By Lisa McLean, Agricultural communicator
What happens when you take a handful of city dwellers, drop them on rural land and leave them to make money farming? A new feature documentary about food and farming has done just that.
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Posted by FFC on March 26th, 2012 :: Filed under
Farm life,
Organics,
UncategorizedTags ::
agriculture,
farm,
Farmers
By Patricia Grotenhuis
One day when I was in high school, I noticed that one of my goat kids seemed to be having trouble walking. It was only, at most, a month old, and while the others were out on pasture, it had stayed near the barn. I went out to see what was wrong, and checked the kid over. One hind leg was being favoured, and the hoof was on a slight angle. 
I flagged my dad down right away, and he confirmed my suspicions…the kid had a broken leg. We could not call the vet or bring the kid in to the vet clinic, so we made a splint ourselves for the small kid. Popsicle sticks were the perfect size to stabilize the leg, and we wrapped it with multiple layers of vet wrap, which sticks to itself but nothing else and provides support.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on March 22nd, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Canada,
Farm life,
GoatTags ::
animal care,
farm,
Farmers,
goats
Guest blog: By a B.C. dairy farmer
To me, the word sustainable has become a buzz word,or marketing doublespeak. As an all encompassing management practice, I prefer the term stewardship. And I try to put this into practice in all areas, not strictly agriculture. As a Christian, I have a biblical mandate to manage what I have been given.
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Posted by FFC on March 19th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Dairy cattle,
Future of Farming,
SustainabilityTags ::
dairy cattle,
sustainability,
technology
by Patricia Grotenhuis
Research and development are critical components of Rob and Jim Judge’s work as hog farmers. They have been working to improve pig genetics in Ontario and shipped a group of pigs with their improved genetics to Korea recently.

The father/son team of Jim and Rob are the faces of March in the 2012 Faces of Farming calendar
The father-son team is featured in the 2012 Faces of Farming calendar, which is published by the Farm Care Foundation. Their page in the calendar was sponsored by New Life Mills, a supplier to their business. Their Simcoe-area farm family has a “farrow to finish” type of hog farm which means that the pigs are born on the farm and raised there until they go to market. The family also raises chickens and crops in addition to the pigs.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on March 15th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Canada,
Family vs factory farming,
Farm life,
Innovation and technology,
Pigs,
Sustainability of the family farmTags ::
animal care,
Canada,
farm,
farm family,
Farmers,
genetics,
Pork
by Patricia Grotenhuis
So many people seem to look back at the “good old days” as the way things should be now on farms. That would, however, put an end to the tremendous growth and development we have seen recently.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on March 9th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
animal handling,
Innovation and technologyTags ::
animal care,
misconceptions,
technology
Guest blog: I farm with my father and grandfather on 2,300 acres of land in northwest Indiana. Scott Farms grow corn, soybeans, popcorn, and wheat. I graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Soil and Crop Management in 2003.
Today is the day. The Occupy movement is going to occupy the food supply. According to the occupiers and Farm Aid president Willie Nelson large corporations have too much control over our food. I won’t deny that there has been a lot of consolidation in the food and seed markets over the years, but that seems pretty common and big does not equal bad as some occupiers would have you think.
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Posted by FFC on March 6th, 2012 :: Filed under
Crops,
Environment,
Food,
Innovation and technology,
RegulationsTags ::
agriculture,
environment,
Farmers,
technology
By Patricia Grotenhuis
What happens when you mix a farmer and former school teacher with an urban area? You get a Learning Barn which provides thousands of people the opportunity each year to learn about where their food comes from.

Mary Ann Found and spokesrobot Owen talk to a young fan about farming
Mary Ann Found always loved teaching children about agriculture. While her children were young, she would invite their classes to come visit the farm for a tour. While teaching at a nearby school, she would often bring farming into her lesson plans, and even brought live animals to school from time to time.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on March 1st, 2012 :: Filed under
Agriculture Education,
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
Farm life,
Speaking outTags ::
agriculture,
animal care,
education,
farm,
farm tours,
Farmers