Lessons In Farming

I'm a young farmer. I can say that now - especially since just a couple of weeks ago we moved out to one of our family farms. This is a house my great-grandfather built in the early 1900's, and is the farm where the dry cows and heifers are kept. My mom and dad are a few kilometres away at the farm I grew up in - where the milking cows are.

As I get settled on the farm, I thought I'd share some of my experiences. Along the way I'd invite any and all pieces of advice I can get - as I start my farming career.

Putting a live racoon trap in the barn is easy. Catching a racoon instead of a cat is much, much harder. All summer there was an influx of racoons around the farm so it is no surprise that a few have found their way into the warmth of the barn. I know there is at least one around, I saw him scurry away one night into the mow.

When you have a heated water bowl, test it before you need it. There are three water bowls that need to stay thawed out in order for all animals to have access to water. When we flipped the switch to all three - do you think any of them worked? Of course not. Luckily our electrician is a beef farmer and understands the urgency - so there is no need to run out with boiling water and hot towels. So far.

The idea that renovations takes twice as long as you expect them to is a lie. They take much longer. I'll leave it at that until we finish what will become the office.

I know that it may sound like I'm complaining -- I'm really not. It is great to be out of the city and onto the farm. City life is not for me, and I'm grateful to be here.

And if anyone has any tricks to catching a coon instead of a cat - I'm open to all ideas.

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by littlelamb on February 2, 2010 at 8:21am: Ahhh, the joys of farming...

Comment by Andrew Campbell on February 2, 2010 at 5:09am: You'll be happy to know I did catch him! I also caught a skunk though - so have taken a break from catching anything. The skunk was enough excitement for a while.

Comment by littlelamb on February 2, 2010 at 5:00am: We use peanut butter in the trap and got a coon. Not sure if the cats aren't attracted to it or not, but that day it worked for us. Now unless the three previous attempts caught my barn cat and he finally figured NOT to go in it and it was just luck or if the peanut butter worked. :)

Comment by Andrew Campbell on December 21, 2009 at 2:25am: The latest update is that after catching the same cat three times - he seems to have learned his lesson. Still no racoon though. May try moving the trap to a different spot.

Comment by rein minnema on December 18, 2009 at 12:07pm: Congratulation and good luck Andrew,
life is a learning curve, it will all fall in place.

Comment by Wayne Black on December 17, 2009 at 9:08am: The cat will not come back after you leave him in the trap for a few hours - unless it is domesticated (as compared to a "barn cat").
We used dog food (or cat food) and it was very successful... until the squirrel found out about it. the squirrel not only gets out, but it does come back.
Just leave a bit of cat food and as long as the same cat does not come back three times, you are good to go.

RSS

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

AFSC Extends Seeding Dates in Parts of Alberta After Wet Spring Delays

Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) is extending recommended seeding dates and crop insurance deadlines for several crops in parts of northern Alberta following an unusually wet and prolonged spring that has delayed field operations across the province. The changes apply for the 2026 growing season only and affect the North East, North West, and Peace regions. Above-average snowfall in April, lingering winter conditions, and continued rainfall through May have created excessive soil moisture in many areas, particularly across central, eastern, and northern Alberta, AFSC said in a release Monday. The wet conditions have slowed seeding progress and raised concerns that many producers may struggle to plant crops within the timelines required under AFSC’s crop insurance program, the release said. Crops with normal seeding deadlines between May 25 and June 1 were considered especially vulnerable to delays if rainy weather persists and fields remain inaccessible, it added. AFSC

Saskatchewan Producers Seek Clarity on Crop Insurance as Seeding Delays Persist

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) says it is working with the provincial Ministry of Agriculture and the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC) to provide producers with clearer guidance on crop insurance coverage as cold and wet conditions continue to delay spring seeding across the province. Saskatchewan seeding progress remains well behind normal levels. As of May 18, provincial planting was estimated at 29% complete, well behind 72% at the same time last year and the 10-year average of 52%. Progress has been especially slow in northeastern and northwestern regions, where wet field conditions have limited operations while recommended seeding dates continue to approach, said an APAS release Tuesday. SCIC recently issued additional guidance confirming that crops remain insurable up to the final seeding deadline of June 20. Losses that are not related to the seeding date, like drought, disease, wind, and hail, are all insured. However, SCIC also

Canadian Farm Income Falls Again in 2025 Despite Record Cash Receipts

Canadian farmers recorded another difficult year for profitability in 2025, as rising expenses and relatively flat crop returns offset a strong performance from livestock. New figures released by Statistics Canada Wednesday showed realized net farm income slipped 0.3% to $8.3 billion in 2025. The modest decline follows on the heels of a much steeper 33.9% decline in 2024. Excluding cannabis, however, 2025 realized net farm income rose 9% to $9.6 billion. Realized net income measures the difference between farm cash receipts and operating expenses, adjusted for depreciation and income in kind. While profitability remained under pressure, Canadian farm cash receipts topped $100 billion for the first time since Statistics Canada began collecting the data in 1926. Total receipts climbed $4.5 billion or 4.7% on the year to a record $102.2 billion in 2025, led by strong gains in Ontario and Alberta. Livestock markets were the main driver behind the increase. Total livestock receipt

We'll 'start letting people go,' racetrack says if Ontario funding doesn't come through soon

The Fort Erie Race Track, which has employed locals for generations, fears it will have to lay off staff if provincial funding delays persist. “If we can’t get those purses up, if we can’t get horsemen … we have to start letting people go if we can’t keep the lights on,” James Culic, Fort Erie Race Track’s communications manager, told CBC Niagara. No immediate job is at risk, Culic says, but next year's budget may mean a different story. “We’re in a very tight spot," he says. The historic racetrack says the annual funding from the province, $35 million total across Ontario, has helped create summer jobs and fund purses — prize money distributed to groomers, trainers and owners of winning racehorses — in the last decade. Culic says the Ontario government is not the problem. In fact, he says they have been financially supporting the racetrack with recuperating revenue loss from slot machines that were removed in 2012. For this year, “everything was lined up with Ontario Racing and O

Experimental farm in Chatham-Kent celebrates its first harvest

The Ontario FangZheng Agriculture Enterprise has harvested its crop of medium-grain rice The Ontario FangZheng Agriculture Enterprise celebrated a milestone Friday, with producers harvesting the farm's first crop of medium-grain sticky rice. Farm manager Wendy Zhang said the experiment was a success, describing the harvested rice as "perfect." "We didn't get any disease or pest problem this year," she said. "The yield should be good — not excellent — because we still do not apply too much fertilizer."FangZheng relied on equipment supplied in part by Tri-Hark Farms to harvest the rice crop. Jim Hawkins, co-owner of Tri-Hawk Farms, said the rice crop looks promising. Despite the farm's successful harvest, John Zandstra, a professor of fruit and vegetable cropping systems at the University of Guelph's Ridgetown campus, explained that there's still quite a bit of work ahead for the initiative. New rice varieties, different planting methods, as well as different crop management strate

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service