John Prentice
Agriculture 1961
1936 - 2007
John Prentice came to Canada in 1959 from the United Kingdom, where he was born in 1936, attended school, served in the military and worked at his family's grain merchant business.
He attended Olds College in central Alberta, worked on several farms and, after furthering his education at the University of Alberta, started Standard Hog Farms, a business that he grew to a point where, in 1987, he was able to turn it into a jointly owned corporation with a full-time manager and began a new career in the cattle feeding business. When asked to describe himself in one word, John is fond of saying "irreverent." He is well known as a source of advice to many, about both agriculture and business. John was the first to import bulk soybean meal at the farm level. He also co-developed the Swine Technicians Course at Lakeland College, spearheaded a program to develop high-lysine barley for the swine industry, and successfully lobbied both Federal and Provincial governments on many occasions to make policy changes or correct flawed programs that led to inequality and market distortions.
John also volunteered for a number of organizations over the years, from the University of Alberta Ag Club and Progressive Conservative Student Federation while still on campus, to a number of farm finance, community, hog, and cattle groups. He served as President of the Western Hog Growers' Association, as a Panel Member of the Farm Debt Review Board, was a Charter Member of the Bank of Montreal Agricultural Advisory Panel, a Member of Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council, and Director of organizations such as Unifarm, the Alberta Pork Producers Marketing Board, Canadian Pork Council, Fletchers Fine Foods, and various government research-granting bodies. John also sat on the Edmonton Airports Task Force / Edmonton Regional Airports Authority for five years, becoming its Finance Committee Chairman. John also served in a variety of capacities with the Alberta Institute for Agrologists and received their Distinguished Agrologist Award. In his later years, John's involvement turned exclusively to cattle, and he became involved in a variety of capacities with the Alberta Cattle Commission, Canadian Cattleman's Association, Canada/Alberta Beef Industry Development Fund, Beef Cattle Research Council, and Cattle Feeder Council.
John's family is extremely important to him. He and his wife Connie have three children -- Heather, Maureen and Fergus -- who continue to value his honesty, strong sense of ethics, intelligence, hard work, high expectations and generosity. John and Connie were involved with the IAEA (International Agricultural Exchange Association) program for several years, hosting international students. As well, John expressed his love of track and field by becoming a high jump official and supporting his wife in her role as manager of the Leduc Track and Field Club. His other hobbies include history, finance and investing, Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, golf, birding, arboriculture, and bridge.
For more information please contact:
Cathy Scott
Alumni Affairs Officer
Office of Advancement
Olds College
4500-50th Street
Olds, Alberta T4H 1R6
Phone (403) 556-4748
Fax (403) 556-4704