Ontario Agriculture

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AALP's Blog (118)

Learning the RULEs of Leadership at State College, Pennsylvania

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…

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Added by AALP on July 12, 2016 at 3:00am — No Comments

Day 8: Out with a bang! Battles, beers and baseball

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…

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Added by AALP on July 11, 2016 at 4:30am — 1 Comment

Day 7: Talking about the rural/urban divide

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.…

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Added by AALP on July 10, 2016 at 3:00am — No Comments

Day 6: A day at the Canadian Embassy

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!…

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Added by AALP on July 9, 2016 at 2:30am — No Comments

Day 5: The rich history of Washington, DC

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…

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Added by AALP on July 8, 2016 at 5:30am — No Comments

Day 4: From melons to margaritas

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…

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Added by AALP on July 7, 2016 at 7:30am — No Comments

Day 3: More farms and fun in Quebec

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…

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Added by AALP on July 6, 2016 at 5:00am — No Comments

Day 2: A day at the Farm

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…

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Added by AALP on July 5, 2016 at 4:03am — No Comments

Day 1: The journey begins

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…

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Added by AALP on July 4, 2016 at 3:30am — No Comments

Day 14: Our final tour and journey home

It seems like only a day ago that we were all greeting each other in Toronto Pearson, excited to embark on this two week adventure of learning, growing, gaining new experiences and deepening of understanding of agriculture in the world that we live in - this global village. It is with equal anticipation that we get up this morning, pile our belongings on the bottom of our carriage and find our seats. But this anticipation is different. Armed with new information, perspectives and deepened…

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Added by AALP on March 2, 2015 at 5:03am — No Comments

Day 12: Centro Cultural El Obrador

Today we started the day by packing our bags after our one night stay in Rosario.

Centro Cultural El Obrador was our next stop. This cultural centre provides social programs for Indigenous people mainly from northeast Argentina. The programming includes activities to preserve their culture by sharing their crafts, native languages, stories and woodworking.  All…

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Added by AALP on March 1, 2015 at 12:36pm — No Comments

Day 11: Aceitera General Deheza and Bunge Corp

We had an early start today but were excited to be visiting a large grain terminal in Rosario, the third largest city in Argentina with a population of about 1.2 million. When we arrived at the terminal it was raining outside so we rushed to the control room and the laboratory. We were shocked by the size of the terminal and some of the stats we learned! …

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Added by AALP on March 1, 2015 at 12:36pm — No Comments

Day 10: Back to school

Day 10 started with boarding the bus for an hour trip to an Ag School in Venado Tuerto (One Eyed Deer).  The name of the school was Escuela Agricola and it was a private school with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 established in 1968. The school sits on…

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Added by AALP on February 28, 2015 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Day 9: Farm tours and good eats!

Today we headed northwest out of Buenos Aires to the Area of Pergamino... and it wasn’t long before the land opened up into soybean, corn, cattle and horses. It’s safe to say this was a welcome sight for all of us!

Our first stop was at a machinery shed in Cabana El Desafio. This mid-sized farm consists of 1000 ha of soybean, corn, wheat and specialty green peas and…

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Added by AALP on February 26, 2015 at 3:08am — No Comments

Day 8: Arriving in Argentina

On Sunday we ended our time in Chile and Argentina welcomed us. It was also the time to say goodbye to our new Atlantic friends and our wonderful guide Andres and driver Horatio. 

On our way to the airport Kenny Graham, one of our new Atlantic friends, gave a wonderful farewell by commenting about what he learned about each AALPer. It was an extremely thoughtful send…

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Added by AALP on February 24, 2015 at 8:42am — No Comments

Day 7: Making memories (and wine!) at Montgras Estate

We started the day with the anticipation of our last stop of the day - wine tasting at Montgras Estates! Alas we had a few stops before getting to the winery. 

Our first stop was with a visit with a small vegetable and fruit producer. Luis Carrasco Saldana is a forward-thinking farmer who took the initiative three years ago to…

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Added by AALP on February 22, 2015 at 7:06am — No Comments

Day 6: Agricultural tours and a rare rain

Our class started the day with a goal - to make it through six stops and return at the end of the day with all the windows on the bus!

