Dairy Farm Sustainability Award winner, Clovermead Farms

The Whale family farms in Alma, Ontario and has been doing so for seven generations. Dedicated community members, their philosophy is not just to take care o...

Rating:

Currently 5/5 stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Get Embed Code

Tags:

Latest Videos

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by OntAG Admin on July 18, 2014 at 4:33am: Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is pleased to announce that Clovermead Farms, Inc. in Alma, Ontario, owned and operated by the Whale family, won the Dairy Farmers Sustainability Award, sponsored by DeLaval Canada.

Clovermead Farms’ philosophy is not just to take care of the land, but to improve it. The farm is a living example of what happens when the triple bottom line is considered – environmental responsibility, social equity and financial viability.

“Since its inception in 2011, this award recognizes dairy farmers with innovative sustainable practices that improve the social, environmental and economic impact of dairy farming in Canada,” said DFC president, Wally Smith. “We are pleased to take this opportunity to award an Ontario family farm who are striving to protect and improve our environment.”

“Sustainability is an integral part of our dairy industry and DeLaval is committed to help dairy farmers’ efforts in becoming more efficient and profitable with less impact on the environment,” stated Andrew Ritchie, managing director, DeLaval Inc. - Canada. “DeLaval is proud to offer Canadian farmers with solutions to optimize efficiencies and sustainability on their farms.’’

Accepting the award today on behalf of Clovermead Farms, Inc. was Korb and Kelly Whale. Seventh generation farmers, Korb and Kelly, own this farm with Korb’s parents, Bruce and Deborah Whale.

“I am honoured to accept this award on behalf of our entire family,” said Korb Whale. “We are absolutely committed to continue using technology and techniques to produce food on our farm while improving the world we live in. We have the ambition of working towards a carbon-neutral farm.”

The selection committee, consisting of nine sustainability experts, was particularly impressed with the Whale’s efforts in producing electricity, bedding and high quality fertilizer by using an anaerobic digester that turns cow manure into biogas. Additionally, the Whale family is committed to maintaining a minimum of 10% of their land base as wildlife habitat and forest, with wildlife corridors made of tree rows to connect woodlots and streams.

The finalists' profiles and a video of the winners’ farm are available on the DFC website.

The other three finalists, Dykstra Farms, (Knowlesville, New Brunswick), Ferme Clobert Inc. (Saint-Bonaventure, Quebec) and Bakerview EcoDairy (Abbotsford, British Columbia), will receive a trophy and a $1,000 prize during the upcoming annual general meeting of their respective provinces.

Source: Dairy Farmers of Canada

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

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

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service