College Royal has come and gone for another year and once again it was a great success. The University of Guelph campus was full of students, families and alumni enjoying all the activities offered.

I spoke with a former student that came back to Guelph to attend the Open House. Fiona Clubine graduated in 2007 and attended College Royal throughout her time in Guelph. She says she was excited to return to watch the livestock show, eat some pancakes and take in the beautiful horticultural display.

Clubine says, “I always look forward to the College Royal weekend. This year I brought my nieces who especially enjoyed the livestock show and the pancake flip.” Clubine says she attended a kinesiology exhibit in previous years but decided to stick with the live animals for her nieces.

When I asked about her favourite part of College Royal, Clubine replied,

“The opportunity to participate. I always have fun trying some square dancing, or planting some plants at the greenhouses.”

There are always so many exhibits and competitions to attend. The winners for all of the competitions will be posted on the College Royal website. The College Royal committee, made up of students, put a lot of work into running this weekend. All of their hard work certainly paid off with another successful College Royal Open House.

Listen to my podcast about College Royal

 The College Royal Open House starts tomorrow, March 21^st.  Preparations for this event have been going on for months and there is excitement within the barns as students prepare their animals for the Livestock Show.

The Livestock Show is what College Royal used to be all about.  It is still one of the most popular events among many other activities to attend.  Steven Larmer, the Vice President of College Royal says that 150 students are involved in the Livestock Show this year.

The animals on show are sheep, pigs, ducks, horses, dairy and beef cattle.  Starting at 9:00 am, in the Gryphon Dome, students will compete in novice and expert classes to be judged on their showmanship.  Larmer says, “The duck show is a don’t miss event.”  Paired students will be dressed up and navigating a duck through an obstacle course.  Those attending will have a good time, and quite a few laughs, watching this event.

Many of the students involved have never had showing or other experience with the animals they will be showing.  At the beginning of March novice showing students were taught by the experts how to train and prepare their animals for the show.  The animals are now ready and waiting in the barn and the students are anticipating the event in the morning.

So, students and families you should get to the University of Guelph on March 21^st to watch the Livestock Show and all of the other great activities offered throughout the Open House Weekend.  This whole weekend is a “don’t miss event.”

 

College Royal Open House is just over a week away and there is so much to get excited for.  One of the anticipated events is the Pancake Flip Competition on Saturday and Sunday morning of the Open House weekend, March 21^st and 22^nd.

Around 500 people make it out to take their pick of pancake flavour and watch teams show off their pancake making abilities.  The competition has four teams each day and each team has their own special ingredient that they add to the pancake batter.  Teams are judged on their flipping ability, presentation, and enthusiasm and of course the pancake taste.  The competitors dress up and work to out sell the other teams.  Those attending can get their pancakes for just 75cents each.

The University Center courtyard is full throughout the day with hundreds of students and general public walking through looking at displays.  I’ve always enjoyed taking a walk around to see what student clubs have on display and enjoying a pancake or two makes it even better.

Carrie MacLean, the Pancake Flip Director for College Royal said, “Who doesn’t love pancakes?”  What better way to start a day at the College Royal Open House than to get a great breakfast and enjoy the excitement of the teams involved.

Picture courtesy of Martin Schwalbe

  Last Thursday I attended the Second Annual Etiquette Dinner put on by The Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT).  I was unsure as to what I would learn from this experience but it turned out to be a great evening with some interesting tips from an etiquette expert.

 Jodie Beach, the owner of The Etiquette Advantage, flew from Iowa to present and teach proper business etiquette to

Picture courtesy of Martin Schwalbe

30 individuals.  The guests to the dinner included students and faculty from the Ontario Agricultural College at the university, leaders from agricultural businesses and sponsors to the event.

It might seem like an unusual topic to be teaching to a group mainly made up of students, but etiquette is more than just nice manners, says Jodie Beach.  The students in attendance will be heading out into the workforce within the next few years and learning the skills to present themselves properly in a business setting is important.  Most of these students will be taking jobs in the agricultural industry and these etiquette rules still apply to them.

Jodie said that first impressions are important because, despite what we want to believe, people will judge based on appearance and how you first act.  She gave tips on how to eat at a dinner business meeting, how to dress and other tips about handshakes and what to do about cell phones.

So what were some of these tips?  I can’t list them all, but I will give a few.

Dining etiquette:

Napkin goes in your lap as soon as you sit down

If you order a drink, and it comes with a straw, you should remove the straw

Pace your eating speed to those you are eating with

 

Business Attire:

Socks match the colour of your pants

Men- Tie should end at the top of your belt line

Women- no lace or glitter, and wearing long sleeves is the most empowering

 

Cell Phone:

No texting during meetings!

Paying more attention to your cell phone gives the impression that it is more important than the person you are speaking to in person.

 

The etiquette rules Beach presented were for business settings, so applying them will help students go into interviews, or meetings, projecting a professional image that employers will be impressed with.

“Working together to increase awareness of the agri-food industry by providing educational programs and resources”-  This is the mission of Ontario Agri-Food Education (OAFE).

Colleen Smith, the Executive Director of OAFE, along with Betty Jean Crews, the President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) came to the University of Guelph to speak to students about the roles OAFE and OFA play in agriculture.  This was a rare opportunity to have these leaders in the Ontario Agricultural industry come discuss and answer questions from students.

Colleen Smith spoke about OAFE taking action in getting agriculture into the school system.  They work to create resources that Smith says they have to “entice” teachers to use.  This means that they need to make the resources easy to understand and easy to use.  Students were given a sample of resources that OAFE provides, which included and Agri-Food Facts booklet and a Career Pathways in Agriculture and Agri-Business sheet.  These examples of the resources OAFE creates prove that they are dedicated to their mission.

Smith was encouraging the student s to think and read globally.  She wants to see teachers take global issues and apply them locally and take local issues and apply them globally.  Agriculture is in a global community.  “Farmers watch globally”, says Smith.  They watch the global grain markets and watch the weather locally and globally.  To move forward in agriculture and the food industry people should not stop thinking globally.

OAFE has a good mission to get agriculture into schools.  Agri-business, and the students themselves, would benefit from agriculture facts being taught starting at an early age and continuing on.  If students know the facts, they can carry the agricultural industry into the future.  Smith says “the future is in you hands”.  So, teaching agriculture is important and should not be forgotten in school curriculum.

Members from the Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario arrived in Guelph on Friday February 6th ready for a great weekend full of events. There was excitement within Peter Clark Hall, at the University of Guelph, as members arrived and caught up with their good Junior Farmer friends- those that they may only see once every few months at provincial events. There were 19 clubs and nearly 200 members that trekked from across the province to participate in this highly anticipated competitive event, Winter Games.

It has been more than a decade since the University of Guelph Junior Farmers club has hosted one of the organizations provincial events, so they were very excited to take it on and see the event run smoothly.

Friday night kicked off the weekend with a dance and euchre tournament. The Euchre tournament turned out to be a popular activity and the dance floor picked up with some line dancing and two-stepping. Saturday morning was an early start with around fifty five members making their way to the Fergus Curling Club for a curling tournament and over one hundred members heading to Rickson Ridge Public School to compete in basketball, badminton and volleyball. Time ran tight with the number of teams competing but everyone played their games with club pride and Junior Farmer spirit. After the gym events and curling most members had a game of bowling, at Woodlawn Bowl in Guelph before heading to the evening dance in Rockwood. Awards were presented to the winning teams and the weekend came to an end as a great success.

Next year Junior Farmer clubs will make the trek again, to a different county with a new host, to compete again at Winter Games.

Click here to listen to my podcast

Participating Clubs

Central Wellington
Durham East
Essex-Kent
Haldimand-Norfolk
Halton
Wentworth
Kawartha
Lanark
Middlesex
Niagara
Oxford
Peel
Peterborough
Prince Edward
Bruce
South Simcoe
UofG
Wellington
York

Winning Teams

Basketball– Niagara
Women’s Badminton– Middlesex
Men’s Badminton– Peterborough
Curling– 1st York, 2nd Durham East, 3rd Kawartha
Bowling– Wentworth
Euchre– Lanark
Mystery Event– Middlesex

Overall Top Club– Middlesex

Square Dance Competition

Livestock Show

Horticulture Display

The excitement is already building for North America’s largest student run open house, College Royal!  Today, at the University of Guelph, five young ladies stood to speak to their peers and shared their excitement for the upcoming event.  More specifically, they were letting us know why we should vote for them as the College Royal Celebrant- the “face” for College Royal.

