b'LAST RESPECTSA MAN WHO GOT THINGS DONETom Jackson is being remembered as an iconoclast who went to great lengths for progress. Marc Zienkiewicz, Seed World Canada Senior EditorTHE SEED COMMUNITY has lost a legending back to full-time work on the land whos being remembered as a seed grower this time with a family to share in and farmer who knew how to make long- the joys and challenges. But the 1990s lasting changesometimes pushing thebrought major changes to farm life for envelope to do so. Jackson. As the fields around Sherwood Tom Jackson passed away Aug. 10 atPark gave way to housing developments, the age of 65. The seed grower (he grewhis family also grew, with Ruth and Zeke his first pedigreed seed crop at just 17),arriving in 1993 and 1995. farmer and joint operator of JacksonThat same year, a serious accident Homesteaders Farms in Killam, Alta.,forced Jacksons dad into retirement, was known as an iconoclast who juggledprompting his youngest brother Colin to a packed agendarunning for office,take over managing the family farm in staying deeply involved with crop com- Sherwood Park. missions and policy groups and goingMeanwhile, Jackson turned his focus so far as to serve on both provincial andto advocacy, diving deep into crop com-federal riding associations.missions and policy groups, and fighting Tom was always someone whotirelessly for marketing freedom during showed up regularly to our meetings andTom Jackson driving a tractor on the familythe contentious Canadian Wheat Board events. He was a familiar face, some- farm in the late 1960s. debate. The latter issue would become a one we could count on seeing at all ourhuge focus for Jackson. functions, says Chelsea Tomlinson,He went on a much-publicized who operates True Seeds in Redwater,month-long hunger strike in 1996 to Alta., and sits on the board of theprotest the Wheat Board monopoly. Alberta-British Columbia Seed GrowersHis goal? Getting an export license to (ABCSG). allow him to ship his grain to the United He had a knack for getting moreStates. He wasnt successful, but he ended people involved in a conversation, evenup devising other ways of making his those who might have been sitting quietlypoint that the Wheat Board monopoly in the back. Sometimes he would play thewas stifling business opportunities for role of the antagonist, but I think his realfarmers.goal was to encourage engagement andTom had grown some high-quality get more people talking. hard red winter wheat grain, and he Born in 1958 in Sherwood Park,found a market for it south of the Alta., he learned the ropes from his dadborder, says Jim Galloway, a long-and uncle, developing a deep commit- Alberta seed grower and activist Tom Jacksontime friend of Jacksons and owner of ment to the land, the animals, and mostpassed away in August. Galloway Seeds in Fort Saskatchewan, of all, the machinery that kept every- Alta.thing running smoothly on the familying deworm the horses, he met Lucy Wall,He said he could get about $2 more grain farm. who would become the love of his life. per bushel selling it there than he could In the mid-1970s, Jackson joined theAs the 1980s rolled in, so did a newthrough the Wheat Board, but of course Teen Time of Edmonton Christian youthchapter for him. With the arrival of theiryou werent allowed to do that. Thats group (his faith was extremely impor- children Naomi, Daniel, and Joshuawhen he learned that you could bypass tant to him throughout his life), where abetween 1982 and 1984, the farm inthe Wheat Board by sending pedigreed chance encounter at a ranch near Dapp,Sherwood Park took on new meaning,seed to the U.S.Alta., changed his life forever. While help- and Jackson found himself transition- Of course, there were requirements 4 SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA NOVEMBER 2024'