Featured Blog Posts (70)

Today we began our adventure with a visit to a Chilean dairy farm in the Casa Blanca Valley. The farm is home to a 1200 head milking cow herd and the farmer is working to grow the herd to 1800. The farm owner is a retired professor of plant physiology and now manages about 200 employees. 40 of these employees work full-time at the dairy, milking 23 hours…

AALP Class 15 and our friends from the Atlantic Agricultural Leadership Program secured the farms at home, wrapped up last minute projects, said goodbye to loved ones and battled vicious winter weather to descend on Terminal 1, excited - and maybe a little nervous - to kick off our grand adventure.

While some caught fitful sleep and others binge…

Healthy Land, Healthy People, Healthy Profits

A winter day full of food, friendship and inspiration – it’s Eco Farm Day 2015 and it’s a highlight of the season for organic (and organic-curious) farmers and gardeners in eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

Eco Farm Day takes place on Saturday, February 28, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall. This is the 31^st annual conference presented by the Ottawa-St Lawrence-Outaouais chapter of Canadian…

by Paul Bootsma

Farmers need to get their story out to the public. The general public is the farmer’s customer and wants to know what farming is like in this decade. Agriculture, like all businesses, has evolved and changed, and today’s farmers are as likely to use a communication device as a shovel or a pitchfork.

Recently, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released an article called Realities of Agriculture in…

Dairy cattle with enhanced immune responses not only have lower incidents of disease, but may also produce more bioactive compounds in their colostrum that are critical to newborn calves and are beneficial in fighting mastitis-causing pathogens, an Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) graduate student has found.

Research has shown that High Immune Responder (HIR) cows have a lower incidence of diseases, such as mastitis, metritis, ketosis and retained placenta. The HIR technology,…

On Tuesday September 9th, I joined John Payne, Executive Producer of Rogers Cable TV Woodstock for the opening day of the 21st annual Canada's Outdoor Farm Show as his Community Cub Reporter! 

It was a great day despite the weather, I learned a ton and had a great time doing it! 

Watch part one here: …

Each summer DVM students from the Ontario Veterinary College delve into practical experience at veterinary clinics across Ontario and additional locales. These blog posts are an opportunity to tag along with five of them this summer. This week student veterinarian Jodi took a pasture-to-plate approach to some hay samples. Check out all the student blogs at www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/externship

Working with Dr.…

The connection between science and business is an important one and one that’s gaining credence through the Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) Graduate Scholarship program.

Funded under the OMAFRA-U of G Partnership, HQP scholarships are awarded to support future generations of researchers, policy-makers and innovators in agri-food. Students gain a better understanding of business models and business management while completing research in their area of study. 

The program also…

Farms.com Corn Report: Rob Miller, Technical Services Manager with BASF Canada provides some tips on how to scout for corn leaf diseases. He also describes how to identify Northern Leaf Blight and what farmers can do to manage for highest yield potential.



For more information on Maizex Seeds visit …

Wow! What a busy, exciting and informative day!



We arrived at the Canadian Embassy and are proud to announce we all cleared the security check. We listened to a variety of speakers and learned about the value and importance of the trade relationship Canada has with the United States. A couple of interesting facts: 

1) US and Canada…

The FFA Creed - as applicable now as when it was written in 1930

After staying with some terrific families in their homes, AALP Class 15 traveled to the National FFA Center in Indianapolis. For some of us, this was the first introduction to the FFA while others had a more in depth understanding of who they are. We learned that FFA goes through the…

Expect the unexpected, organized chaos, frightening, bumpy, contrast and adventure. These are some of the ways that the AALP Class 14 members described their varied experiences today. We started the day by visiting the head office of Digital Green http://www.digitalgreen.org/…

AALP class 14 started off Day Eleven of our study tour later than usual with an 8:15 a.m. wake-up call. While many back home battle a winter wonderland the class enjoyed a sunny 28 degree Delhi winter.

We headed off to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) which is situated inside the city limits of Delhi. This Institute was started in 1905 in Bihar with a…

Another bright,sunny day today in Delhi. AALP Class 14 has really enjoyed their trip to India but many are looking forward to heading back home to family & friends. A trip to the food market is first order of the day. First impression was primitive & more garbage laying around. Hira Singh Wholesale Vegetable Market is one of four fruit & vegetable markets in…

Good morning from Delhi where the sun is shining bright with the expected high of twenty nine degrees. We have started our journey towards Agra where the famous Taj Mahal resides. Although our travels have been mainly on a coach bus, did you know that India has the third largest railway system in the world.  The highway to Agra was 6 lanes with no traffic and was just opened…

The flight from Delhi to Brussels was uneventful. One thing we did notice was the high security leaving India. Just to get on the plane we had our passports and/or our boarding passes checked up to six times. Others had their bags checked through up to two times.

The layover in Brussels was just long enough to grab a sandwich and a quick view of the fabulous Belgian…

Today was another great day on #NAST2014.

We started our day at Detroit’s Eastern market, and went on a tour of the local area around the farmer’s market. We heard about and saw some of the local restoration going on in the form of a greenway and bike path. The people in this community are working tirelessly to improve their city by improving everything from access to fresh, healthy food, to green spaces where the community can come together for shopping, eating and…

AALP Class 15 was off to an early start as we continue our North American Study Tour adventure.  Fun fact: interstates that are odd numbered run north-south. We travelled south on I75 down through Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana.  

We used our time on the bus effectively.  From practicing "off the cuff" to sponsor spotlights, we kept ourselves busy. We were enlightened with information on an AALP ally AdFarm as we rolled past fields of ripening wheat and tassling…

On Sunday, July 6 Class 15 of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program began its North America Study Tour #NAST2014. 

The first stop on the tour was Detroit and the Sunday Street Market of the Eastern Market. The Sunday Street Market features local items such as home goods, art, jewelry, clothing, Michigan-made products, antiques…

The 29 participants in AALP Class 15 leave on Sunday, July 6 for their North American Study Tour.

During the eight-day tour, they'll learn from a wide range of speakers and tours, from wineries to organic farms and from the Canadian embassy to Gettysburg National Military Park.

Blogs will be posted here daily - follow along on this great journey!