A Celebration of Agriculture was held Monday night in Winnipeg as part of the Red River Exhibition.

During the event, Brian Greaves and Karen Hill of Miniota, MB received the 2018 Farm Family of the Year Award.

Karen had these thoughts on receiving the award.

"It's a little overwhelming because, with the family background in Manitoba and being involved in agriculture, there's a lot of recognizable faces in the crowd that we were connected to. So it's a real honour to join the other 52 recipients of this award."

Brian had 21 years of farming experience in New Zealand before he and Karen took over Karen’s family farm in 1993.

He talked about the assistance they received early on.

"The generous help of neighbours who stepped forward and were always willing to help out. I'd go over and help them with jobs and they were always willing to come and help me and loan me equipment when I was first starting out. I think that's one of the big things about farming here in Manitoba, farmers will always get together and help each other out in a time of need."

The couple are the first sheep farmers to receive the Farm Family of the Year Award.

Four nominees were also inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame during the event.

Those included Journalist John Morriss, Versatile co-founder Peter Pakosh (posthumously), along with brothers Bill and Fred Streich (both posthumously), who helped to develop early models of the rotary combine.

A number of ag scholarships were also handed out during the evening.

Hall of Fame Inductee John Morriss (right) receives his plaque from board member Les Rankin

Jarrod Pakosh (left) receives the Hall of Fame plaque for his grandfather Peter. The award was presented by board member Tom Tolton.

Dale Streich (left) receives the Hall of Farm plaque in honour of Bill and Fred Streich. The award was presented by board member Larry Black.