Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

AALP Class 13 North American Study Tour Day 3

July 7, 2010 – Today was a step back in time as we continued our tour through north-central Ohio. Our first stop was the Mansfield water treatment plant. Not specifically a historical site, but the plant manages to treat and pump 9 million gallons of water per day to supply a local population of 50,000 people with few technological upgrades since the 1980s. We definitely saw evidence of the recession where plant closures such as the GM plant to the North causing a 33% drop in the Mansfield population. We were lucky because they never give tours but made a special exception for us giving access to their testing labs, settlement ponds and sand filtration tanks.

Next our bus took us back to the 1940’s/50s on some winding roads to the Malabar Farm State Park. Malabar Farm is a 900-acre farm that was the home of Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer-prize winning author. Our tour guides Denise and David gave us a wagon-ride to Bromfield’s 32-room farmhouse which has been preserved by the state into a heritage museum. The house tour gave us a glimpse into the Bromfield’s glamorous lifestyle where we saw photos of movie stars who visited Bromfield including Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who were married right at the house). Bromfield was also an innovator in conservation farming practices such as terracing, no-till and conservation tillage and rotational grazing. With rotational grazing the cow does her own harvesting and manure spreading. We saw many of Bromfield’s practices being used as we drove through the Amish community.

After our afternoon in the sun we hopped back on our air-conditioned bus for a sleepy ride out to the heart of Amish country, Berlin, Ohio. We were joined by our tour guide La Vonne DeBois and our evening’s host David Miller, an Amish farmer and ordained minister who shared information about the Amish culture. It was a real treat to hear the stories David shared about his family and way of life. We were surprised to see that some Amish use electronic milking equipment and tractors. The trick, we heard, is to know where to draw the line. For example, the Millers are new order Amish and they can use a tractor for transporting the bales - but not in the field for cultivating or harvesting. David really emphasized the importance of family, faith and community to their culture. We ended our day with a delicious home-cooked meal prepared and served to us at the Miller’s farm by the family. This was by-far the best meal of the trip (chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, a delicious peanut butter spread and three kinds of pies!), and we were honoured at the end to hear two songs from David and his family, one in English and one in German. We climbed back in to the bus, full and happy, and made our way to Akron for the night.

John Borland, Matt Langford and Katija Morley - AALP Class 13

Views: 38

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

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

Secretary Rollins Takes Decisive Action and Shuts Down U.S. Southern Border Ports to Livestock Trade due to further Northward Spread of New World Screwworm in Mexico

Yesterday, Mexico’s National Service of Agro-Alimentary Health, Safety, and Quality (SENASICA) reported a new case of New World Screwworm (NWS) in Ixhuatlan de Madero, Veracruz in Mexico, which is approximately 160 miles northward of the current sterile fly dispersal grid, on the eastern side of the country and 370 miles south of the U.S./Mexico border. This new northward detection comes approximately two months after northern detections were reported in Oaxaca and Veracruz, less than 700 miles away from the U.S. border, which triggered the closure of our ports to Mexican cattle, bison, and horses on May 11, 2025. While USDA announced a risk-based phased port re-opening strategy for cattle, bison, and equine from Mexico beginning as early as July 7, 2025, this newly reported NWS case raises significant concern about the previously reported information shared by Mexican officials and severely compromises the outlined port reopening schedule of five ports from July 7-September 15. There

University of Manitoba appoints Dr. Filiz Koksel as Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein

The University of Manitoba is pleased to welcome Dr. Filiz Koksel as the new Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein, a role that continues to advance sustainable agri-food innovation and leadership in plant and animal protein research and innovation. Dr. Koksel, an associate professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, leads an interdisciplinary research program that aligns closely with Manitoba’s Protein Advantage Strategy. She holds BSc and MSc degrees in Food Engineering and earned her PhD in Food Science from the University of Manitoba.  “My vision for this Chair is to position Manitoba as a global leader in sustainable protein innovation by uniting scientific discovery with industry partnerships,” said Dr. Koksel. “Together, we will create solutions that advance food security and climate resilience for generations to come.” Dr Koksel’s current work focuses on developing novel, environmentally friendly protein ingredients from crops such

Support staff recognized for contributions to Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences

Each year the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences calls for nominations of a support staff member or team who have made outstanding contributions in support of the teaching, research, service and outreach goals of the Faculty. At a celebratory barbecue to celebrate all nominees held on July 9, six individuals and four teams were recognized for their service to the Faculty. Sheldon Beichter, Technician, Carman Research Station Becky Dueck, Technician, Department of Plant Science Atanas Karamanov, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Minami Maeda, Technician, Department of Biosystems Engineering Finley Makila, Technician, Richardson Centre for Food Technology and Research Donna Ryland, Technician, Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences Charlene Hawryluk, Wajiha Shahzad, Uldis Bourne, Jennifer St. Laurent, Dianne Dugald and Vanessa Ryplanski, Departments of Animal Science & Entomology and Glenlea Research Station Minami Maeda, Daniel Benedet an

Some crops look good and other not so good in Saskatchewan

A drive around Saskatchewan provides a wide range of crop conditions, based on rainfall received. Timely thunderstorms, combined with spring rain, are producing decent-looking crops in some locations, particularly the southeast. The poorest crops are in the southwest, but there are areas across the northern grainbelt that are much drier than normal as well. Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly crop report puts provincial cropland topsoil moisture conditions at 55 percent adequate, 33 percent short and 12 percent very short. Many fields are at relatively uniform stages, but there is some inconsistent staging which is making spray timing challenging. Areas that have received moderate to high rainfall over the last few weeks are applying fungicides to some of their pulse, cereal and oilseed crops.

AGRI-FOOD 2050 Industry Event

The Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) is bringing industry leaders together to envision the future of agri-food in Ontario. The inaugural Agri-food 2050 Event will draw attendees from across the broader agri-food sector including representatives from primary agriculture, agri-business, food processing, agri-food research, and government.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service