by Patricia Grotenhuis
The world of horse racing beckoned for a 10-year period for Darryl Drain, but eventually he found his way back to the family egg farm. Drain’s role as an Ontario egg farmer and an advocate for the egg industry has earned him a spot as the face of May in the 2012 Faces of Farming Calendar published by the Farm Care Foundation. His page was sponsored by Egg Farmers of Ontario.
He had always planned on eventually taking over the farm, but the road between when he left his father’s farm and on-farm store and when he returned to it was a long one. Drain studied at the University of Guelph for a diploma in agricultural business, and then took a step towards training racehorses.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on May 9th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Canada,
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
eggs,
Faces of Farming,
Farm lifeTags ::
Consumers,
eggs,
environment,
Faces of Farming,
farm,
Farmers,
hens
by Kristen Kelderman, Farm Animal Care Coordinator
During the past five years living away from home, I have travelled the notorious 401 highway back to Eastern Ontario too many times to count.
Through blistering heat waves and slippery icy pavement, I have endured the three and a half hour drive often thinking how dull, boring and monotonous it has become. It was brought to my attention recently that, in reality, the hustle and bustle of the highway is anything but humdrum. In a matter of seconds all chaos can break out; it’s a special concoction of travelling at high speeds with little focus and numerous distractions. Add in a pinch of road rage and you’ve got the potential for a ticking time bomb.
Accidents are no new reality for those who use the highway to commute to work every day. We share the roads with other commuters, school buses, taxis, vacationers, transport trucks, police and farm animals…yes that’s right folks, farm animals.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on April 26th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
animal handling,
Barn firesTags ::
animal care,
emergencies,
livestock,
Transportation
By Kristen Kelderman, Farm Animal Care Coordinator
As the spring breeze starts to warm and winter wheat fields showcase a lavish bright green hue across the countryside, I begin to notice myself missing the farm more and more. Summer is my absolute favourite time of the year to work and visit my home farm; it’s a whole different world… with an endless to do list. While it is not every day that I get to enjoy this anymore, I had the pleasure of accompanying hoof trimmer Vic Daniel to a family dairy farm in Ontario, recently.
Hoof trimmer Vic gives a dairy cow's feet some close attention and care
Vic invited me to tag along to a farm with him, after we met at Eastern Ontario Dairy Days, where he presented a wealth of knowledge on dairy cow lameness. On average, a dairy farmer will ensure their cows” hooves are trimmed twice a year. Proper foot care is an important component of a farmer’s herd health program.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on April 12th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
animal handling,
careers,
Dairy cattle,
Farm life,
Research,
UncategorizedTags ::
animal care,
animal handling,
animal welfare,
careers,
dairy cattle,
Research,
technology
by Patricia Grotenhuis
Starting up a business is challenging, and starting up a farm is no different. Add in an international component and it becomes more challenging yet.
Not all farmers take over the family farm. Amy Cronin and her husband Mike were both raised on dairy farms but became hog farmers after they married. Thanks to a lot of hard work, the farm has grown and expanded, with farms in both Ontario and Iowa.
Cronin and her six year old daughter Emmy are featured in the 2012 Faces of Farming Calendar published by the Farm Care Foundation. Their page was sponsored by Molesworth Farm Supply because of Cronin’s work on the farm and in the industry.
Amy and Emmy - the faces of April
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on April 4th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Canada,
Faces of Farming,
Family vs factory farming,
Farm life,
Pigs,
PorkTags ::
agriculture,
animals,
Canada,
farm,
Farmers,
Ontario,
pigs,
Pork
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
by Patricia Grotenhuis, lifelong farmer and agricultural advocate
On the farm, nothing ever works the way you planned. The quickest way to make a cow calve or something break is to make plans to leave the farm for a few hours. We’ll have weeks of just staying around home with nothing on the agenda and everything will work perfectly for my husband. We will start feeling comfortable and think “maybe this time will be different”. A visit is arranged with an out-of-town family member or friend, or a trip to the city (an hour away) is planned.
Everything is going great right up until the day of the outing, and suddenly BAM! There’s a problem in the barn.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on February 10th, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Dairy cattle,
Farm lifeTags ::
animal care,
dairy cattle,
farm,
Farmers
By Leslie Ballentine, Farming and food commentator
A Toronto hospital is asking for donations of human placenta to repair and reconstruct damaged eyes. I’m sure most non-doctors would consider this disgusting and give it high marks for the Ick Factor. Superficial communications can often create the Ick Factor and the Ick Factor often influences our opinions. Agriculture and food production can be subject to the Ick Factor too.
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Posted by FFC on January 31st, 2012 :: Filed under
Animal care,
Beef cattle,
Food,
Misconceptions,
Urban MythsTags ::
agriculture,
animal care,
beef,
misconceptions,
sheep
