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: 44

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

Crop research a better long-term solution than BRM programs: USask Professor

Agricultural research requires investment, but it takes many years to develop a higher yielding crop variety or one with improved disease resistance. Recently announced funding and job cuts by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are expected to impact the quantity and possibly the quality of new research in both the crop and livestock sectors. Richard Gray is a professor and grains policy chair at the University of Saskatchewan and was a key note speaker Thursday at the Top Crop Summit in Saskatoon. "I think the lack of a plan to how they were actually going to do some of the activities that were happening on those farms, that's a problem, and second, I don't think there was enough thought given to whether the sites that they were closing down were important for overall productivity of the researchers that remain." Gray said of the pending closures of research sites across Canada. The Indian Head research site represented about 35 per cent of the crop area in the province and was loca

Malta bee exporter blasts criticism from Canadian beekeepers

A European honeybee provider said they’re collateral damage to a dust-up in the Canadian honey sector over replacement bees. Ermanno De Chino, CEO of Melita Bees, a firm based on the Mediterranean island of Malta, said Italian and Maltese bee biosecurity and quality are the subject of unwarranted “smears” coming from a Canadian beekeeping contingent. He said they’re “pushing for the opening of the border with the United States,” a country he said is extremely vulnerable to the tropilaelaps (tropi) mite threat. “There’s little science and a lot of politics in all of this,” he wrote in a Feb. 10 email. In a separate email, De Chino described the risk of tropilaelaps entering the U.S. as “very high” due to the “enormous” number of cargo ships from Asia arriving at the ports of California, Texas, and Florida: three states with tropi mite-friendly weather conditions. “Swarms of Asian bees arriving in containers would have an easy time establishing themselves in these areas. The enormous

LDC commissions pea protein isolate production facility in Yorkton

Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) has announced the start of commissioning for its new pea protein isolate (PPI) production facility in Yorkton. Alongside pea protein, LDC will also commercialize pea fiber and a proprietary pea starch produced at the new Yorkton facility, for the pet food, building materials and paper industries. Strategically located in one of the world’s largest pea-producing regions, at the site of LDC’s existing oilseeds processing complex, the new pea protein isolate plant is expected to employ some 60 people by the end of 2026, states a news release issued by LDC. The facility is currently in its commissioning phase, covering both wet and dry processing, which will be completed over the next couple of months, with commercial volumes expected to be available by mid-June, says LDC. The site will be among the largest pea processing facilities in North America, serving key segments of the plant-based market, including high-protein beverages and powder mixes, dairy alter

Groups call for mandatory labeling of genetically engineered pork products

No laws in Canada mandate specific labels for genetically engineered foods

Reinforcing Market Support at IAOM Latin America Conference

Engaging, learning, and networking were top of mind for attendees at the International Association of Operative Millers’ (IAOM) 49th Latin American Region Annual Conference and Expo, held in February in Guadalajara, Mexico. Lisa Nemeth, Cereals Canada director of market support and training, was among the presenters at the event, which attracted over 280 milling professionals from twenty-five countries. Nemeth presented on the quality of Canadian cereals, the Canadian quality assurance system, and the market support that Cereals Canada delivers to its customers. Nemeth shared that customers were happy to see Canadian cereals represented at the conference. On average, Canada exports 5.9 million tonnes of non-durum wheat to Latin America per year. Over the last five years, the largest markets in the region for Canadian cereals were Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico. “Latin America loves Canadian cereals,” said Nemeth. “Mexico is an important market for Canada Western Red Spring (CWR

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service