O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

          Whether it is a fir, pine or spruce everyone has their own idea of the perfect Christmas tree.  Every spring Christmas tree producers have the task of replanting stock to make up for the trees that were cut done the December prior.  The use of less fertile land that is unsuitable for production of other agricultural is what can make Christmas tree farming a profitable business.  These trees are a lot like fruits and vegetable patches, the customer can harvest it for themselves cutting back on the labour for the producer. 

          With exactly three weeks till Christmas, Christmas tree farmers everywhere are going crazy trying to make sure their stock is primed up and ready for cut down.  Hundreds of thousands of trees around the world are going to be cut down over the next couple of weeks.  Some find this tradition harmful to the environment so the new trend is to purchase an artificial tree that can be used every year and that doesn’t leave a mess.   

          Christmas tree hunting in my family is a huge tradition and one that is not taken lightly.  It’s almost as if it’s a competition between family members to who can pick out the best tree.  I always am on the hunt for on that is big, well branched, no dead spaces, and a nice straight tip for the star.  I love seeing the young stock as I walk through the patch as it is hope of Christmas’ to come.  Who knows maybe even one of those young ones will one day have the privilege of being picked for our home.

 

Traditional German Christmas Tree

Thanks to Christmas tree producers everywhere for working hard to make Christmas that much more amazing!!

Canadian Agriculture Pushed Worldwide

           The Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) is Canada’s Premier International Agricultural Show and Marketplace.  Every year there are thousands of head of cattle and hundreds of commercial tradeshow exhibits, as wells as rodeo finals and country entertainment.  The CWA prides itself on promoting Canadian Agriculture through a tradeshow being hosts to world agriculture leaders around the world allowing for optimal marketing opportunities.  Marketing Canadian livestock genetics is one of the CWA’s main focuses. 

          Last week marked the 39^th edition of the CWA being hosted in Regina, Saskatchewan.  At this year’s trade show the CWA gratefully received $150, 000 from the Canadian Government to promote Canadian agriculture products around the world.  Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz hopes that the money will go towards creating more marketing opportunities for Canadian farmers.  Canada is already well known around the world for producing safe and high quality food products.  Opening up Canada’s export market is a great way of getting these well respected products to more parts of the world instead of just relying on the USA as the major export market. 

          I truly believe that Canada has excellent quality agricultural products that are said to be respected worldwide.  But how can the world really appreciate Canadian products if they are provided with very few products actually marketed to them as they are all ending up in the hands of Canada’s main agriculture importer the USA.  This funding from the government can go a long way to push Canadian agriculture products around the world helping the nation become global leaders in the industry.

Aggies Prepare for the Annual Tractor Tug for Tots

          The agriculture students at the University of Guelph are preparing for the annual Tractor Tug for Tots charity event.  Tractor Tug for Tots has been taking place every fall at the University of Guelph since 2006.  The event involves teams of eight that compete to be the fastest at pulling 17,000-pound John Deere tractors 150 feet by hand while at the same time raising money for a great cause.  All the money raised from the teams and donations from the public go towards a child care centre.     

        This years` event is taking place on Wednesday November 25^th on Reynolds Walk (between Crop Science Building & Rozanski Hall) starting at 9am.  The proceeds from this year’s event will go to raise funds for the Darling Home for Kids Foundation in Milton as it builds Phase 2 of its home.  There are prizes for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd fastest pulling teams, best dressed team, top fundraising team, and top fundraising individual.  This year students are hoping to raise over $10,000.

       This is an amazing event that has raised a lot of money for children’s charities in the past and will continue to do so.  I am a proud member of the OAC and highly support and congratulate all those involved.  It`s great to see our student body here at the University as well as the greater community come together support such a great cause.  Come on out Wednesday to support your local community and at the same time feel the amazing satisfaction you get from pulling a tractor.

Grain Farmers of Ontario waiting for the official go-ahead

          What do you get when you combine the three largest commodity groups in Ontario?  You get the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) of course.  The GFO is a collaboration of the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association, Ontario Soybean Growers and Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board representing over 28,000 producers in Ontario.  These producers generate over $9 billion in for the economy and are provide over 40,000 jobs in the province.  The main goals of this new organization are research & innovation; wheat marketing & market development; production information; and public outreach, policy development & advocacy.

