By Patricia Grotenhuis
Many storybooks show goats eating everything around them, including tin cans. It’s a common myth.
When I was 9, I bought my first goat, and had my own herd for 14 years. I did see the goats eat a number of things over those years, but they had a very definite eating pattern – which didn’t include tin cans.
If they did come across a tin can, they would probably get much more enjoyment out of stepping on it and listening to the sound of the tin crinkling than anything else.
In this barn, goats are eating from a fresh bale of hay
Goats are browsing animals, not grazers like cattle and sheep, so goats like treats of leaves, cedar branches, and weeds in their pasture, much like a deer. They take a lot of time to search out the best snacks. They will often stand on their hind legs to reach the best part of foliage that may be out of reach to other types of livestock like sheep.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on May 16th, 2012 :: Filed under
animal handling,
Farm life,
Goat,
MisconceptionsTags ::
animal care,
food,
goats,
misconceptions
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
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 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
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
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
by Patricia Grotenhuis
A summer job for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food during university led to a life-long love and a diverse business for Cathy McKay. McKay is featured in the 2012 Faces of Farming calendar published by the Farm Care Foundation.
Cathy McKay
McKay’s page is sponsored by the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association. She’s the first apple grower to ever appear in the annual calendar that features the faces and stories of some of Ontario’s farmers.
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Posted by Farm and Food Care on February 22nd, 2012 :: Filed under
Canada,
Consumers,
Education and public awareness,
Faces of Farming,
Farm life,
Innovation and technology,
UncategorizedTags ::
agriculture,
Consumers,
education,
Farmers,
Ontario
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
