Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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 created by techtonic movement, volcanic eruption, sea regression and erosion from rain and sea water. It was beautiful on the inside, with a sparkling ceiling and stalactites.


After exploring the caves, we enjoyed an assorted buffet brunch, another delicious meal on the boat while we headed back to shore. We disembarked at 11:30 and started our four-hour bus ride back to Hanoi.

During the first half of our bus ride we had a Sponsor Spotlight from classmates, Kevin and Rebecca. They taught us more about Robinson Organization and Consulting Group, who taught us Gridworks during our first seminar. They help organizations and companies work together to implement change and help instill a common base of values.

After the Sponsor Spotlight, we participated in two facilitated discussions during which we shared with the class the most interesting/random thing we've seen on our study tour so far and things we've observed that are both the same and different as Canada. We talked a lot about the different food we have seen and random items being carried on scooters, as well as our shared values and surprising similarities and differences in agriculture between Vietnam and Canada, like our grocery shopping habits. Most Vietnamese pick up the food they are going to use fresh every day from a local market.


We stopped at Legend Pearl Farm to learn about the process of pearl farming and had a chance to browse the showroom and purchase authentic pearl jewellery made from the farm. There are three types of pearls, Akoya (classic) South Sea (white) and Tahiti (dark). Naturally, they take about ten years to form; however, on the farm they can speed up the process to five years.

We met Dr. Dao Xuan Cuong at our hotel to learn about the Syngenta corporation and Syngenta foundation in Vietnam which does extensive work to help farmers in Vietnam with sustainability, pesticide safety, and profitability.

We ended the night, and our time in Hanoi, with a buffet dinner at a local restaurant where we could interact with the locals.

Views: 486

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

Pulse Market Insight #289

Big Risks Dampen Price Signals for 2026 Crop This is the time of year when new-crop bids for pulses usually start showing up, but not always. It’s not just the actual price that signals how urgently buyers are looking to lock in acres; the timing of new-crop bids is also an indicator. For example, I recall years when new-crop bids for peas or lentils already started to show up in October, almost a year before the next crop is harvested. That happened when pea and lentil supplies were very short and importers wanted to ensure they would have access to next year’s crops. In general though, the first new-crop bids are often seen in late December or early January. One rule of thumb some people use is the Saskatoon Crop Production Show in mid-January as the “real start” of the contracting season. But this year, it seems that new-crop bids are even scarcer than usual, with a few possible reasons. The first is that overseas buyers aren’t very concerned about locking in next year’s supplie

CN Marks Record December, Annual Grain Movement

Canadian National Railway set a new benchmark for grain movement in December, capping off a record-breaking year. The railway said Friday it moved more than 2.82 million tonnes of grain from Western Canada in December, marking its fourth consecutive monthly record and surpassing the previous December high set in 2020 by more than 80,000 tonnes. The strong December performance also helped CN establish a new annual record for grain shipments in 2025. In Western Canada alone, CN moved over 31.3 million tonnes of grain during the year, exceeding the previous record of 30.9 million set in 2020. Across all of Canada, total grain volumes across CN’s network reached more than 32.7 million tonnes, breaking the prior record of 32.25 million established in 2024. CN attributed the record volumes to a combination of large Canadian grain crops and steady execution throughout the supply chain. Janet Drysdale, CN’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer, said consistent operat

ROI announces the Community Well-being Dashboard in Ontario’s two official languages

The Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) is pleased to announce the Rural Community Well-Being Dashboard and supporting factsheets will be made available in Ontario’s two official languages in the spring of 2026.

Chicago Close: Little Changed in Pre-Report Positioning

Corn, wheat, and soybean futures were little changed on Thursday as traders continued to position ahead of key USDA reports to be released on Monday. 

GFO Rejoins Grain Growers of Canada

Almost six years after parting ways, Grain Farmers of Ontario has rejoined Grain Growers of Canada, marking a renewed push for a more unified national voice as Canada’s grain sector navigates mounting economic and policy pressures. 

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service