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

U.S. Opens Door to Additional Beef Imports in Bid to Lower Ground Beef Prices

U.S. has unveiled a temporary measure allowing additional imported beef into the United States without higher tariff penalties.

Crop Report for the Period August 11 to 17, 2026

Harvest progress remained slow last week, reaching four per cent complete as scattered rain showers and thunderstorms moved across the province. While the moisture was welcome in some regions, early-morning humidity shortened harvest windows and created poor desiccation conditions. Producers noted that warmer temperatures are needed to help advance crop maturity. Rainfall was variable across the province last week. Some areas reported receiving significant precipitation from scattered showers and thunderstorms, while others recorded trace or no rainfall, resulting in uneven moisture conditions across crop districts. The highest rainfall was reported in the Browning area, with 115 millimetres (mm) of rain, followed by the Enniskillen area with 106 mm and the Coalfields area with 102 mm. The Reciprocity and Meadow Lake areas reported 73 mm. Localized showers resulted in slight improvements to topsoil moisture conditions across the province. Cropland topsoil moisture is: 2 per cent s

Hail, harvest & inspection strips

With harvest fast approaching in some areas of the province, producers with hail-damaged crops are starting to wonder if Agriculture Financial Services’ (AFSC) claims adjusters will make it to their farm before they need to start harvest. “Our adjusters are working hard to assess hail damage,” said George Kueber, AFSC Claims Adjusting manager. “This year’s storm season is a bit unprecedented. We had two large scale hail events back-to-back on July 4 and 5. We haven’t had claims volumes like this since 2016. “We can’t get to everyone immediately,” said Kueber, adding that there are 2,951 outstanding hail inspections as of August 18. “We prioritize our work based on a number of factors and with harvest getting underway across the province, we will be asking clients to leave representative strips.” Producers with hail-damaged acres can harvest before the crop is assessed, provided they contact their preferred AFSC branch office for approval to leave inspection strips before starting a

Making memories with Meals in the Field

It started over breakfast. And by the time it was over, George and Gail Slusarczyk had welcomed a circle of their friends to their farm to share a meal, watch some live entertainment, and to catch up with one another. “I filled out the form over breakfast one day and submitted it, and walked away from the idea to never think of it again,” explained Gail, during a recent phone conversation. “Then one day, he (George) came in the house and said, ‘We’re getting company.’ And I’m going, ‘Who?’” The answer was the 840 CFCW Meals in the Field crew, including Jackie Rae Greening, Stella Stevens and Dan Davidson, as well as Agriculture Financial Services (AFSC) team members. In addition, Stawnichy’s Mundare Sausage brought a Ukrainian feast, and the Slusarczyks received prizes from Rig Hand Distillery, AFSC, and Meridian Manufacturing. George and Gail, who farm northwest of Warburg, had won the last spot for 2025 in the popular harvest season contest, and they could now invite friends and

Bertha Armyworms, Weeds and Sclerotinia

Bertha armyworm is a native pest so it has lots of natural enemies. If berthas are below thresholds, it may be best to avoid spraying and let these beneficials do their work. A few important beneficials: –tachinid fly –parasitic wasp (Banchus flavescens) –fungus –virus Among these beneficials, the virus is mostly likely to bring down an outbreak cycle. Infected berthas climb to the top of plants, go all gooey, and rain down virus on the worms below. It can spread fast. If a canola field has a lot of berthas on the pods, make sure they’re actually eating. A lot of them may be dead. Bertha loves quinoa (and a few weeds) Why are some fields overrun with berthas while nearby fields have so few? Timing of canola flowering and the attraction of alternate host plants (weeds in the crop) are possible factors. For example, fields with a lot of kochia, lamb's-quarters, wild mustard or quinoa could be more attractive to egg-laying bertha armyworm moths. (Quinoa is not that common but bert

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service