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Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 6, 2011 at 10:29am

Congratulations to the winners and all the innovative, hard working farmers!

McGuinty Government Recognizes Excellence, Supports Family Farms

Ontario's local farmers are growing innovative ideas that drive our local economies and strengthen our agri-food industry.

These ideas were celebrated today at a ceremony in Strathroy honouring local winners of the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. On-farm innovations are helping Ontario farmers provide more of the healthy food that is grown, processed, and sold across the province. Today's regional winners are:

• Rush Creek Wines Ltd. (Aylmer, Elgin County)
• Al McColl Farms  (Plympton-Wyoming, Lambton County)
• Hog-Tied Farms Ltd.  (Thedford, Lambton County)
• MacKellar Farms  (Alvinston, Lambton County)
• Steve Vokes (Petrolia, Lambton County)
• Bloemen Dairy Farms Inc.  (Lucan, Middlesex County)
• Junior and Karen Van Geffen (Strathroy, Middlesex County)
• Predator Bird Services Inc. & London Dairy Farms Ltd. (London, Middlesex County)
• Hoenhorst Farms Ltd. (Innerkip, Oxford County)
• Salford Farm Machinery Ltd. (Salford, Oxford County)

When our family farms thrive, Ontarians taste it at the dinner table. A strong agri-food industry is part of the McGuinty government's plan to create jobs and opportunities that will boost the province's economy.

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Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 9, 2011 at 8:15am

Check out the story in the London Free Press:

Couple too busy to collect award

FARMING: Junior and Karen Van Geffen honoured for innovation

 

Sure, they were award-winners and, sure, the party in their honour was within shouting distance of their front door.

But, award or no award. Junior and Karen Van Geffen of Strathroy had to be on their tractors and in the middle of a marathon, 24-hour corn-plant — one that finished mere minutes before Tuesday’s rainstorm hit.

“We were really looking forward to going (to the ceremony) but we had to keep this planter going,” said Karen Van Geffen. “We got 150 acres planted.”

Read complete story here: http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/06/07/18250096.html#.TfDRWx...

 

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Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 14, 2011 at 1:28am

MPPs Pat Hoy and Maria Van Bommel presented the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence to six area farmers at a ceremony in Kingsville.

“Our local farmers are growing innovative ideas that drive our local economies and strengthen our agri-food industry,” said Hoy, MPP for Chatham-Kent-Essex. “These winners represent the ingenuity and leadership that grows in Ontario’s farming and rural communities. Their innovations help to strengthen our local agri-food sector.”

“When our family farms thrive, Ontarians taste it at the dinner table,” said Van Bommel, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture. “A strong agri-food industry is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to create jobs and opportunities that will boost the province’s economy.”

On-farm innovations are helping Ontario farmers provide more of the healthy food that is grown, processed, and sold across the province. Today’s regional winners are:

• Dave Van Segbrook (Tupperville).
• Jennen Family Farm Market (Thamesville).
• Van Mar Farms Ltd. (Chatham-Kent).
• Cedar Beach Acres (Kingsville).
• Pyramid Farms Ltd./New Energy Farms Ltd. (Leamington).
• Chad Anderson (Mooretown).
• Envirofresh Farms (Sombra).

Since 2007, the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence program has attracted more than 900 applications highlighting on-farm innovations.

This year, local events will recognize 55 regional award winners across the province.

Since 2003, $2 billion in farm income stabilization programs have helped farmers deal with bad weather, volatile prices and rising costs.

In Ontario’s 2011 Budget – Turning the Corner, the province committed to providing risk management programs to support farmers when prices fluctuate due to unpredictable factors such as weather and global market changes.

Ontario’s agri-food sector is one of the province’s leading industries, contributing more than $33 billion annually to the economy.

The following are Regional Award winners of the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence:

CHATHAM-KENT

Dave Van Segbrook – Tupperville

A new system for getting the best possible concentration of fertilizer for vegetable transplants is saving money and producing better plants at Dave Van Segbrook’s farm. A precision injector is used to put an amount of fertilizer in transplanter water that is neither too much (burning the roots) nor too little (causing inadequate growth). A new electrical conductivity meter that shows a constant readout of salt levels helps workers monitor progress without having to leave their stations. As a result, plant yields are higher and fewer plants are lost to fertilizer damage. All of this means a better bottom line for this grower, other growers, and eventually, the entire Ontario vegetable processing industry.

Jennen Family Farm Market – Thamesville

The Jennens have figured out how to lengthen the growing season; harvest in rain, sleet or shine; be environmentally responsible; and make a profit at their fruit and vegetable operation near Dresden. The farm includes seven acres covered in high tunnels, with room to expand over another five acres over the next two years. Irrigation is done from a three million gallon pond of recaptured rain water. These improvements have meant better quality produce, increased yields, less chemical use, and best of all, a higher income per acre planted. The on-farm stand sells product from May to October, making it an attractive option for local shoppers.

