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Upcoming Events | |
April 18, 2013 - Farm & Food Care Environment Advisory Council meeting.
April 29, 2013 - Farm & Food Care Farm Animal Care Advisory Council meeting.
October 24, 2013 - Ontario Harvest Gala
Watch future newsletters for details on all upcoming events. |
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New on our websites | |
A new Farm Fact library featuring fact sheets on many of the commodities we represent has been added to the Farm & Food Care website. More will be added in the coming weeks after they're reviewed by member organizations. |
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Find us online | |
On Twitter: @farmfoodcare
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Welcome to the April, 2013 edition of the Farm & Food Care e-newsletter.
In this newsletter we profile several highlights of our recent annual meeting, successful applications to the new Water Resource Adaptation and Management Initiative (WRAMI) funding project and plans for the June Breakfast on the Farm event.
There's also still space available for hockey players interested in participating in the 2013 Shinny Shin Dig on April 25. Click on the link in the "Upcoming Events" section to learn more about this fun Foundation fundraiser. |
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"Farm & Food Care Champion" award presented to Kim Cooper
Kim Cooper of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Farm & Food Care Champion Award.
The award was presented at Farm & Food Care's annual meeting on April 3 by Bruce Christie, a Farm & Food Care board member, and Minister Jeff Leal, Ontario Minister of Rural Affairs. Cooper was nominated for the award by the Chatham-Kent Agri Development Committee.
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Farm & Food Care Champion award recipient Kim Cooper (centre) and Farm & Food Care Board member Bruce Christie are shown with members of the Chatham-Kent Agri Development Committee which nominated Cooper for the award. |
Cooper is the Agriculture Specialist Officer with Economic Development Services for the Municipality of Chatham Kent. In both his career and personal life, he is a great supporter of awareness, appreciation and information about agriculture.
For the last 12 years, Cooper has written weekly "Food for Thought" columns in local newspapers, highlighting and explaining agricultural commodities, practices and innovations. He's also an active promoter of agriculture through the use of social media channels like twitter and through speaking engagements on radio programs and to local service clubs. He is also a member of the Lambton-Kent Agriculture in the Classroom program.
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Farm & Food Care's
2013 Board of Directors
There were six spots up for re-election to Farm & Food Care's Board of Directors. Elections took place by voting delegates at the Annual Meeting on April 3.
The new Board of Directors includes:
Crop Directors:
Marinus Bakker, Ontario Bean Producers' Marketing Board
Brian Gilroy, Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers' Association
Joe Hickson, Ontario Seed Growers' Association
Larry Lynn, Grain Farmers of Ontario
Livestock Directors:
Beth Clark, Ontario Pork
John Maaskant, Chicken Farmers of Ontario
Gerald Rollins, Ontario Cattlemen's Association
Murray Sherk, Dairy Farmers of Ontario
Directors at Large:
Bruce Christie, Nutreco Canada
Heather Copland, Grober Inc.
Ed Scharringa, Christian Farmers' Federation of Ontario
Paul Wettlaufer, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
The Board's Executive Committee will be elected at its first board meeting following the AGM. |
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"Dinner Starts Here" initiative launched in Ontario
A new initiative will help to tell stories of food and farming in this province from the perspective of some of Ontario's younger farmers.
"Dinner Starts Here" is the brainchild of Andrew Campbell, a Middlesex dairy farmer and social media advocate, and was launched at the annual meeting of Farm & Food Care Ontario last week.
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Some of the members of the Dinner Starts Here young blogger team are shown at the Farm & Food Care annual meeting. They include (Back row, from left) Andrew Campbell, Jacob Pelissero, Justin Williams, Scott Snyder. Front row, from left: Sarah Brien, Stephanie Campbell and Erin McLean. |
Agriculture has so many career opportunities, said Campbell, noting that a recent survey cites three jobs waiting for every agriculture and food graduate. Unfortunately, though, with the average age of a Canadian farmer now at 52, Campbell said it can be hard for the general public to see the excitement that young farmers have for their futures and for their sectors.
Participants for the team were recruited based on their geography, the commodities they farm and their current use of social media tools. They include:
Stephanie Campbell of Perth, Ontario (eggs and
grains)
Erin Leduc of Moose Creek, Ontario (grains and seed
sales)
Erin McLean of Lakefield, Ontario (fruits and
vegetables)
Justin Williams of Bloomfield, Ontario (dairy cows and
maple syrup)
Scott Snyder of Winterbourne, Ontario (beef cattle,
crops and custom operations)
Jacob Pelissero of St. Ann's, Ontario (eggs)
Kendra Leslie of Port Elgin, Ontario (hogs)
Sarah Brien of Ridgetown, Ontario (sheep)
Stephanie Kowalski of Glencairn, Ontario (potatos)
Andrew Campbell of Appin, Ontario (dairy cows and
grains)
Team participants have already begun to post videos and blogs of activities on their farms. Guest bloggers are also welcome to submit material at any time. Later this year, a chat room will be added to the site to provide a forum for any young Ontario agricultural advocates to communicate with and seek input from each other about initiatives they're working on.
