Melvin Rideout
Born in Cormack Newfoundland in 1944, Melvin Rideout received his education in Deer Lake and graduated from Queen Elizabeth School in Foxtrap. He worked in the forestry and construction industries between 1962 and 1966 before he found his true profession in farming.
Melvin is a second generation farmer. His parents Alexander and Clara started a vegetable and beef farm in Cormack as part of the agriculture settlement for veterans returning from World War II. Melvin’s father, as a WWII veteran, was awarded 50 acres of land and was required to clear the land, construct a house and barn and purchase livestock. Today Cormack remains a major agricultural community in the province due to the efforts of farm families like the Rideouts.
Melvin is credited with introducing modern agriculture into the Cormack area, encouraging agricultural development in his community and throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. He has been a tireless lobbyist for the formation of agricultural organizations to help improve production, agriculture awareness and overall development of agriculture in Newfoundland and Labrador. He has had a special impact on the vegetable sector and is considered a true pioneer and innovator in the industry.
Melvin was a driving force in the formation of Vegetable Marketing Associates Limited (VMAL) in 1977 to introduce cooperative marketing for the Newfoundland vegetable sector and was also instrumental in the formation of the Vegetable Growers Association. He was a member of the Humber Valley Agriculture Association; member of the Farm Debt Review Board and an active member of the Dairy Transport Committee and New Entrants Committee. He has mentored many farmers in the area sometimes working as many hours on their farms as on his own.
Melvin has always been extremely active in his community. He was a member of Community Recreation and has been a councilor on the Cormack Community Council since the 1970s. He is highly regarded as a community leader and in the most recent municipal election Melvin was elected mayor of Cormack.
In this role he has focused on the promotion of agriculture in Cormack. It was the demands of the agricultural industry and Melvin’s leadership that put pavement into his hometown so many years ago. As mayor of the community he has made it a priority to see that vital infrastructure, including the road network, is improved.
Melvin and his wife Anne (Hiscock) have six children: Alan, Rick, Eugene, Stephen, Bernice and Melvin Jr. and 10 grandchildren. He is still active on his dairy and vegetable farm which he and his children operate. The Rideout farm is comprised of 700 acres of forage, 100 acres of vegetables, 360 dairy cows producing 7900 litres daily and is among the most well-known and successfully operated farms in the province. Melvin strongly believes there is a great future in agriculture in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nominated by the Newfoundland and Labrador Horticulture Producers Council for his outstanding service to the agriculture industry, Melvin Rideout is indeed a worthy inductee into the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame.