'Groundbreaking': Farm leaders welcome first Ontario agriculture minister from Essex County

The president of the Kent Federation of Agriculture says it's groundbreaking to have an agriculture minister from the Essex County.

Jim Brackett made the comment Friday morning after Chatham-Kent-Leamington MPP Trevor Jones was appointed to the post on Wednesday.

The agri-food industry is a significant contributor to the gross domestic product in Ontario, said Leo Guilbeault, the president of the Essex County Federation of Agriculture.

"We create $47 billion in GDP in Ontario, and we export nearly $20 billion of that – most of it to the USA," Guilbeault said.

Jones is the first Ontario agriculture minister in 43 years to hail from the CBC Windsor broadcast .area.

The previous one was Lorne Henderson, from Essex County.

Jones is also the first agriculture minister from a Chatham-Kent riding since 1923, and the first in history from Essex County.

Leaders in southwestern Ontario's agricultural industry say they want the newly-minted minister to address concerns with infrastructure, tariff threats, market barriers and urban sprawl.

"We're losing like 328 acres a day of farmland due to urban sprawl, so I think we have to be smart on planning going forward," Guilbeault said.