          At the beginning of September the GFO unveiled its logo.  The ring around the centre icon symbolizes strength and unity of the three large Ontario grain sectors becoming one.  The mixture of farm field sections on the middle icon represents the use of corn, soybeans and wheat in a patchwork fashion promoting rotational cropping.  Currently the GFO is waiting to be officially recognized by the Canadian government.  It is said that the paperwork and official recognition should happen at the beginning of the New Year.

          It is great to see these three different cropping commodities come together as one.  As the saying goes you’re stronger in numbers.  With these groups coming together more can hopefully be accomplished to both aid the producers and improve overall production strategies in Ontario.  What I wonder is with a name like the “Grain Farmers of Ontario” will this new organization eventually expand to include all grain farmers for example the barley, oat, rye, and canola producers in Ontario?

25 Years of Inspiration

          The 2009 Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture (CYSA) competition was held at the Royal Winter Fair on November 7, 2009.  This annual event has a junior and senior division that allows youth across Canada the opportunity to show off their passion for agriculture and amazing public speaking skills.  This year’s contest hosted 6 junior entries and 16 senior entries from 6 different provinces across Canada.  Each competitor chose a topic about agriculture from a set list, prepared and delivered a 5-7 minute speech in front of an audience and panel of judges.    

          This year’s competition marks the 25^th anniversary.  The competition is truly an amazing opportunity for the leaders of tomorrow to come forth and share their thoughts on the agriculture industry.  For the last 25 years this competition has also worked on being an information source for uninformed individuals to learn more about the industry itself helping bridge the gap between urban and rural communities.

           I was fortunate enough to be a part of this year’s CYSA competition.  There were many amazing young speakers sharing their insight on the agriculture industry and why it means so much to them.  As a member of Professor Owen Roberts’ agriculture communication class I was able to sharpen my public speaking skills enough to allow me to win the senior division of the competition.  It was an amazing experience to be involved in and I thank everyone who has helped me along the way.  I hope that I can continue to be an avid promoter of agriculture and can continue to inspire others to take interest and develop a passion for this outstanding industry.

2009 Canadian Young Speaker for Agriculture Senior Champion

Farming Blindfolded

                For years farmers have been working extremely long hours ploughing, planting, spraying, and harvesting the fields in their tractors.  The strain and stress on their bodies not to mention the mental control it takes to drive the tractor for many hours a day have taken a toll on farmers.  One main restriction to farming fields is the fact that there are just simply not enough hours in a day.  Farmers often can’t run machinery at night because it is too hard to see the paths they’ve run in the field and where they need to go next.

                Precision farming is the way of the future.  Through the use of GPS signalling a farmer no longer needs to steer the tractor while farming the fields.  Signals from satellites tell the tractor where to drive and when to turn automatically taking over the steering mechanism of the tractor.  This has made working the land almost robotic allowing the farmer to sit back and enjoy the ride.  This method of farming puts less strain on the farmer and allows them to accurately farm the fields even at night.

                This new and upcoming method of framing is truly like using cruise control on a car, once set the machine takes control.  I really believe that precision farming is going to be the way of the future.  Farmers can now farm more efficiently and most importantly more environmentally.  Through this new method they can farm using fewer chemicals, disturbing the ground less and with less running tractor time through less passes.  This technology also gives farmers the opportunity to save more money with fewer inputs such as fuel, seeds, fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides which is needed especially during these economically tough times.  My only fear with this new system and future systems like it is the possibility of complete automation of the agriculture industry and no longer need for farmers.

A Pumpkinless Halloween

       Pumpkins are one of the most important aspects of Halloween.  Seeing a Jack-O-Lantern on the porch of a house is a clear sign of a house to visit for some treats. Not to mention the amazing taste of pumpkin pie or the smell of their seeds baking in the oven. 

       During the next week in anticipation of Halloween, many families will be visiting their local pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  These families may be sadly surprised to see that pumpkins are in short supply.  This growing season’s wet and cool weather has led there to be a great shortage in the supply of pumpkins, leaving the ones that did survive to be smaller than average.  This shortage has caused producers to import pumpkins too meet this Halloweens demands.  The fate of the Halloween spirit now rests in their hands.  