 

For me, College Royal is one of the most exciting times of the school year- if not the most exciting.  The open house weekend- which will be March 21-22 this year- brings thousands of students and general public through the campus.  Each college has a part and the students organize a “smorgasbord” of activities that attract people with all types of interests, said one of the Celebrant contestants.

 

I attended my first College Royal open house in my first year at Guelph.  There was no stopping my excitement with each activity or showcase that I took in.  From the horticulture display, the photography, to the livestock show and then of course the square dancing!  I remember sitting in the stands watching the students, most from the OAC classes, dancing in the square dancing competition and I said to myself that next year I would be doing that!  I wasn’t sure how, or with who, but I was determined to get involved in the spirit that I saw.  Sure enough I was out there the next year… and for the next two years!  I’ve taken the opportunity to also compete in Super Thursday, the logging competition and the livestock show showing a sheep!  You can find out about all of these activities on the college royal website.  I highly recommend it!  

 

The five contestants for the College Royal Celebrant, Chelsey Allan, Cate McCorquodale, Heather Peart, Kim VanDerSluis, and Jessica Feagan all spoke about the same excitement that I always feel for College Royal.  Each of them would make great spokespersons for College Royal, making the final decision on who will be the Celebrant a tough one, I’m sure.

 

Mark your calendars and come and take in this amazing student-run open house!

Just recently the Junior Farmers’ Association of Ontario (JFAO) launched its 2009 membership drive. Being the Director of Membership I have direct involvement in it.  An article was published on the JFAO website (www.jfao.on.ca) and it may be making its way into some newspapers soon.

 

As the number of rural youth has been declining, and the age of the average farmer is increasing, I believe that organizations like JFAO have a great role to play.  The networking possibilities in JFAO have huge benefits for young farmers across Ontario, but it does not only benefit them. Since JFAO is not just for those from farms, like me, it also has great opportunity for any young person to make connections with others across the province.

 

The mission of JFAO is “to build future rural leaders through self-help and community betterment.”  This mission is much like other youth organizations, like 4-H Ontario where they build leadership and life skills and “Learn to do by doing.”  With programs like these the youth will be ready to take a lead in agriculture.  Leadership skills and life skills are going to be necessary for those that remain in the agricultural sector as we look into the future.  There are many changes occurring and, like I mentioned already, the number of youth in rural areas, or that are farmers, have been declining.  So, we need to build strong leaders and support our future farmers to see agriculture progress and improve.

I attended a Junior Farmer event this weekend and as usual topics of agriculture come up. Not too much of a surprise.  One conversation in particular caught my interest when someone started talking about an article from the Globe and Mail about a pig farmer.  They started talking about how the farmer was an Orthodox Mennonite from the Kitchener-Waterloo area.  His customers in Toronto had to drive out to make their orders bigger because they could not contact him by phone.  The customers are chefs at a few restaurants in Toronto and the reason they will make that trip out to order the pigs is because as they said, “this tender, creamy pork is like no other.”

I looked up the article to read more about it.  This Orthodox Mennonite farmer, David Martin, raises his pigs with no modern technology and feeds them whey, which is a by-product from making cheese.  The whey is what makes the pork “like no other”.  The market for this product is starting to become more popular in Canada and restaurants will pay a high price for it.  Mr. Martin can sell his pigs for $2-$2.50 per pound, which is an amazing price, when he says the commercial pork is sold at 80 cents per pound.

 If someone mentions the pork industry the conversation usually turns to the issue of low prices.  This seems to be a consistent problem for this industry.  However, Mr. Martin found this niche market and can keep his farm viable even when he only keeps 130 pigs, 20 sows and 1 boar for breeding.

I think finding that niche market is a good strategy for many farmers especially in the pork industry where the competitive market and price fluctuations put a strain on farm income.   Producers need to stay innovative to keep their farms viable and profitable.  For Mr. Martin he focused on quality, not quantity, and his customers will go out of their way to get his product.

Article- Pork: Whey-fed, way delicious

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090107.wlwhey07/BNStory/lifeMain

I’m staring a blog!  If you want to know who I am and why I have a blog check out the About tab.