Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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 bus were excited to visit McGill for the first time – especially the Macdonald Campus where their primary dairy research is conducted. Nestled on 250 hectares of farm land, this campus is home to 2,000 students in both diploma and university degree programs. The campus is designed for students to obtain practical experience in their degree programs. Elsa Vasseur, Assistant Professor in the Animal Science Department, described one of their main research programs, Proaction, which is working to determine what appropriate housing is required for a cow’s maximum comfort, longevity and locomotion.

Chantal Charette, Dairy Unit Manager of the MacDonald Campus Farm, provided the class with the background of the dairy barn that consists of Holsteins, Brown Swiss and Jerseys with 92 kg of quota total. What's her secret to success? Immunityplus, a reproductive typing offered by Semex allows you to select sires that have the highest health scores to ensure calves are born healthy and stay healthy.

Switching gears to biotechnology, Mark Lefsrud, Associate Professor who leads the Biomass Production Laboratory, discussed the many projects that McGill has been working on. One of the main research projects is to help greenhouse operators maximize efficiency both in North America as well as the Caribbean. Who knew that in Cuba those veggies have been picked for three weeks before they arrive? McGill wants to help developing countries be able to grow their own food through their greenhouse work.

McGill Feeding McGill is a great program where all the food produced on the farms goes into the cafeteria on the main campus. This is done in part by Valerie Gravel, Assistant Professor in the Plant Science Department, who works with strawberries and other horticulture products to determine stresses to the plant and how to mitigate these to improve yield.

After learning about the main research pillars of McGill, the class loaded the bus, stopped for a quick bite to eat and continued on to the L'Union des producteurs agricoles du Quebec (UPA) in downtown Montreal.

Quebec has a unique situation when it comes to the animal that supplies us with bacon. Quebec is the only province where the Éleveurs de porcs du Québec (the pork board) negotiates the price for both the producer and the buyer. The board also assumes income stability risk to ensure that the grower is making more money than their cost. As Gaëlle Leruste, Communications Advisor with Les Éleveurs de porcs du Québec, explained, this is a unique method of ensuring price protection and is a key factor for continuing growth in the pork industry.

Communications Director of UPA, Patrick Lareau, closed off the day with a few facts that makes Quebec farming unique:

  • 3 million acres of agriculture
  • 29,437 producers with an average of 279 acres per farm 
  • 12% of Quebec population works in agriculture
  • 64 dairy cattle/herd
  • 1 in 3 young farmers run his or her own business 
  • Most maple syrup is from Quebec: 71% of world’s production 
  • The large Christmas tree in downtown New York comes from a Quebec tree farm

As the class departed the UPA office, our trusty bus driver Nancy gave us a tour of downtown Montreal. This allowed us the opportunity to take in the sights and sounds of the city as well as experience the Montreal International Jazz Festival in the downtown core.

-Class 16

Views: 359

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

‘It’s another blow’: Farmers deal with surging fertilizer prices ahead of seeding

Fertilizer is an essential part of Kevin Peters’ farm in southwestern Manitoba. But since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran, the average price of urea fertilizer, which is widely used around the world, has skyrocketed, surging around 30 per cent over the last week. Peters says the interruption in supply didn’t come as a huge surprise to him. “We deal with geopolitical issues all the time with markets, be it pork, be it grain, and now fertilizer,” he said. “There’s always some disruption seeming to happen somewhere in the world that is changing our daily prices.” Peters says he pre-purchased his fertilizer for this farming season back in the fall but is concerned about prices later this year when he has to buy fertilizer again. “We’ll see what the market looks like in eight months,” he said. Like Peters, Andrew James also pre-bought his fertilizer in the fall for his farm in Anola, Man., and he says he is happy he did. “My fertilizer bill for that (at the time) was around $350,00

From a Piece of Wire to Contaminated Feed: Preventing Foreign Material Hazards in Beef Cattle Operations

Foreign material and toxin consumption by beef cattle can lead to significant health problems, reduced performance and economic losses. Canadian cattle producers take great pride and care in how they manage their farms and ranches, from providing proper nutrition to stewarding their land and ensuring excellent animal care. Yet even with the best intentions, foreign materials and toxins can quietly find their way into feed, water or pastures. Understanding where they come from and how to prevent exposure is a key part of protecting your herd. Foreign materials and toxins often slip in through everyday farm activities such as repairing fences, running equipment, feeding hay or dealing with weather-stressed crops. A small piece of wire, leftover net wrap or contaminated feed source might not seem like much, but if consumed by cattle, it can trigger health issues, lost performance or even death. Understanding Hardware Disease When cattle consume sharp metal objects like nails or pieces

Farmers Balance Costs and Technology Investments - Tractor Sales Down

Tractor sales fell across most categories in February, but strong combine demand highlights farmers’ continued investment in productivity boosting technology.

Crude Oil and Natural Gas Outlook - What Farmers Need to Know in 2026–2027

Brent crude prices surge as Middle East conflict disrupts supply. See the 2026–2027 outlook for oil, natural gas, and electricity—and what it means for U.S. agriculture

Principal field crop areas, 2026

Canadian farmers expect to plant more canola, barley, soybeans and corn for grain in 2026, while they anticipate area seeded to wheat, oats, lentils and dry peas to decrease compared with the previous year. Wheat At the national level, farmers anticipate planting 26.7 million acres of wheat in 2026, down 1.1% from the previous year. If this anticipation is realized, national wheat area would remain well above the five-year average, despite a decrease from 2025, which would likely be attributable to continued strong global demand. Producers expect spring wheat area to edge down 0.1% to 18.8 million acres in 2026. They anticipate durum wheat area to decrease 2.4% to 6.4 million acres, while they expect winter wheat area to fall 6.7% to 1.6 million acres. Farmers in Saskatchewan anticipate planting 13.9 million acres of wheat in 2026, down 1.0% from the previous year. Producers expect spring wheat area to fall 0.6% to 8.7 million acres, while they anticipate durum wheat area to remain

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service