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WYOMING COUPLE ONE OF THE FINALISTS FOR OUTSTANDING YOUNG FARMERS’ PROGRAM
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
From a Release - Guelph, ON – The finalists for the 2010 Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ (OOYF) competition have just been announced. Selected from a record number of 36 nominations, the top six farmers are:Steve and Lisa Cooper, horticulture, goats, agri-tourism, Zephyr
Matthew Fischer, turkeys, Listowel
Hugh and Arlene Hunter, dairy, Smith Falls
Katie Normet, goat cheese and soaps, Arthur
Anthony and Marj Sjaarda, dairy goats, Wyoming
Amy Strom, sweet corn, agri-tourism, Guelph
More information on the finalists can be found in the attached backgrounder or on the OOYF website at www.oyfontario.ca.
These six finalists now head to the Provincial Convention being held at the Ramada Hotel in Belleville from March 29 - 31th where their interview and presentations skills will be evaluated by a panel of judges. The winner will be announced at the Awards Banquet on Tuesday March 30th and amongst other benefits, will receive a trip to the National Awards Program, to be held in Victoria, British Columbia, this November.
Banquet tickets are available for $45 each by contacting Karen Daynard, OOYF Co-ordinator, at 519-836-2583 or kdaynard@sympatico.ca. Ticket sales end March 22.
Celebrating its 30th year, Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers’ program is an annual competition to recognize farmers that exemplify excellence in their profession and promote the tremendous contribution of agriculture, and rural Canada. Demonstrating leadership in the agricultural industry, nominees are judged according to the following criteria:
Progress made in their agriculture career
Environmental and safety practices
Crop and livestock production history
Financial and management practices
Contributions to the well-being of their community, province, nation
US RULE CALLS FOR MORE THAN 1 BILLION GALLONS OF BIODIESEL THIS YEAR
03/01/10
From Farms.com - St. Louis, MS - The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final regulations for the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) requires 1.15 billion gallons of biodiesel be used domestically by the end of 2010. This figure represents the sum of biomass-based diesel requirements for 2009 (500 million gallons) and 2010 (650 million gallons) included in the federal energy bill passed in 2007. Beginning in 2012, the RFS2 requirement for biodiesel will be at least 1 billion gallons per year.
According to the final rule, biodiesel, including biodiesel made from the U.S. soybean oil, reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50 percent compared with traditional petroleum-based diesel, thus qualifying it as an advanced biofuel.
“The RFS2 recognizes biodiesel’s ability to reduce carbon emissions as well as its place in our future energy solution,” said soybean checkoff farmer-leader Joel Thorsrud, a soybean farmer from Hillsboro, N.D., and a member of the United Soybean Board’s (USB) Domestic Marketing program. “It is important that this rule is based on accurate scientific data, which soybean checkoff-funded research helped demonstrate.”
Soybean Checkoff Supports Biodiesel Industry
Soybean oil remains the dominant feedstock for biodiesel production in the United States, and the soybean checkoff funds a large portion of the biodiesel research and promotion through the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). Thanks in part to these efforts, U.S. biodiesel production increased from 25 million gallons in 2004 to an estimated 475 million gallons in 2009. According to NBB, biodiesel represents the only advanced biofuel currently being produced in commercial-scale quantities nationwide.
Last year, the checkoff provided funding to NBB to conduct its Sustainability Analysis and Awareness project, which provided scientific research to clarify some of the misinformation about biodiesel and the concept of indirect land use change (ILUC). This concept threatened to exclude biodiesel from consideration as an advanced biofuel in the RFS2 by not giving it full credit for its ability to reduce carbon emissions. The project found several inaccuracies in the EPA’s methodologies and calculations.
Though the final rule includes ILUC in its calculations of life-cycle GHG emissions and its evaluation of biofuels, the methodology the EPA used in the final rule gives biodiesel credit for reducing GHG emissions by 57 percent. And one EPA analysis recognizes that biodiesel could reduce GHG emissions by as much as 85 percent.
“Support from USB and state checkoff organizations was vital to NBB’s ability to provide expert information on feedstock production, economic modeling and life-cycle analysis,” said NBB Chairman Ed Hegland, a soybean farmer from Appleton, Minn. “Their research provided sound science and accurate data.”
Biodiesel Brings Benefits to Environment, Economy
“Biodiesel carries significant advantages over imported petroleum diesel,” Thorsrud said. “Continued supply of Middle East oil is always in doubt, but producing it here ensures availability of fuel. Additionally, the biodiesel industry provides a boost for the U.S. and rural economies, generating jobs and keeping the money at home instead of sending it abroad.”
Overall, the RFS2 calls for 36 million gallons of renewable fuels to be used by the time it’s fully implemented in 2022. The EPA also expects the rule to offer numerous economic and environmental benefits between now and 2022, including:
Increasing U.S. net farm income by $13 billion, or more than 36 percent.
Reducing GHG emissions by 138 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 127 million vehicles off the road.
The displacement of about 13.6 billion gallons of petroleum-based gasoline and diesel, or about 7 percent of anticipated motor fuel consumption.
A decrease of $41.5 billion worth of oil imports.
A decrease in fuel prices of 2.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 12.1 cents per gallon for diesel.
USB is made up of 68 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.
SOCIAL NETWORKING WORKS FOR FARMERS
03/01/10
While technology has transformed production methods, it's also transforming the way farmers connect to others. Consider the rapidly growing cadre of Ohio agriculturalists using social media.
"It has an appeal for farmers because it's a great way to connect with a consumer without having to go through the (traditional) media," says Dan Toland, an Ohio Farm Bureau Federation communications specialist instrumental in educating farmers about Twitter, Facebook and other tools. "They're finding it's a great way to get their message out."
Indiana-based ag advocate Michele Payn-Knoper agrees.
"One of the downfalls we have in agriculture is we're not really good at telling people what we do" at a time when fewer people live on farms, she says.
Payn-Knoper has observed a new willingness among farmers to tell their own stories -- and an eagerness to connect with each other. Every Tuesday evening, 100 to 200 farmers from around the world use Twitter to participate in her two-hour Ag Chat, an online conversation on various ag topics.
"Over a two-hour period, we see anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 tweets."
One of Ag Chat's frequent participants is Mike Haley, who claims the largest number of Twitter followers of any Ohio farmer -- more than 6,400.
Haley, a Wayne County grain producer who also manages 30 head of Simmental, says he began using social media last year after attending a Farm Bureau meeting of young agricultural professionals. There, he says, he learned about the tactics being used by anti-livestock groups to spread misinformation.
He says the beauty of social media is that they can be used to connect directly with people who know nothing about farming issues -- without the filters that often exist.
Witness the Facebook page "Yellow Fail," created by farmers outraged by Yellow Tail's $100,000 donation last year to the Humane Society of the United States -- an organization they say misleads the public into thinking donations go for animal shelters when, instead, the focus is elimination of animal agriculture. (Haley acknowledges that "I'm doing most of the tweets from that account.")
Haley says social media are also an ideal way to connect with farmers who pursue, as Payn-Knoper puts it, "a fairly lonely business." Haley has built a database that other farming tweeps can mine to connect with others in the industry.
Finally, social media is a tool to do what motivates every farmer -- making a living.
Bill Bakan runs Maize Valley Market and Winery in Hartsville. His official title is "Fun Tsar." He writes a blog and uses YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to build and maintain his brand.
Baken says when you get down to it, "everything turns out to be market driven" and all business is about relationships. Social media is about building and maintaining them.
"Word of mouth is powerful," he says. People "are more likely to believe a comment posted on Facebook or something on Twitter that they have from a friend, fan or follower than they are about something pushed out from a PR firm."
Chatham-Kent farmers are invited to a free seminar on social media on at 8 a.m., Thursday, March 11, at Smitty's Pancake House, Grand Avenue W. in Chatham. They are being asked to call either 1.866.542.5994 or 519.351.7700 x 2031 to pre-register.
CELEBRATE NUTRITION MONTH WITH ONTARIO PORK
03/01/10
From a Release - Guelph, ON — Ontario Pork is celebrating March as Nutrition Month and is encouraging consumers to choose pork as part of a healthy diet. In addition to providing variety and flavour to a balanced diet, fresh pork contains essential nutrients including thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, phosphorus, protein, zinc and potassium.
“Consumers may be surprised to learn that certain cuts of pork are just as lean and healthy as a chicken breast or fish”, says Kimberly Green, Ontario Pork’s Registered Dietitian. She recommends choosing the leaner cuts of pork like tenderloin, boneless or bone-in loin chops and pork roasts. Canada’s Food Guide suggests two to three 75 gram (2.5 oz) servings of Meat and Alternatives each day for adults and one to two servings for children.
This year’s national Nutrition Month theme is “celebrate food...from field to table”. Knowing more about the food we eat – where it comes from, how it’s produced, and what nutritional benefits it provides are important considerations for a healthy lifestyle. Pork produced in Ontario is of the highest quality and adheres to strict safety standards. Animals are fed a diet rich in vitamins and minerals that consists primarily of grains (corn and soy) and all ingredients must be approved under the Canadian Feeds Act and Regulations.
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To view these articles online, please visit us on the web at
http://www.ridgetownc.com/agrilink/agrilink..._scoops.cfm
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TekTalk
WEED KILLER CAN TURN MALE FROGS INTO FEMALES, STUDY FINDS
03/01/10
From the Globe and Mail
Researchers in the United States say they have turned male frogs into females by exposing the amphibians to tiny amounts of atrazine, a weed killer widely used on corn fields in Canada and often found in water supplies in agricultural areas.
The chemically induced sex change occurred by dosing frogs at concentrations of the herbicide 50 per cent below Health Canada's guideline for drinking water.
When the amphibians that had been chemically turned into females copulated with other male frogs that weren't given the herbicide, they laid eggs and all the resulting tadpoles were males.
The discovery that in an experimental setting atrazine induces sex changes in frogs is likely to further increase the controversy over the chemical, which has been banned in Europe because it contaminates ground water but is one of the most commonly used herbicides in North America.
The finding was based on a study led by researchers at the University of California Berkeley and released today online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a major peer-reviewed U.S. journal. The study concluded that the males had been “chemically castrated” and “completely feminized.”
“There is no question that atrazine completely sex-reversed genetic [chromosome] males, resulting in reproductively functional females,” it said.
The lead researcher, Tyrone Hayes, a professor of developmental endocrinology at the university, said the possibility that a herbicide can skew reproduction in frogs represents a potential new threat to the amphibians, whose populations are dwindling in many parts of the world.
“Everybody is focusing on things that kill frogs in terms of global amphibian decline, but you can easily imagine a population going extinct just because they don't breed properly,” Dr. Hayes said.
All the atrazine sold in Canada is made by Syngenta AG, a Swiss-based seed and pesticide producer that has previously disputed findings that the herbicide hazardous. “We stand behind the safety of our product,” said Judy Shaw, a company spokesperson.
She said Syngenta hasn't seen the latest research and isn't yet in a position to comment on it.
Atrazine has been dogged by controversy since the late 1980s, when it was found to cause mammary tumours in one strain of laboratory rats, a discovery followed by contested research indicating it may have gender bending impacts on amphibians and other types of animals.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently re-evaluating the safety of the weed killer based on concerns it is polluting groundwater and may be a human health hazard. But in 2007 it rejected the view that the chemical can alter the sexual development of amphibians, in part because research hasn't consistently detected these effects.
Health Canada also conducted a review of atrazine released in 2007 that concluded the chemical doesn't “entail an unacceptable risk to the environment.”
But it is looking at the new research. “Health Canada is monitoring new findings on atrazine and will take additional regulatory action if necessary to protect human health and the environment,” it said in a response to the study.
Regulators typically don't react immediately to new studies until their effects are confirmed by other scientists, which would give the results added weight.
Some researchers are skeptical about the sex change finding. The study speculated atrazine causes frogs to increase the amount of a key enzyme known as aromatase, that converts testosterone to estrogen.
“That theory doesn't stand up to closer examination,” contends Keith Solomon, a professor of environmental biology at the University of Guelph. He said that previous testing hasn't found aromatase increases “in well-conducted laboratory studies.”
In the new study, the researchers exposed a group of male African clawed frogs, a commonly used laboratory species, to 2.5 parts per billion of atrazine from hatching onward, and another male group to none of the chemical.
Of the 40 exposed male frogs, four were turned into females, four were normal males, and the rest were emasculated, with decreased testosterone levels, feminized larynxes, and decreased sperm production. None of the so-called control animals experienced gender changing impacts.
A part per billion is an extremely small amount, the equivalent of one second or elapsed time over a 32-year period. The experimental dose used was below Canada's drinking water guideline of 5 ppb, but above the safe wildlife exposure standard of 1.8 ppb. Figures contained in Health Canada's 2007 atrazine evaluation found concentrations in groundwater of up to 1.2 ppb.
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To view these articles online, please visit us on the web at
http://www.ridgetownc.com/agrilink/agrilink_...tektalk.cfm
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AgriLink Upcoming Events
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Event - Environmental Farm Plan Meeting-Lambton-Day Two-Mar. 9 Date - March 2, 2010 Time - 9:30 AM Place - Wyoming Legion Contact Name - OSCIA at 519-826-4214 Website - www.ontariosoilcrop.org/EFP/EFP.htm
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Event - Does It Pay? Tools to Answer Your Own Farm Electricity Questions, One day short course Date - March 2, 2010 Place - Clinton Contact Name - Julie VanMol
ph: 519-674-1575
Email - jvanmol@ridgetownc.uoguelph.ca
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Event - CAFA Meeting Date - March 3, 2010 Time - 7:30 AM Place - Chatham, Satellite Restaurant, King St. W. Contact Name - Ron Vandehogen, 519 676-9849 Email - ron.vandehogen@sunlife.com
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Event - Seed Corn Growers of Ontario Annual Meeting Date - March 3, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Blenheim, Deer Run Golf Course, 19605 Bloomfield Road Contact Name - Mary Lynn Lister Santavy
Executive Director
SEED CORN GROWERS OF ONTARIO
825 Park Avenue West
Chatham, Ontario N7M 5J6
Phone: 519-352-6710
Fax: 519-352-0526 Email - msantavy@seedcorngrowers.on.ca
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Event - Elgin County Conference Series: Evolution of the Harvest Date - March 3, 2010 Place - Elgin County Contact Name - 519-631-1260 ext 164
Website - www.progressivebynature.com
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Event - Environmental Farm Plan Meeting for Kent, Day Two-Mar 10 Date - March 3, 2010 Time - 9:30 AM Place - Ridgetown Contact Name - Ron Faubert 519-352-1285 Email - kent@ontariosoilcrop.org
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Event - Careers in Green Energy Summit Date - March 4, 2010 Time - 9:30 AM Place - RDC bldg, Ridgetown Campus, UoG Contact Name - 519-967-9957 Email - Karen.Mingay@chathamkentworkforce.com
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Event - District 1 Sheep meeting , Date - March 4, 2010 Time - 8:00 PM Place - Coldstream Community Centre Contact Name - Bill Duffield
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Event - s CFFO SEMINAR SERIES - Consumer Trends, Farmer Choices Date - March 4, 2010 Time - 10:00 AM Place - Four Points Sheraton, 1150 Wellington Road South, London Contact Name - CFFO office
P: 519-837-1620 Fax: 519-824-1835 Email - jenny@christianfarmers.org Website - www.christianfarmers.org
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Event - Ontario Veal Association Annual Meetng Date - March 5, 2010
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Event - LAMBTON COUNTY WOODLOT OWNER ASSOCIATION ANNUAL Date - March 6, 2010 Time - 1:00 PM Place - Brooke Alvinston Inwood Community Centre Complex Contact Name - Frank Gustin Ph: (519) 882-0946 Email - gustinfrankandgail@sympatico.ca Alt Contact Name - Donald Craig Ph: (519) 695-2028 Alt Email - dcraigtreeman@sympatico.ca
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Event - Agri-Energy Producers’ Association of Ontario Annual Meeting Date - March 8, 2010 Time - 5:00 PM Place - London Hilton, 300 King Street, London Contact Name - Ag Business Centre, Ridgetown ON
Phone: 519 674 1592 Fax: 519 674 1512
Email - abc@ridgetownc.uoguelph.ca Alt Contact Name - T: 613 838 6505 F: 613 838 6505 C: 613 883 6505 Alt Email - nfoss@apao.ca Alt Website - www.apao.ca
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Event - Grain Farmers of Ontario Annual Meeting & Conference Date - March 8,2010 to March 9, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - London Convention Centre
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Event - 4th Annual Growing the Margins Conference Date - March 8,2010 to March 12, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - London Convention Centre Contact Name - First Stage Enterprises; 416-426-7029 Website - www.gtmconference.ca
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Event - Western Fair Farm Show Date - March 10,2010 to March 12, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - Western Fair Grounds, London Contact Name - (800) 619-4629 or (519) 438-7203 Website - http://www.westernfair.com/shows/farm.html
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Event - Understanding (and Embracing) Social Media, for Your Business, Free Seminar Date - March 11, 2010 Time - 8:00 AM Place - Smitty’s Pancake House, 307 Grand Avenue West, Chatham Contact Name - Andrea Duchene of Chatham-Kent Economic Development Services at 1.866.542.5994 / 519.351.7700, ext. 2031
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Event - Emergency First Aid/ CPR course Date - March 13, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Ridgetown Campus, University of Guelph Contact Name - KFA office 519-674-1595 Email - kent@ofa.on.ca
