Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

AALP's Blog (118)

Visiting a citrus cooperative

AALP class 17 left Seville the morning of January 15 heading to Sunaran Citrus Coop near the town of Palma De Rio. We were greeted by our tour guide Rosa for an informative tour of one of the biggest citrus coops in Spain. The coop consists of 98-100 members, all of which are farmer members.

The coop has 1500 acres of land growing a wide variety of orange variety’s with the main being “Salustiana” which is a juice press variety. Besides oranges they also do grapefruits with the main…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 16, 2020 at 4:00am — No Comments

Picking strawberries in January

Day 7 of AALP Class 17 IST contintued with one of the highlights so far on the trip, a fruit cooperative named Cuna De Platero. We were lucky enough to be taken on a tour of their greenhouses where they allowed to try some of the different varieties of strawberries that they grow.  The greenhouses are once again made with plastic and are of similar style to our previous visits this trip. They have a cooperative structure, which is something we have come to find is very common here in Spain.…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 14, 2020 at 4:00am — No Comments

Exploring traditional and modern agriculture in Spain

Jan 12 - Sunday

Our day began leaving the sunny Mediterranean coast and travelling to the small rural village of Alameda. We visited the Centre Tematico del campo Andaluz. This was a museum dedicated to teaching people about the past farming practices and traditions. We were met by a museum guide, and two local farmers, a father and son – Antonio Sr. and Antonio Jr. Antonio Sr. was 90 years old and had, in his lifetime, farmed in the traditional way which, for olive oil production,…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 13, 2020 at 7:00am — No Comments

Ag and city tours make up our first few days in Spain

The AALP Class left the beautiful Toledo to head to a feedlot outside the city. We were toured around a feedlot that is part of a cooperative that consists of 9,500 head of cattle. Our host, who is the president of the cooperative, has two feedlots and 600 hectares of crop land. It was interesting to learn that the cooperative’s major export market outside of Spain are Lebanon, Turkey and Israel. These destinations have particularly stringent standards for how the beef must be treated and…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 10, 2020 at 11:00am — No Comments

AALP Class 17 leaves for Spain

Sadly, one class member, Bernice Weber Passchier, is ill and was unable to join us for our rescheduled International Study Tour. The rest of AALP Class 17 met at Pearson airport and boarded the plane to Philadelphia; after a short layover we were on an overnight flight to Madrid, Spain. 

Once we landed, we met up with Rafa, our bus driver, and Ismael, our tour guide. We were happy to learn that Ismael had an agricultural background and has been doing ag-focused tours for the last five…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 9, 2020 at 11:00am — No Comments

Telling our story in Plano

Out last day in Texas had the AALP Class visit BNSF Railway headquarters (the air traffic control of the railway) a 23-billion dollar company situated outside of Fort Worth in an impressive, modern facility. We were greeted by James Titsworth, General Director of Business Development. We viewed the impressive state-of-the-art dispatch area, where over 250 people work together 24/7 ensuring safety of the railway system West of…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 18, 2018 at 4:30am — No Comments

Going back in time in Dallas

Sunday, July 15th saw AALP Class 17 visit the Sixth Floor Museum Sixth Floor Museumin Dallas. This is the floor…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 15, 2018 at 4:00am — No Comments

History, Culture and Cowboys

Our day began in the historic Stockyards District of Fort Worth, once called "Cowtown". This was once the great livestock exchange of the region, as animals made their way into the area‎ by rail. The economy and infrastructure has changed, but the industry has adapted.

At Superior Livestock Auction, bimonthly…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 14, 2018 at 3:30am — No Comments

In the fields of Texas

Friday morning saw the group continue its NAST with an early morning visit to the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB). Located on a 70-acre campus outside of Waco, the Texas Farm Bureau advocates for the agricultural needs of all Texas farmers at the local, state and national level. With over 500,000 member families, the TFB prides itself as being the “Voice of Agriculture”.…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 13, 2018 at 12:00am — No Comments

From the Capitol to cattle

Day 5 of our tour started with the drive from College Station to the capital city of Austin. We headed to the Capitol, taking in the architecture and city sights. We also learned a few fun facts about the Capitol building, such as it is taller than the US Capitol building!

