let's talk farm animals

Breakfast on the Farm - a Michigan Road Trip

Comments Off

by Kristen Kelderman

As a little girl, I can remember one of the biggest events we held on our farm was the annual Holstein barbecue. I remember this specifically because of all the extra work I was assigned to do that summer, cleaning the window sills, brushing the cows and painting just about anything you could slap a coat of paint on. And on that warm July night, some 400 neighboring farmers and friends gathered to enjoy a night of fantastic food, great people and to celebrate dairy farming. This distant memory crossed my mind this summer as my colleagues and I travelled to Michigan State to visit the Judges’ dairy farm in Isabella County for a program called Breakfast on the Farm.

Volunteers work to feed 2,000 visitors to the farm

Read All »

Posted by FFC on September 27th, 2012 :: Filed under Agriculture Education,Barns,Breakfast on the Farm,Dairy cattle,Education and public awareness,Farm life,farm tours,Sustainability of the family farm,Uncategorized,United States
Tags :: animal care, animals, Breakfast on the Farm, Consumers, dairy cattle, education, farm, farm tours, Farmers

Meet the face of September in the Faces of Farming calendar

Comments Off

by Patricia Grotenhuis

Farming is just in the blood for some people, as is the case with Jim Patton, a sixth-generation farmer from near Alliston.

Patton was not always sure he was going to farm. He decided to attend the University of Guelph after doing a project on the importance of agriculture in his final year of high school. He graduated with a diploma in agricultural business, and returned to the farm.

Broiler breeder farmer Jim Patton

Once Patton returned to the farm, he began making changes to modernize the family’s business. Patton is featured as the month of September in the 2012 Faces of Farming Calendar, published by the Farm Care Foundation, because of his dedication to making improvements.

In 1998, Patton began keeping broiler breeder chickens. These are roosters as well as the hens who lay fertilized eggs that will hatch into chickens raised for meat. In 2000 he added raising pullets (young hens) to the farm. In addition to the birds, Patton also grows corn, soybeans and wheat. He makes it a point to go to as many industry conferences and workshops as he can, including a three-day training course at the University of Alberta and a no-till(age) conference in Cincinnati. He sets a personal goal to bring at least one idea home to implement on the farm from each event that he attends. This interest has also led him to the Innovative Farmers of Ontario association – where he now serves as a director.

Read All »