AALP Class 14 North American Study Tour - July 10, 2012

We welcome a lost sheep back to the fold

Michel Dignard, who could not be with us for the first three days of the tour met us in Newark and we are all very happy he did make it for the balance of the program. Our bus left Newark this morning with a full schedule of visits to a number of organic and sustainable agricultural operations in Pennsylvania.

Our first stop was at Peace Tree Farm operated by Lloyd and Candy Traven. The family business has been in operation for 31 years. The large greenhouse operation is specializes in unique and hard to find plants which include cuttings and organic herbs. Peace Tree is very innovative using modern technology. Lloyd’s expertise is demanded at various conferences around North America each year. Technology here includes a computerized and automated watering system. The AALP group had a fascinating tour with a man who has the green thumb to complement his technology.

Our second stop this morning was to a sustainable cattle ranch operation, Tussock Sedge Farm. Our hosts Henry and Charlotte Rosenberger explained their operation including their connection with PASA Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. The name of their farm is taken from the sedge (a type of grass) that is used to prevent soil erosion at the nearby creeks. They see their operation as preserving the farm land. The beef operation is a rotational grazed 90 cow and calf Angus & Devon cross cattle which are grass fed.

Our final stop was Lundale Farm Foundation and Turning Roots Farm, a project linking farmland and new farmers. These new farmers were looking to developing a CSA model with an educational component. The operation has been set up as a sustainable, biodynamic and organic operation. They are building relationships with local restaurants for their products as well as selling at farmers markets’ while also looking into roadside sales as a face to face marketing goal.

Community Share Agriculture provides consumers with direct access to local and organic foods grown by an organic farm. The CSA model in most cases provides a family with fresh produce on a weekly basis of typical seasonal produce. The box can have a variety of produce and varying quantities depending on weather, seasonality and other variables known in farming. The CSA box program usually runs from May-November and is pre-paid in advance or on a weekly basis depending on the farm.

Todd Austin, Andrew Miller, Paul Vickers - Class 14

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by Melanie Williams on July 12, 2012 at 4:05am: Sounds great! It would be interesting to see how Turning Roots Farm compares to Ontario programs such as FarmLINK and what ideas could be shared.

RSS

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

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.

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service