The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame has announced five inductees for 2018.

They are agricultural business leader Ted Bilyea, cranberry farmer and business man Peter Dhillon, plant scientist Wilf Keller, agricultural economist Larry Martin and former Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

The list of inductees for 2018 is quite different than those selected in 2017, according to Trish Jordan, vice president for the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. She explained all three 3 inductees last year were women, a first for the organization, and this year the entire slate is men. That being said, she noted the 2018 inductees offer a good cross-section of people that have done different things in their lives but still made important contributions to agriculture.

Jordan added the board of directors had to sift through nearly a dozen nominations before settling on five finalists. She noted eleven nominations were turned in, the most ever submitted.

"They were all outstanding and sometimes that's just the luck of the draw. We're pretty happy with the level of interest in nominations...(and) we hope that will continue going forward."

When making the selections, Jordan said the board considered the nominee's vision for Canadian agriculture, their volunteer work and the contributions they have made to the industry during their careers.

An induction ceremony will take place November 4, 2018 as part of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto