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Today marks our ninth stop on this “Amazing Race across North America.” We’ve parked our bus at Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania, for a joint day of leadership learning with the RULE participants and alumni of Pennsylvania. RULE stands for “Rural Urban Leadership” and they’re currently in their 16th class of participants, just like us…

The day started off early with a 6:30 departure from Alexandria, Virginia, with a two-hour drive to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Our in-flight service was compliments of Tom and Robin and consisted of snacks, moist towelettes and…

We started the day bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready to learn!! First stop was at the Chestertown Town Hall where Nancy Nunn, Educator, Outreach, and Advancement Coordinator at the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, and Kees de Mooy, Zoning Administrator for the Town of Chestertown, spoke to us about the history, troubles and opportunities of Chestertown.…

Our day began with a fabulous breakfast at the Crown Plaza hotel. We boarded the bus and were reminded a few times by our daily coordinators, Ann Vermeersch and Dylan Wiens, not to forget our passports for the Embassy. We arrived safely at the Canadian Embassy, driven, of course, by our spectacular bus driver Nancy, where we were reminded once again – do not forget your passports!…

Thursday morning started with an early breakfast so Nancy could get us on the road and headed towards Washington to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Once on the bus, we all enjoyed some quiet time to catch a few zzzz’s for the first hour or so to help prepare us for the busy schedule we have over the next few days. Throughout the morning we had the opportunity to meet with our Issues Analysis Project teams to…

AALP Class 16 started Day 4 of our North American Study Tour in the New York State capital of Albany with a breakfast speaker. Jackie Lendrum from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation shared her experiences with water quality regulations and issues primarily with dairy farms in the state. Dairy is the…

After participating in the famous local tradition that is Montreal International Jazz Festival, the class packed up and headed for the border, making stops along the way before crossing.

The first stop was La Ferme Quinn, a 150-acre…

As the chariot pulled away from the Crown Plaza in Montreal this group of AALP participants knew they were in for an info-packed day starting off with McGill MacDonald Campus.

We all have our favourite post-secondary campus, but many participants on the…

With blue skies and sun, we couldn’t have asked for a better day to start our North American Study Tour. The majority of the class gathered at the Rural Ontario Institute parking lot and we are thrilled to reunite with our classmates, and to see that our chariot is NOT a yellow school bus but in fact a coach bus. After Andy McTaggart confirms that all are present -- although it takes a couple of counts -- we start off on the first…

Updates on transition cow health and ketosis were the focus of the annual Dairy Health Management Certificate Program at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College last week.



Now in its 21st year, the annual conference provides dairy veterinarians with updates on current approaches to dairy cow health management, as well as an opportunity to network with fellow practitioners, faculty, and guest lecturers.



This is the biggest year yet in terms of attendance,…

 I am offering help to farmers and or land owners having problems with Predator and Varment, and don't have the time and or means of taking care of the problem. I am full licensed and have a friend who is also licensed and we are both members of the Anglers and Hunters Association, and insured as well. There is no cost to the farmer and are willing to travel up to an hour outside the city to help any farmer and or land owner who might need help. You can contact me at…

The importance of agriculture and food research and collaborative efforts were the focus at the inaugural University of Guelph Swine Research Day last week.

Centralia Swine Research Update organizing group.

The new UofG Swine Research Day brings together the Centralia Swine Research Update and the Mike Wilson Swine Research Day in a new…

Better Farming joins Farms.com family

Connections and collaboration were a key theme during the Poultry Health Research Network (PHRN) Research Day at the University of Guelph last week.

The research day brought together representatives from government, industry and academia to provide updates on current research and prompt discussion for future collaborations.

“The whole intent was to ensure that our industry partners and our researchers, either from academia or the…