Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Howdy from Texas

AALP Class 17 arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and were greeted by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, the leadership program director and professor of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Jim is also the director of Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL). Jim gave the group at brief history of Texas, and outlined the importance of agriculture to the Texas economy. Jim noted that Texas is the second largest agricultural state, with cattle being the largest commodity -- 90% of farmers have 100 cows or less. Texas is home to over 11 million head of cattle. Jim spoke of dairy farmers moving from California to Texas due to ever-increasing regulations and costs, “Texas is wide open for business," says Jim. Another memorable quote from Jim was, “leadership is about building bridges and making contacts and leaving the world a better place than we found it."

Following lunch we got back on the bus for a tour of Houston. The tour was given by Keith, who was very funny. It was an interesting view of Houston that we would not have seen on our own. The highlight of the ride was the water wall in downtown Houston. It is actually a water cooling system that was architecturally beautiful. Houston is the 4th largest city in America. Houston does not have any zoning rules. Keith showed us how that makes for some very interesting neighbourhoods. One of the homes we saw was made out of beer cans!

The day ended with dinner at the Aquarium Restaurant where we were able to dine under the sea surrounded by magnificent marine life. We all over ate and left feeling very satisfied. This was a great start to our Texas Adventure, y’all.

Views: 132

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

Fertilizer Canada responds to U.S. tariff threat

The U.S. can’t increase its fertilizer production overnight, Fertilizer Canada says

Saskatchewan Pulse Growers Welcomes Three Directors to Board

Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG) is pleased to announce the results of its Board of Directors election, following the close of voting on November 28. The election brings one new Director to the board while retaining two Directors for another term. Joining the SPG Board is Dan Flynn of Lucky Lake. SPG welcomes back Robyn Henry of Hodgeville and Stuart Lawrence of Rosetown, who were both re-elected. The newly elected Directors will officially join SPG’s Board in January 2026, following the organization’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). “On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Dan, Robyn, and Stuart,” says SPG Chair Winston van Staveren. “Each elected member brings valuable experience, expertise, and diverse perspectives that represent a wide range of growing regions across the province. I also want to thank all the candidates who put their names forward. The increased level of engagement and strong slate of candidates this year was positive to see.” Van Staveren also ack

Pulse Market Insight #287

Big Crops But No Surprises From StatsCan The long-awaited 2025 yield and production estimates from StatsCan were released this week but were a bit anticlimactic; anyone looking for a surprise in the numbers would have been disappointed. Yes, crops were certainly larger this year but that was already expected. During harvest, reports of very large yields kept coming in, well above StatsCan’s August and September numbers. As a result, this month’s higher yield estimates from StatsCan were anticipated. In fact, it would have been a shock if the yield numbers hadn’t changed. These latest estimates from StatsCan were based on a large farmer survey conducted in November and confirmed the positive harvest results. In fact, they may have understated the actual yields, as they sometimes do. The StatsCan numbers show the total 2025 pulse crop at 8.22 mln tonnes, a jump of more than 2 million tonnes from last year and the largest production since 2016/17. There were differences for each of the

Alberta Grains and Western Crop Innovations Launch Three-Year Agreement to Strengthen Barley Breeding in Alberta

Alberta Grains (AG) and Western Crop Innovations (WCI) have signed a new three-year Breeding and Technician Chair agreement to advance feed barley breeding in Alberta. Announced at the Alberta Grains Regional Meeting in Lacombe, the partnership represents a $600,000 investment from Alberta Grains, delivered at $200,000 per year, to fund a breeder and senior technician dedicated to high-impact barley research and variety development. Strengthening the Future of Public Plant Breeding in Canada Cereal breeding in Canada has long relied on public funding, but the landscape is rapidly shifting. With the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) moving forward on Seed Regulatory Modernization and farmers urging Prime Minister Carney’s government to recognize agriculture’s economic importance, the need for sustainable public plant breeding has become a national discussion. At the same time, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) faces budget reductions and plans to exit variety development i

Maizex Seeds Invests in the Future of Seed Corn Production in Canada

Maizex Seeds, the seed division of Sollio Agriculture, announces the groundbreaking of a major $8.8 million investment in a new seed corn processing and packaging plant at their Blenheim, Ontario, facility. Maizex Seeds is a national company producing and selling corn and soybean seeds to farmers from coast to coast in Canada under the Maizex brand. The company also sells forage seeds and cereal varieties to farmers in eastern Canada and recently introduced several canola hybrids.

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service