Quinte Agricultural Hall of Fame > Tom Kielty
TOM KIELTY
1913-2003
Tom was raised on and later operated the family farm in Tweed. The farm originally a mixed farming operation began to focus on potato production in the 1940s.
Tome attended Kemptville Agricultural College and always sought to advance the interests of agriculture and farming.
He became the largest potato grower between Peterborough and the Ottawa Valley. In the 1950s and 1960s his market included large wholesale such as national grocers in Belleville and Kingston.
Tom encouraged other farmers to diversify their crop production and took a leading role in the introduction of canning crops in the Tweed area in the 1950s. He supplied Canadian Canners with peas from a pea harvester at his farm, produced pumpkins and grew certified grain.
He was a member of the Horticultural Council of Canada, the National Farmers Union and the Hastings Wheat Growers Association. Tom was chairmen of the Tweed-Hungerford High School Board and was district deputy for the Knights of Columbus.
Nominated by Hastings Stewardship Council Inducted 2009.