Our first speaker was Christi Craddick, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission.…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 12, 2018 at 10:00am — No Comments

Everything's bigger in Texas

Our first visit of the day was to J.D. Hudgins, a family business breeding registered Brahman cattle for sale in ‎38 states and 43 countries, most located around the equator. This breed is very well suited to tropical and subtropical climates, having originated in India. We got to "meet" Manso, the bull bought by Hudgins in…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 10, 2018 at 12:30am — No Comments

AALP class takes NASA

Houston, we have landed. On day two of the North American study tour AALP class 17 stopped in at NASA Johnson Space Center. We had the chance to see the historic mission control center where they navigated the first man to the moon, in addition to many other missions to space.

The control center, which closed in 1992, still features the speaker where many historic words were said –…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 9, 2018 at 12:30am — No Comments

Howdy from Texas

AALP Class 17 arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and were greeted by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, the leadership program director and professor of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Jim is also the director of Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership…

Continue

Added by AALP on July 8, 2018 at 10:00am — No Comments

AALP Class 17 continues with their leadership journey at Seminar 3 in Sarnia

Sixteen of the eighteen current and emerging Agricultural Leaders in agriculture, agri-food and rural sectors have been continuing their leadership journey with their third seminar in the Advanced Agriculture Leadership Program. For Class 17’s seminar in Sarnia, the customized leadership program explored the theme of “Shaping the Future, Dynamics of Change, Decision Making and Responsibility”.

During their time in Sarnia, the AALP Class 17 group had the opportunity to expand…

Continue

Added by AALP on January 30, 2018 at 9:00am — No Comments

AALP Class 17 begins their leadership journey

A group of 18 agricultural professionals began their leadership journey as part of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program (AALP) with a three-and-a-half day session in Guelph, Ontario.

The diverse group of leaders-in-training, which includes primary producers as well as those in the banking and insurance industries, regulatory affairs,…

Continue

Added by AALP on October 13, 2017 at 4:30am — No Comments

We're home!

After 7 flights, 2 countries, 5 hotels, 4 different buses and a dozen or more farm visits, we are home again! What an adventure we all shared over the last 12 days. We experienced so much as a class, whether it was learning new leadership skills, to eating crickets, to meeting with fellow Canadians working in Vietnam. We also have a new appreciation for how certain foods are grown – like bananas, coffee, tea, coconuts, rice and pepper (to name a few); foods that many of us enjoy…

Continue

Added by AALP on February 28, 2017 at 5:00am — No Comments

Thai Agri-Tourism

Today we left the big city lights of Bangkok for the countryside. How refreshing to step out of the bus onto Baan Susan Chamchoen Farm and meet the owner Mr Somsak and his wife. With great passion and enthusiasm he toured us through his mixed fruit farm, combining agro tourism with fruit production and 20 value-added products. The King, a great supporter of agriculture, had advised all farmers to diversify. As such, Mr Somsak has a unique intercropping system combining  banana, coconut and…

Continue

Added by AALP on February 26, 2017 at 3:30am — No Comments

Temples and Snakes and Boats...Oh My!

Battling through the chaos and heat of Bangkok, Class 16 spent a full day experiencing some of the interesting sites in the city.

Our first stop of the morning was at the Red Cross Snake Farm, nestled on a 'quieter' side street right in Bangkok. The Snake Farm is a part of the Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute and the Thai Red Cross Society. In the early 1900s, one of the King’s daughters died of rabies. At that time, there were facilities around the world that had made…

Continue

Added by AALP on February 25, 2017 at 3:30am — No Comments

Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Bangkok; The Land of Freedom, Buddha, and Heat!

