Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Last day of the North American Study Tour and on the road again!

 

BrIght-eyed and bushy-tailed, Class 15 was up early and headed to Native Offerings Farms (NOF) in Little Valley, New York, an hour and a half outside of Painted Post. A few great "off the cuff" moments and a beautiful serenade by Linda made the time pass quickly.

At NOF, Deb and Stu Ritchie run a 180-acre farm and produce a variety of certified naturally-grown produce and offer farm- raised pork and locally-produced beef. We toured the barn, met some of their hogs and had the opportunity to ask some questions to a couple of fellow Ag Leadership enthusiasts: Deb is currently enrolled in NY's ag leadership program (LEAD New York) and her husband Stu graduated from the previous class. 

A quick drive and we were at 21 Brix Winery in Portland, New York, owned by Kris Kane, also a member of LEAD NY class 15. We toured and sampled some of their great wines with his employee Jay, a former LEAD New York 13 alumni. 21 Brix has only been in business for three years and are already producing 40,000 gallons of wine!  We are looking forward to coming back and visiting them and the 27 wineries that are on the wine trail that runs right through the valley.


Back on the bus and headed home.... We are excited to meet up again with Deb and Kris and the rest of the LEAD NY group at our next AALP seminar in Ottawa in October.  But in the meantime, back to the family and friends that support us and home for some much needed rest.

 

Views: 203

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

Canada Breaks Ground on Largest Carbon Capture Project, Creating Potential Opportunities for Agriculture

Canada has broken ground on what is expected to become the country's largest carbon capture and storage facility.

Conservatives commit to hold Liberals to account over research farms

The Conservatives have made the research farms a topic of discussion this summer

Trump bans Canadian dairy in latest trade war move

Additional executive orders, which comes into effect Sept. 29, include motorcycles and alcohol

I’m new to growing winter wheat; when should I seed it and should I seed deeper to reach moisture?

It is good timing for this question as winter wheat is being planted right now! Winter wheat used to be a common sight across Manitoba, with over 600,000 acres planted in 2013. Now, winter wheat acres average around 35,000 – 45,000 acres annually. That said, with improved genetics and its weed suppression benefits, winter wheat is starting to be tried by growers again. SEEDING DATE Seeding date is very important. For the best chance of winter survival, winter wheat should be around the 3-leaf/1-tiller stage going into freeze up, with a developed crown. Planting too late will result in small plant that will have a less developed crown. Planting too early will result in plants with too much growth going into winter, making them more susceptible to freeze injury. In Manitoba, the ideal seeding timing is between late August, into the first two weeks of September. In more norther regions, ideally winter wheat should be seeded by Sept. 15. That said, planting still can occur later than th

What is the difference between Fusarium and Gibberella in corn, and how do you identify them?

This isn’t as much a common question, but I ask myself this every year for clarification. The two diseases are really tricky to differentiate as both stalk and ear rots, so it is a perfectly valid discussion to have annually. Management of stalk rots Gibberella stalk rot is caused by the same pathogen that causes Fusarium head blight. It is a seedling pathogen, and can survive on crop residues for many years. It thrives in warm, wet conditions. Fusarium stalk rot can overwinter in infected seed, crop residues and in the soil. Prior to silking, Fusarium stalk rot prefers dry weather for infections, and following silking it functions best in wet weather. Ideal management practices may be hard to determine because they proliferation of the pathogen relies more on good soil moisture conditions rather than tillage or rotation. Selecting hybrids that have resistance to any other stalk rots can also provide some resistance to Fusarium stalk rot. Management of ear rots Gibberella ear rot ca

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service