Nfld. broadcaster leaves radio for farm life

Oct 12, 2018

Bill Gregory spent 25 years on Newfoundland airwaves

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A once-familiar voice on Newfoundland radio airwaves has left the booth to return to the family farm.

Bill Gregory spent about 25 years at VOCM, Hits FM and K-Rock. He spent another three years working in communications with the provincial government.

Last year, he retired from radio to help take over Haricot Farms, the family’s sheep and beef operation in Haricot, Nfld., which doubled as Gregory’s childhood home.

The family raises, processes and packs all its meat on site and sells it at local markets. Gregory’s responsibilities include helping with processing.

Part of his decision to return to the farm came from retirements in the family. His brother Paul, his mother and his father Bill, decided it was time to do other things.

They welcomed their family member back with open arms.

“We’re glad he’s back and it’s nice to have him around,” the senior Bill Gregory told Farms.com today. “But it was all his decision, we didn’t pressure him to come back to the farm.”

With a view of St. Mary’s Bay as his backdrop, the new farmer’s only regret is that he didn’t make the move back to rural Newfoundland sooner.

“You get lost in it, really,” he told CBC yesterday. “I get to live it, every day.”

Farms.com has reached out to Gregory for comment on his adjustment to life as a full-time farmer.

Bill Gregory/Fred Hutton CBC photo

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Dr. Jill J. McCluskey, Regents Professor at Washington State University and Director of the School of Economic Science

Dr. McCluskey documents that women entered agricultural economics in significant numbers starting in the 1980s, and their ranks have increased over time. She argues that women have increased the relevance in the field of agricultural economics through their diverse interests, perspectives, and experiences. In their research, women have expanded the field's treatment of non-traditional topics such as food safety and nutrition and environmental and natural resource economics. In this sense, women saved the Agricultural Economics profession from a future as a specialty narrowly focused on agricultural production and markets. McCluskey will go on to discuss some of her own story and how it has shaped some of her thinking and research. She will present her research on dual-career couples in academia, promotional achievement of women in both Economics and Agricultural Economics, and work-life support programs.

The Daryl F. Kraft Lecture is arranged by the Department of Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics, with the support of the Solomon Sinclair Farm Management Institute, and in cooperation with the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.