       One of my favourite memories from my childhood was going to pick out my very own pumpkin that I got to take home, gut out, and carve to put outside Halloween night.  I can’t help but feel sad when I think of all the kids that may go without that tradition this year simply due to the bad harvest.  Weather is uncontrollable thus this cannot be avoided unless pumpkins were to be reared in an indoor facility.  I guess the only alternative for those left pumpkin less this year is an artificial Jack-O-Lantern but somehow I just don’t think they can then same effect.  So my advice is to head to your local patch now before they run out and you miss out.

Eating Local on Thanksgiving

          Eating locally grown food has become an increasingly bigger fad over recent years.  With consumers becoming more conscious of food quality they are being to demand foods that are grown in the area as they feel that they are more naturally grown.  The mass media has a lot of control over how consumers think and has the ability to easily sway them in positive and negative ways.

          The media has been a real help in promoting locally grown food.  The Foodland Ontario commercials are one way in which the media has attempted to show the public the glorious side to Ontario grown produce.  The most recent ad used to bring awareness to Ontario grown food and the people behind making them aired on local television stations in Ontario over the thanksgiving weekend.  The ad was created by the Ontario Agri Business Association (OABA) in a way to thank Ontario producers for their hard work and wish everyone a happy thanksgiving while at the same time providing an underlining message to buy locally grown produce.   

            I believe that the media is the best way to promote Ontario grown food.  Commercials that can depict the care Ontario farmers put into producing their products help give consumers a sense of security and pride in buying locally grown food.  This is essential in bringing awareness to agriculture and helping create niche markets for Ontario farmers.  If you present consumers with the facts they will be willing to make the right kind of food choices mainly ones that help themselves and the industry as a whole.

Renewable energy to take charge in the next decade

           Peak oil has been a threatening theory that has predicted the time in which the world’s supply of oil will peak before dropping off to depletion.  It is now said that this so called peak will occur in the next decade around 2020.  With this fast approaching, the need to develop more efficient renewable energy sources is immense.  In recent years the production of ethanol has been seen as the way of the future for use as a fuel source.  Production levels are already boosted due to the mandate by governments for a certain percentage of ethanol inclusion in present fuel sources.  Wind turbines have also become increasingly popular over the last decade with wind farms being developed all over North America. 

            Today the really issue sits with trying to make these renewable sources economically viable.  Wind turbines alone can cost anywhere from $6000-22,000 installed.  The real cost of ethanol production is not producing the actual product but its economic impact on other agricultural sectors.  Livestock producers in North America have been suffering greatly with the boom of ethanol production due to the rising cost for feedstuff like corn.  The development of cellulosic ethanol could be the breakthrough needed to make ethanol production less antagonistic on other sectors of the agricultural industry. 

            Although currently there is much doubt that cellulosic ethanol can be nearly as efficient as current ethanol production, I still believe it is the way to go.  If ethanol production stays as it is then North American consumers are going to have to accept the fact that meat prices are going to rise greatly to help cover the operational costs that livestock producers face.  All in all, I believe that there needs to be a lot more money devoted to renewable energy research as if the peak oil theory is true then the world will soon be heavily reliant on these new technologies.

165 Years of Fun Fair Education

       The Markham Fair is a division of the Markham and east York agriculture society.  The fair is an annual event that takes place the weekend before thanksgiving.  The four day fair located at the corner of Elgin Mills Road and McCowan Road offers something for everyone.  It has livestock and horse shows, Old Mac’s barn, daily and evening concerts, horse and tractor pulls, monster truck shows, fireworks, fresh produce, carnival rides and games, lots of contests, exhibitor booths, art, crafts, and various field agriculture entries.

       This weekend marked the 165^thanniversary of the fair.  Although the weather was not the greatest a large crowd still showed up to battle the rain and enjoy some fun at the fair.  Being the closest local fair to Toronto, the Markham Fair has the daunting task each year to teach a more urban community about agriculture and this year was no exception.   This year there has been so much concern with the H1N1 flu outbreak (otherwise known as the “Swine Flu”) that the typical pig and piglet display in Old Mac’s barn was unnecessarily left empty.

       Being a past ambassador member of the fair I’ve had the opportunity to speak to many who attend this great four day event.  When talking to people I have found it quite shocking as to how little they actually know about agriculture and how much they think they understand but really don’t.  Now being a committee member for the fair I have the chance to teach these people about basic agricultural practices like where milk comes from and how to milk a cow.  I think that it is extremely important that everyone understands how the food we eat gets to our table so they can feel more confident in the products they are buying and have a better respect for the farmers producing them.

Cow Milking Demonstration