FARM 23 - Huron's Klaver wears one of agriculture's most coveted crowns

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Late last year, it was a Huron County woman who earned the right to hold one of the most important positions in Ontario agriculture when Maranda Klaver was crowned the Ontario Queen of the Furrow at the 2022 International Plowing Match (IPM), held in the Kemptville area for the first time in-person for several years.

 

Klaver was crowned the Huron County Queen of the Furrow in 2019 and then endured both a lengthy term in the position over 2020, 2021 and half of 2022 before Luanne McGregor was crowned her successor at the 2022 Huron County Plowing Match, as well as a lengthy wait for the next International Plowing Match, which wouldn’t go ahead until 2022, and her shot at the provincial crown.

 

With her win, Klaver became the fourth Huron County woman to win the title after Amy (Stewart) Beccario in 1966, Lynne (Dodds) Godkin in 1984 and Melissa (Sparling) Veldman in 2010.

 

She competed against 18 fellow Queens, each of whom was scored on their appearance, deportment, an interview, a speech and, of course, plowing. 

 

Klaver told The Citizen that, when the announcement was made, it didn’t immediately register.

 

“It was pretty surreal, and that was what I said in my acceptance speech,” she said. “At one point, during my reign, I didn’t even know if I’d get to go to the IPM because of the  COVID-19 pandemic, so to be standing there and crowned, I needed someone to come pinch me to make sure it was real.”

 

Klaver said she stayed on message from when she was crowned the Huron County Queen of the Furrow in 2019, talking about mental health in the agricultural field. In her speech, she called it the “elephant in the room” and she had an elephant balloon to help people connect with her speech and message.

 

She also practised plowing with Brian McGavin, who has experience at all levels of plowing competitions, which obviously helped as Klaver finished fifth out of 13 in that portion of the competition.

 

“I was really happy about that,” she said. “I went and looked at the other contestants’ plowing and I thought it was going to be very close. I was super happy to land in the top five.”

 

The competition across all fronts was very close, she said, including the plowing, so Klaver was extremely elated to come away with the win.

 

It’s been a whirlwind of activity since she was crowned, she said. First, she picked up the car that is leased for her for the year and she has been handed the social media credentials for the Queen of the Furrow. She also fielded several invitations for plowing matches, including those in Haldimand and Halton.

 

Klaver is excited to help promote the 2023 IPM, which is set to be held in Bowling Green between Arthur and Orangeville. After travelling nearly 600 kilometres to Kemptville for this year’s competition, she says she is excited to have the opportunity to represent a match that’s just over 100 kilometres away.

 

Klaver has also connected with a number of previous Queens who reached out to congratulate her, both from Huron and other counties. 

 

“They said they had incredible, exciting and fun years,” she said. “They all enjoyed their time, so I’m hoping it will be the same for me. It’s a whole new experience, so I’m excited for it.”

 

Klaver said the reality of the win is still sinking in, even several days after being crowned, and she looks forward to seeing exactly how she can best fill the role.

 

Klaver said she was immediately treated like royalty on her first day of the match after winning the crown, even being treated to a helicopter ride above the grounds.

 

Klaver said her family was unable to make the trip to support her at the match in person, but she was overjoyed to see the reception she received when she returned home from Kemptville. Her family had made a large wooden sign celebrating her win and were all there to greet her, wearing crowns of their own.

 

Klaver said she has been involved in the Queen of the Furrow competition since she was 12 years old and, by winning the provincial crown, she had become the person she looked up to when she was young and that she aspired to be that person who could now inspire the younger generation.

 

The Dufferin Farm Tour was Klaver’s first official event as the Ontario Queen of the Furrow, which she attended in an attempt to introduce herself and promote the 2023 International Plowing Match, which will be held in Peel-Dufferin, hosted by the Townships of Grand Valley, Amaranth and East Luther, from Sept. 19-23, 2023.

 

She has since attended her first plowing match, making her way to the Haldimand-Oneida Plowing Match in Hagersville. Klaver then attended the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto.

 

Once she was back and settled in Huron County, the Huron Plowmen’s Association hosted a special meet-and-greet with Klaver to celebrate her win in Seaforth, which was well attended.

 

In 2023, Klaver said she has found herself consistently busy with guest speaking engagements and appearances all over the province. She was the guest speaker here at home for the Brussels Agricultural Society’s annual general meeting in January, and has since attended a number of farm shows to mingle, network and help promote this year’s International Plowing Match.

 

Klaver says that, while she is still in the midst of her win and all she gets to do as a result, she can already feel how the experience is changing her life in real time.

 

“I feel like I’ve been rediscovering myself,” Klaver said in an interview with The Citizen, saying that every week she is learning something new about herself and trying or accomplishing something she never would have tried several years earlier.