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Event - PERMIT TO TAKE WATER - WORKSHOP Date - March 23, 2010 Time - 10:00 AM Place - Dresden Contact Name - 1-877-424-1300
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Event - Does It Pay? Tools to Answer Your Own Farm Electricity Questions Date - March 23, 2010 Place - Vineland Station Contact Name - Julie VanMol
ph: 519-674-1575 Email - jvanmol@ridgetownc.uoguelph.ca
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Event - Ontario Sugarbeet Growers Association Annual Meeting Date - March 24, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Wyoming Fairgrounds Contact Name - Mary Lynn Lister Santavy, 519-352-6710 Email - osga@ciaccess.com
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Event - Grain Drying & Storage Workshop Date - March 25, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Sincoe Contact Name - Ag Business Centre, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus
1-866-222-9682 or 519-674-1592
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Event - Grain Drying & Storage Workshop Date - March 26, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Chatham Contact Name - Ag Business Centre, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus
1-866-222-9682 or 519-674-1592
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Event - “A Taste of Lambton-Kent” Gala Fundraising Dinner & Charity Date - March 26, 2010 Time - 6:00 PM Place - Ridgetown Campus, Willson Hall Contact Name - Dennis Bryson
Chair, Lambton - Kent Agriculture in the Classroom
Phone: 519.828.3311
Email - dline@xcelco.on.ca
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Event - Chatham Kent Association of Christian Farmers Annual Banquet Date - March 26, 2010 Time - 5:30 PM Place - Chatham, Smitty's Pancake House, Grand Ave. W. Contact Name - Jacques at 519-682-1057 Alt Contact Name - Jim at 519-692-3293
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Event - Local Food Connection: Farmer Food Buyer Networking Event Date - March 29, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - London Hunt and Country Club Contact Name - 519-232-9638 / 1-888-832-9638 Email - kareneatwell@execulink.com Website - www.ledc.com
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Event - 12th ANNUAL SOUTHWEST BEEF FOCUS Date - March 30, 2010 Time - 5:30 PM Place - Brooke Alvinston Inwood Community Centre Complex Contact Name - Margaret May 519-287-5334
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Event - Hazelnuts for Ontario Date - March 31, 2010 Time - 12:00 PM Place - Simcoe OMAFRA Resource Centre, 1283 Blueline Rd Simcoe Contact Name - 519-763-6160 x. 116
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Event - London Swine Conference Date - March 31,2010 to April 1, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - London Convention Centre Contact Name - Linda Dillon at 519-482-3333 Email - Linda.dillon@ontario.ca Website - http://www.londonswineconference.ca/
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Event - District 1 Sheep Meeting Date - April 4, 2010 Time - 8:00 PM Place - Coldstream Community Centre Contact Name - Bill Duffield
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Event - Grain Drying & Storage Workshop Date - April 6, 2010 Time - 9:00 AM Place - Elora Contact Name - Ag Business Centre, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus
1-866-222-9682 or 519-674-1592
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Event - CAFA Meeting Date - April 7, 2010 Time - 7:30 AM Place - Chatham, Satellite Restaurant, 145 King St., W. Contact Name - Ron Vandehogen, 519-676-9849
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Event - Poultry Industry Conference and Exhibition Date - April 14,2010 to April 15, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - Western Fair Grounds, London Website - http://www.westernfair.com/shows/poultry.html
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Event - OIA Conference and Annual General Meeting Date - April 16,2010 to April 17, 2010 Place - Hilton Garden Inn, Niagara-on-the-Lake
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Event - Annual Ontario Pork Congress Date - June 23,2010 to June 24, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - Stratford Website - www.porkcongress.on.ca
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Event - Progressive Agriculture / Chatham-Kent Farm Safety Day Date - July 21, 2010 Time - All Day Event Place - Ridgetown Campus, University of Guelph Contact Name - Sue Kelner 519-674-1584 Email - skelner@ridgetwonc.uoguelph.ca
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To view these listings online, please visit us on the web at
http://www.ridgetownc.com/agrilink/agrilink..._events.cfm
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John Jordan
Editor, AgriLink and Farm Market News
University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus
Tel. 519-674-1577
Fax. 519-674-1530
E-mail: jjordan@ridgetownc.uoguelph.ca
AgriLink website : www.ridgetownc.com/agrilink