The program is currently seeking sponsorship to help with start up costs and with training for the team. Sponsors, to date, include Farm & Food Care Ontario, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Ltd., and the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency.
The initiative can be seen at:
Twitter - @HowDinnerStarts
Facebook - www.facebook.com/DinnerStartsHere
Blog: www.dinnerstartshere.ca
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dinnerstartshere
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Breakfast on the Farm - June 22
The inaugural Breakfast on the Farm event is quickly approaching. The event will take place on Saturday June 22, 2013 (rain or shine) at Heritage Hill Farms of New Dundee.
Guests will enjoy a complimentary breakfast and have the chance to take a self guided tour of the farm between the hours of 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Free tickets for the event can be reserved at http://ontariosbreakfastonthefarm.eventbrite.ca.
Farm & Food Care would like to thank its two partners Egg Farmers of Ontario and Foodland Ontario as well as the Ontario Apple Growers and Gay Lea Foods Co-operative, Ltd. for supporting the initiative.
Farm & Food Care is also looking for volunteers to help with parking, serving food and the farm tours. It is hoped that the first-time initiative will attract 2,000 visitors.
If you are interested in being a part of this new event please contact Heather Hargrave (heather@farmfoodcare.org) or call the Farm & Food Care office at (519) 837-1326. |
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17 projects receive WRAMI funding
17 projects have been selected from 38 eligible applications for WRAMI funding over the coming year.
This research and demonstration initiative will allocate approximately $900,000 to encourage demonstration and pilot projects that showcase water conservation or efficiency equipment, technologies or tools by farm groups and organizations.
WRAMI is providing funding for demonstration and research projects that showcase innovative technologies and solutions to water conservation and water use efficiency problems within agriculture and demonstrate strategies for drought preparedness and activities related to adapting to climate change.
Funded projects include:
- Technology - Driven Strategic Water Management for Ontario Potato Producers. (Ontario Potato Board)
- The Evaluation of Soil Moisture Monitoring Devices in Tender Fruit Orchards in Ontario. (Ontario Tender Fruit Producers' Marketing Board )
- Precision Fertigation: Performance Improvement through the use of Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy for Rapid Nutrient Solution Analysis in Closed Bag Culture. (Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers)
- Showcasing Variable Rate Irrigation Technologies in the Ontario Potato Industry (Ontario Potato Board)
- Evaluation of Pathogen Removal by de-Nitrification Bioreactors and Constructed Wetlands in Ontario. (The Soil Resource Group)
- Increasing Preparedness to Manage Low and Excess Water Conditions for Non-Irrigated Field Crop Production. (Oxford Soil and Crop Improvement Assoc.)
- Use of Ground Covers and Remote Soil Moisture Monitoring Equipment to Maximize Water use Efficiency in Peach Orchards. (Ridgetown Campus, University of Guelph)
- Biopolymer/Bio Filters for the Removal of Nutrients and Micronutrients in Greenhouse Wastewater (University of Windsor)
- Mobile Application for Crop Residue Cover Assessment on Ontario Farmland. (FieldTRAKS Solutions)
- An Online Platform for Sustainable Water Management for Ontario Sod Producers. (Nursery Sod Growers Association of Ontario)
- Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Corn in the Sand Plain Region of Southern Ontario (University of Guelph Simcoe Research Station)
- Whiteman's Creek Pilot Project for Drought Contingency Planning. (Brant County Federation of Agriculture)
- Guelph Field-Estimation of Drought Resilience for Efficient Row Crop Management. (Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association).
- Alternative Watering & Surface Water Collection for Cattle Watering. (Grey County Cattlemen's Association)
- Water Balance Case Study at an Outdoor Ornamental Nursery. (PhytoServ)
- Outdoor Container Nursery Production Water Use Efficiency and Best Practices Benchmarking Study. (PhytoServ)
- Evaluating Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Vineyards. (Grape Growers of Ontario)
In addition to the these 17 funded projects, Farm & Food Care plans to conduct a survey of farmers attitudes about water use practices and about water's relative importance to their individual farming situation. This study will be conducted later in the fall of 2013.
Look for further information on these projects as they progress over the summer at www.farmfoodcare.org in the Environment section or contact Bruce Kelly at bruce@farmfoodcare.org
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Social media resources
Interest in using social media to tell farm's story has never been higher. This was evidenced in the sold-out workshop led by Andrew Campbell of Fresh Air Media for 125 of Farm & Food Care members on April 2. Participants learned about Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube.
Two new resources have been added to the FFC website since that workshop.
The Ohio State Farm Bureau's Social Media Guide
Farm & Food Care's Social Media Guide
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If you've misplaced a copy of the newsletter or want to check an item from a past issue, they're all archived on our website under the Media Centre section.
We encourage you to forward this newsletter to other members of your company or organization who might be interested. They can also subscribe directly by emailing info@farmfoodcare.org. |
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100 Stone Road West, Suite 106
Guelph, ON
N1G 5L3
519-837-1326
www.farmfoodcare.org
Twitter: @farmfoodcare
Email: info@farmfoodcare.org |
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