AALP Class 16 had our earliest start so far this trip, heading out of the heart of Hanoi at 6:20 am to the airport to catch our flight to Bangkok, Thailand! Upon arrival, we maneuvered through the chaos of the busy Bangkok airport, reminding us of home and the hustle and bustle of the Toronto airport. We were greeted by our tour guide, North, and headed out on a tour of the city!

North treated us to a bunch of great trivia and facts about the city during our slow slog through…

Continue

Added by AALP on February 24, 2017 at 7:13am — No Comments

Exploring Thien Canh Son Caves

After a great night’s sleep at sea, we got energized for the day ahead with a group Tai Chi lesson on the top deck of the Victory cruise ship. We enjoyed coffee and tea and a light breakfast while we made our way to Thien Canh Son cave, which means mountain landscape in the heavens.

The cave is located on Bai Tu Long Bay and set below a stone cliff. It was…

Continue

Added by AALP on February 23, 2017 at 8:35am — No Comments

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

US Soybean Ending Stocks See Steep Reduction

US soybean ending stocks for 2024-25 are down sharply from last month, following a much bigger-than-expected cut to this year’s average yield projection. The USDA cut its national soy yield estimate to 51.7 bu/acre in updated monthly supply-demand estimates released Friday. That is down 1.4 bu from the October estimate and below the average pre-report trade guess of 52.8 bu, although still above last year’s average of 50.6 bu/acre. With planted and harvested area unchanged from October at 87.1 million and 86.3 million acres, the yield cut dropped the production estimate to 4.461 billion, a decline of 121 million bu from last month but still 7% higher on the year. The USDA offset at least some of the impact of the smaller crop by lowering its 2024-25 export and crush estimates from October, but ending stocks nonetheless were cut by 80 million bu to fall to 470 million, well below the average trade guess of 532 million but still above 2023-24 ending stocks of 342 million. The export f

Rising Vegoils Push FAO Food Price Index to 18-Month High in October

Fueled by surging vegoils, world food commodity prices jumped to the highest in 18 months in October. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on Friday reported that its food price index averaged 127.4 points last month. That is up 2% from September, 5.5% above October 2023 and the highest since April 2023. The index saw a strong rise in September as well, up 2% from August and hitting its highest since July 2023 due to strengthening sugar prices. The FAO food price index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally traded food commodities. Much of the rise in the overall food index in October was due to a 7.3% month-over-month increase in the vegetable oil index. Driven mainly by production concerns, prices for palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oil all increased last month, pushing the vegoil index to a two-year high. International palm oil prices increased for the fifth consecutive month in October, largely due to concerns ove

Canola Growers Celebrate Passage of Repair and Interoperability Bills

Canola farmers are celebrating the passage of two new bills that significantly impact their rights to diagnose, maintain, repair, and integrate their farm machinery, according to a new release from the Canadian Canola Growers Association. Bills C-244, which amends the Copyright Act to cover diagnosis, maintenance, and repair, and C-294, addressing interoperability, recently passed their Third Reading in the Senate and are now awaiting Royal Assent. “The passage of these bills is a major win for farmers, especially during critical times like seeding and harvest,” says Dave Carey, Vice-President of Government & Industry Relations at the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA). “Bill C-244 allows farmers more choice in who can diagnose and repair their equipment, saving valuable time and introducing competitive options that could lower costs. Bill C-294 enables interoperability between machinery from different manufacturers, expanding equipment choices and driving innovation.” These

OGVG appoints new research, innovation and plant protection lead

Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers (OGVG) has appointed Daniel Terlizzese as the new Research, Innovation & Plant Protection Lead. He brings a wealth of experience and expertise in greenhouse crop management, plant physiology, and innovative agricultural practices.

Lethbridge to host Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers National Event

The Alberta Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF) Region is preparing to host Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ National Event which will take place at the Sandman Signature Hotel Lethbridge, AB from Nov 27- Dec 1, 2024.   

© 2024   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service