Van Mar Farms Ltd. – Chatham

Mike Buis is always thinking creatively about how to do things better. When BSE was discovered in a Canadian cow in 2003, he really got creative by changing the way he ran his beef feedlot operation. Beef farms are few and far between in his part of the province, because the land is so highly valued. Buis gets the most out of his land by using a double-cropping system that incorporates high-value vegetables and forage crops, and allows for pasturing during part of the year. It’s a unique way of doing business that has substantially reduced his feed costs, makes use of otherwise wasted vegetable material, and has helped his farm not only survive but thrive in the post-BSE years.

ESSEX COUNTY

Cedar Beach Acres – Kingsville

At Cedar Beach Acres, it sounded like a problem for Goldilocks – one area was too hot, one was too cold, and they both needed to be made just right. The ingenious solution for the 16-acre greenhouse operation was to build an enclosure around the CO2 (carbon dioxide) condensers and blow the cold air to those parts of the greenhouse that needed to be cooled. Using individually designed plastic pipes and air-trapping curtains, this inexpensive air transfer system is quick and easy to install. And the best part is that it saves thousands of dollars each year because of reduced energy costs.

Pyramid Farms Ltd./New Energy Farms Ltd. – Leamington

The Tiessens have known their way around greenhouse tomatoes for years, and now they are known locally and as far away as the Philippines for their unique way of producing energy. Beginning in 2005, with 40 per cent of operational costs going into energy, the Tiessens turned to biomass as a less expensive fuel source. When local biomass feedstock became more expensive, they started planting their own in the form of miscanthus, a perennial grass. Today, they have 300 acres of the grass, producing the equivalent of 30 barrels of oil per acre per year. They have built a new facility that will cube the grass, making it useful for fuel as well as fibre for packaging material, plastic injection moulding, building materials and animal bedding.

LAMBTON COUNTY

Chad Anderson – Mooretown

A shortage of hay in 2008 got beef producer Chad Anderson thinking about alternatives. What he came up with has reduced hay consumption on his farm by 20 per cent and provided a nutritional supplement that his 100 head of cattle feed themselves. The invention is a lick tank filled with condensed corn distillers solubles (CDS), a by-product of corn ethanol manufacturing. CDS is delivered directly from the ethanol plant to the farm where it is stored and then loaded into the lick tank, which Anderson has fitted with a sled so that it can be moved around during pasturing. With grain prices increasing, Anderson believes that this is a good way for beef farmers to boost their bottom lines.

Envirofresh Farms – Sombra

When two friends combined their engineering expertise and greenhouse growing experience, their team approach resulted in a new vegetable operation that captures waste heat and CO2 (carbon dioxide) from an adjacent manufacturing industry. Envirofresh Farms grows 23 acres of greenhouse peppers beside Terra Industries, a manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer. The two have established a symbiotic relationship. The greenhouse operation needs the equivalent of energy required to supply 1,400 homes. Being able to draw free heat via pipelines directly from the neighbouring manufacturer’s byproducts means a huge reduction in energy costs for the greenhouse. In addition, the high quality CO2 that’s captured and piped into the greenhouse is good for the plants, and it’s good for the manufacturer too, since it reduces the amount of CO2 it releases into the atmosphere. Envirofresh is a great example of how agriculture and industry can be good neighbours and boost each other’s sustainability. Its peppers are a “greener” green.

ABOUT THE AWARDS PROGRAM

The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence program recognizes and rewards outstanding innovations developed by farmers, agri-food businesses and organizations.

There have been 55 winners each year, including a Premier’s Award recipient and a Minister’s Award recipient.

The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation program was initially funded for a period of five years starting in 2007. In November 2010, the McGuinty government announced that it will continue to recognize agri-food innovation excellence through a permanent program.

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Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 24, 2011 at 10:03am

Ontario's local farmers are growing innovative ideas that drive our local economies and strengthen our agri-food industry. 

These ideas were celebrated today at a ceremony in Ancaster honouring local winners of the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. On-farm innovations are helping Ontario farmers provide more of the healthy food that is grown, processed, and sold across the province. Today's regional winners are:

• Springridge Farm (Milton, Halton Region)
• Dunlea Farms Pet Hay (Jerseyville, Hamilton-Wentworth Region)
• Hamilton Eat Local - Environment Hamilton (Hamilton, Hamilton Region)
• Hughes Vineyards (Beamsville, Niagara Region)
• Orchard Park Growers Ltd. (St. Catharines, Niagara Region)
• Sun-Ray Orchards Inc. (Beamsville, Niagara Region)
• Sweet & Sticky Inc. (Niagara Falls, Niagara Region)
• Moyer and Rowe Family Farms (Vineland, Niagara Region, Wellington and Lambton Counties)
• Kent Kreek Berries (Simcoe, Norfolk County)
• Fresh Sprout International Limited (Mississauga, Peel Region)
• Duizer Farms (Burford, Brant County)

When our family farms thrive, Ontarians taste it at the dinner table. A strong agri-food industry is part of the McGuinty government's plan to create jobs and opportunities that will boost the province's economy.

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