Froese grew up on his family’s grain and poultry farm in Oak Bluff, Man.
He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1974 with his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and soon after started working with Farm Credit Canada.
In 1983, Froese returned to the family farm.
“That wasn’t an easy decision,” he said. “My job had good pay, full pension and benefits, but the idea of working with my family and working on the farm tugged on my heart strings too strongly to ignore.”
He quickly became involved with farm organizations like Manitoba Egg Farmers and Egg Farmers of Canada.
“When people heard I was coming back to the farm, I had multiple people approach me and ask if I was interested in getting involved,” Froese said.
Froese joined Manitoba Egg Farmers (MEF) in 1984 and is still a director with the board. His time there includes 12 years as chair.
He also spent nine years as MEF’s representative to EFC.
Working for the betterment of all farmers in in his blood.
“My dad was one of the original framers of the original egg agreement (the Farm Products Marketing Agencies Act) in 1972,” he said. “The first office of Manitoba Egg Farmers was in our farm home.”
The federal government passed the FPMAA in January 1972.
This law allowed for a national marketing agency, EFC, to restrict production and establish quota for each province.
This legislation came about because of challenges in the 1960s and early 1970s.
“An oversupply of eggs in Ontario and broiler chickens in Quebec led producers to seek markets in each other’s province,” a federal government website says. “To gain market shares, the eggs and broilers were sold below local prices.”
Froese can remember hearing his father and other farmers talk about these issues.
“As a kid in high school and university I remember hearing about these things but not really paying attention,” he said. “But I guess it helped shape how I was going to do my part to support farmers.”
Through his work, Froese has been involved with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, worked as trade advisor to multiple Manitoba ag ministers, and has experience with the World Trade Organization.
And in 2021, he chaired the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agreement on Guiding Principles for the Marketing of Eggs in Canada.
This agreement, passed in November 2024, modernized the 1972 framework for egg marketing in Canada.
That work is a true sign of what people in Canadian ag can do when they work towards the same goal, Froese said.
“To get the support of all the egg boards, the federal government and the provincial governments, and put that into a legal document that shows the commitment to keeping our system strong, has been the climax of my career,” he said. “In today’s age that’s almost unheard of.”
Being involved in agriculture for as long as he has, Froese has seen multiple changes, from regulatory to innovation.
But one consistency during his years in the industry is the goodness of the people who work in it.
“The commitment to the land, raising their hens, raising their children, that salt of the earth attitude that was there when I started is just as strong as it is today,” Froese said.
Going forward, Froese sees nothing but good for Canadian ag.
“We are continually getting better at understanding the food we produce and doing a better job of producing it,” he said. “With all the technology out there, I only see things getting better.”