This Week on RealAg — The November 15th Edition

by

Opinion

In the last week, RealAgriculture.com became a totally big deal. Yes, we rolled out a podcast, the first of a few in fact, and these audio-only features will become a regular part of RealAgriculture.com’s agronomy coverage. The podcast format is neat in a few ways: one, it’s a bit longer, so we can explore topics at length or cover many things in a short time; two, because it’s audio, you can download it to your phone, tablet or other device and listen when you want, unencumbered by a slow connection or weak wi-fi signal. The goal is to keep these podcasts engaging, informative and, in true RealAg style, entertaining. The first episode of the Agronomy Geeks podcast is now up on the site (click here to check it out), and I welcome your comments and suggestions for future topics. Also, if ever you wanted to be a star on iTunes, just call. I’m always looking for guests, too (but you have to be willing to talk to me for an hour, so…)

And now, on to my favourite production post of the week. While you may not be a dairy farmer, this post and video is a must-watch for cattle owners, and, well, likely anyone with livestock. Even if Johne’s disease isn’t an issue for your particular line of work, this animated white board tutorial presented by University of Guelph Ph. D. candidate, Steven Roche, is a fantastic example of how presenting research findings and  encouraging change in production practices doesn’t have to be a snooze-fest or overly complicated to be effective. Check out the video here.

The team was busy this week taking in the sights and smells of Agribition (watch for a whole pile of coverage of that event shortly), plus could be found rubbing shoulders with the minister of agriculture to quiz him on Upov 91, logistics and more, while at the CSTA semi-annual meeting. See the entire discussion with Gerry Ritz, minister of agriculture here.

On the news front, some very bad news rolled out in Ontario’s southwest region, as ketchup giant Heinz announced the closure of its Leamington-based plant. This plant bought nearly 40% of the tomatoes grown in Ontario and is the second largest tomato processing plant in North America. The company, in the midst of a restructuring, employs nearly a 1,000 people. Premier and agriculture minister Kathleen Wynne had not released an official statement at this time, but to say this is a major blow to Ontario agriculture would be an understatement. This is likely the end of an industry in the province. We’ll keep you posted on how it all plays out.

Until next week!

Yours in farm-loving,
Lyndsey (@RealAg_Lyndsey)

P.S. In honour of this week being Agribition at Regina, Sask., I leave you with this snappy ditty, Corb Lund’s ‘Cows Around.’ Click here if you can’t see the video.

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