(Winterbourne) - Ninety-eight percent of Canadian farms continue to be family owned and operated, but if you are looking for the definition of a family farm, just look to Scott Snyder and his family.
Scott is a sixth generation farmer in Waterloo Region, working with his father, grandfather and uncle doing everything from producing eggs and grains to feeding beef cattle and boiling maple sap for syrup. “Idle hands isn’t something my family believes in,” says Scott.
Scott Snyder farms with his family in Waterloo Region.
Like a lot of Ontario farm kids, Snyder enjoyed growing up in an environment where he learned from his family to care for the cattle and chickens or help drive a tractor that was being used to plant a crop. “Growing up with it, being surrounded by it, meant I could appreciate it,” as Snyder thinks back to his childhood. “I had friends who didn’t grow up on a farm, but always wanted to come out to help. That helped me realize how lucky I was to grow up the way I did.”
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on February 25th, 2014 :: Filed under
Agricultural Advocates,
Beef cattle,
Crops,
eggs,
Farm life,
Future of FarmingTags ::
beef,
eggs,
Farm life,
Farmers
By Patricia Grotenhuis
With a wide range of hobbies and interests, Gerald and Fred Van Osch may not fit into any typical farmer mold.
The two brothers, raised on their family’s beef and cash crop farm, near Mount Carmel, Ontario have expanded the farm their father started.
Although the two didn’t always know exactly what their future in the farm had in store for them, they both knew that they were meant to farm, and began farming as soon as they were finished high school to help their parent Paula and (the late) Harry Van Osch. Their love for agriculture runs through their children, too. Each has one son working full time and one son working part time with them.
“We have very strong family bonds, and we get a deep satisfaction from seeing the next generation take over. We are a hard working team that works well together,” says Gerald.
Gerald and Fred Van Osch
The shared commitment the brothers have to farming and caring for both their cattle and their land have earned them a place in as the month of August in the 2013 Faces of Farming calendar published by Farm & Food Care Ontario.
Their participation in the calendar was supported by Monsanto Canada.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on August 1st, 2013 :: Filed under
Beef cattle,
Corn,
Crops,
Faces of Farming,
Farm lifeTags ::
beef,
crops,
Faces of Farming,
Farmers
By Patricia Grotenhuis
Fall is a great time to be on the farm. The smells, the colours and the activity of harvest and preparing the seed bed for the winter make every day different.
After months of work, it is finally time to harvest the crops, and the animals born during the winter and spring months are either ready to be sold, or are strong and hardy for winter. Everyone waits expectantly for that first frost, signalling the end of the growing season and the start of harvest. 
It also serves as a friendly reminder from Mother Nature to begin readying barns for winter. While winter is a time of expectation, spring is a time of promise, and summer is a time of anticipation, fall is when everything comes together on the farm, culminating into the time of gratification. Finally, there is a chance for realization of all of those goals formed during winter and spring months.
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Posted by FFC on November 7th, 2012 :: Filed under
Autumn,
Corn,
Crops,
Farm life,
HarvestTags ::
agriculture,
corn,
farm,
Farm life,
harvest
Livestock: the original recyclers
By Jeanine Moyer
About 30 per cent of Canada’s agricultural land is too hilly, rocky, cold or wet to grow crops. But it can support grazing livestock. Livestock don’t compete with people for food grains. In all, about 80 per cent of the feed consumed by cattle, sheep, goats and horses could not be eaten or digested by humans. 
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on August 16th, 2012 :: Filed under
Beef cattle,
Consumers,
Crops,
Environment,
Feeding the world,
UncategorizedTags ::
animal care,
animals,
beef,
Canada,
cattle,
farm,
food,
meat
By Lisa McLean, Agricultural writer
Destruction of GMO crops (also called genetically modified organisms) is a common form of protest, particularly in the EU where public acceptance of biotechnology is low. Activists dress in their best white garb and face masks to make the most of a photo opportunity while they wade into fields and haul out healthy plants by their roots.
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Posted by FFC on May 14th, 2012 :: Filed under
Activism,
Crops,
Environment,
Innovation and technology,
ResearchTags ::
activists,
environment,
Research,
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
Guest Blog by Jeanine Moyer Jeanine was raised on a pig, beef cattle and crop farm in Ontario
Growing up on our farm meant that quality time spent with dad was ‘seasonal’. Cold winter days would keep dad in the house where my siblings and I could play and spend time with him. But as soon as spring came we knew our time with dad would be limited to those short hours at mealtimes and on rainy days.
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Posted by FFC on May 3rd, 2011 :: Filed under
Crops,
Family vs factory farming,
Farm life,
springTags ::
crops,
farm,
Farmers
by Patricia Grotenhuis, lifelong dairy farmer and agricultural advocate
I always found, growing up, one of the hardest questions to answer was “what’s your favourite season?” I loved them all! As each change in the seasons came, I would look forward to the change with anticipation.
Scenes like this may still be a few weeks away but we're already looking forward to them!
Spring, to me, meant a time for new life. Not only in the barn, either. Dairy cows have calves year round, which is why we have a steady supply of milk in the grocery stores. Other animals, like beef cows, sheep and meat goats, have most of their young during the late winter and spring months. I have always loved driving down the road in the spring, and seeing the young animals out on pasture. It is a sight that will make me smile every time, no matter how often I see it.
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Posted by FFC on March 25th, 2011 :: Filed under
Crops,
Dairy cattle,
Farm life,
Other livestock,
spring,
WeatherTags ::
dairy cattle,
farm,
Farmers
