people he has worked and studied with will be present at the ceremony.

“It gives me a very warm feeling, for sure,” Andrews said when asked about how he felt knowing his friends would be in attendance. “The way I look at it, it’s kind of a culmination of all the agricultural work and support that I have done my whole life.”

The groundwork for the honour was laid in he and wife Lauraine’s property, Andrews' Scenic Acres - also known as Andrews Farm Market and Winery. Since purchasing the property in 1980, the farm has been feeding Halton Hills and the surrounding area. Locals have been well-supplied with strawberries, raspberries, pumpkins and squash, among other produce.

Their accomplishment of turning a farm into a local institution and destination is all the more impressive, considering the odds were stacked against the couple.

“We bought the most rundown farm that you could imagine,” Bert said.

Lauraine said it was the soil that made Bert fall in love with the land “because it certainly wasn’t the looks of it.”

Success meant diversification. In the late '90s, the Scotch Block Winery further enhanced the farm, attracting thousands of tourists a year. But it wasn’t just the business of farming that helped the Andrews make a name for themselves. Community service earned Bert the admiration of his peers.

As a board member of the Fruit Wines of Ontario, he pushed for fruit wines to be included in local farmers' markets. He advocated for farmers at the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, led research for Halton Agricultural Advisory Committee and educated hundreds of thousands of students.

“We like to particularly mention we had 15 Mexican farm workers that came in on the farms (government) program. Bert always said they were the backbone,” Lauraine said. 

As a graduate of agriculture from the University of Guelph, educating the next generation was of particular importance to Bert. The experimental farmer took the time to play around with the plants on his land, incrementally learning what he could with them. This spirit of learning carried on as students from the university would often come and have a hands-on education in horticulture. 

One of those students, Matt Setzkorn, now manages the farm under a new owner as Bert and Lauraine had to step away from the business in recent years. He's one of the many people who wrote to the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame Association (OAHFA) to nominate Bert. 

“Because of his lead-by-example, hands-on approach to teaching about agriculture by farming, opening the farm every day to the public and inviting everyone to witness and participate in farming activities - Bert was a significant Ontario local food ‘influencer,’" Setzkorn said in his letter to the OAHFA.

“Over the past 44 years since Andrews' Scenic Acres was created, more than 500,000 students have participated in the agricultural education offered by Bert at the farm."

Inductees are chosen on their "lasting legacy to the Ontario agricultural sector," according to OAHF President Kathryn Goodish. "Bert is a leader and his commitment and many contributions to the agricultural sector in Ontario have been unwavering."