After a short drive…

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Added by AALP on February 21, 2015 at 10:50am — No Comments

Day 5: Getting a taste of the Chilean fruit & vegetable basket

Today's International Study Tour got off to an early start with a visit to Lo Valledor Wholesale Market in Santiago.  Similar to the Ontario Food Terminal, Lo Valledor trades about 90% of the fruits and vegetables in Chile, with daily transactions totalling over $5 million US dollars. The most unique product that is sold is dried seaweed.

We then travelled to the…

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Added by AALP on February 21, 2015 at 10:22am — No Comments

Day 4: A Chilean Education

We started off day four of our International Study Tour learning about the Chilean economy at Scotiabank.  Chile has the fifth largest economy in Latin America and has seen significant growth in their economy over the last 30 years.  The Canadian Dollar and the Chilean Peso react to the world economy in a similar fashion; when one appreciates the other tends to appreciate as…

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Added by AALP on February 18, 2015 at 11:35am — No Comments

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

UM Aggie Bedpush rolls across Manitoba to support rural health and wellness

The annual Aggie Bedpush is back this fall, continuing a beloved tradition of fundraising and community spirit led by students from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. From September 26 to 28, students will push their iconic burgundy bed through Manitoba towns, raising money for two meaningful causes: STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service) Foundation and the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program Bedpush organizer Pyper Hollar explains the deep connection between these charities and the farming community. “Many Aggies live and or work in rural communities meaning that the nearest hospital can be at least an hour’s drive away. STARS is an Air Rescue service that can provide not only hospital transport when trouble arises, but has an incredible team of highly skilled professionals who can treat on the ground and in the air; STARS can be the difference between life and death for many Aggies out there,” she says. Mental health is another key concern. “Th

Tasters needed for bread acceptability research study

We are recruiting volunteers to participate in a Sensory Research Study in Food and Human Nutritional Sciences in the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences. You would have the opportunity to take part in sensory research and learn methods related to the acceptability of food products. Details including the consent form and screening questionnaire are in the Information Package link below. Title: Acceptability of Bread with a Bioactive Ingredient Principal Investigator: Dr. Cristina Rosell (cristina.rosell@umanitoba.ca) Activity: Observe, smell and taste bread samples to determine degree of liking of appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and overall Eligibility: No allergies to foods or beverages, no sensitivity to gluten, 18 years of age or older, and no direct involvement or knowledge of the project Commitment: One Session about 20 minutes Session Options: September 23, 25, 26, October 1 and 2 every 30 minutes from 11:30 to 1:30 inclusive Where: Fourth Floor Human Ecology Buil

Saskatchewan harvest chugs along

There was good harvest progress over much of Saskatchewan last week—although there were rain delays in some areas. The weekly Saskatchewan Agriculture report says combining is 41 per cent complete—up from 23 per cent the previous week. The five-year average is 58 per cent and the ten-year average is 49 per cent. The southwest is 55 per cent combined and the southeast is at the halfway point. Plenty of progress made in the northwest last week, which is now at 41 per cent combined. East-central sits at 31 per cent with west-central and the northeast at 27 per cent combined. Peas are mostly in the bin with lentils at 84 per cent. Moving to the cereal crops—barley is 54 per cent combined, durum 49 per cent, while spring wheat and oats are 35 per cent harvested. Canola sits at 12 per cent combined and flax at three per cent. Volunteer crop reporters were asked to provide yield estimates—keeping in mind there can be large variations between fields due to scattered rainfall during the gro

“More positive than anticipated” is how Saskatchewan’s Premier terms meetings with Chinese government officials

Premier Scott Moe is crossing more time zones on Monday only two days after finishing a trade mission to China and Japan last week. Moe spoke to reporters at the Saskatoon airport prior to departing on a flight to the nation’s capital for additional meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney and senior cabinet ministers. Moe and the Prime Minister’s parliamentary secretary Kody Blois met with officials within the Chinese Commerce Ministry—the body that is responsible for implementing import tariffs. It has placed very hefty preliminary tariffs on Canadian canola seed—as well as canola oil, canola meal, peas and pork. Those tariffs were seen as a response to Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. That tariff was implemented at the request of the United States. It’s hoped the trade mission will begin a gradual process to improve relations between Canada and China.

Ontario’s most problematic weed -- Canada Fleabane Cuts Corn and Soybean Yields

Persistent Canada fleabane, now resistant to multiple herbicides, causes significant yield losses in Ontario corn and soybeans, demanding zero-tolerance management and adjusted herbicide programs.

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