OYFF Report – Steve Murphy
Thanks for sponsorship for both Ontario Young Farmers Forum and OFA delegate. I was proud to be a part of Lambton especially when we were so well represented at the convention. (People making us proud in the spotlight Don McCabe, Joe Dickenson, Don McGugan, John and Maxine Zekveld and Ron McDougal)
Young Farmers Forum highlights were:
Owen Roberts addressed group on Rural Stories: So What? Who Cares?
Owen brought forward some fantastic points about how people want to know about agriculture but if we don1t tell them ourselves we are leaving it up to people who may not be as educated in the topic to fill them in.
Main points I got from his talk were:
- Share common information with the public about my farm and agriculture in general. What is an everyday occurrence to us is exciting to them.
- Keep it simple. The science of Agriculture can be very overwhelming they need to learn the basics without that any additional information can be overwhelming or confusing.
- No one takes journalists/media personnel out for coffee. This method will allow you to never be forgotten in this person’s mind. Anytime an Agricultural issue arises this person will be sure to contact you for your opinion on the situation. This could potentially eliminate or minimize bad press towards the Ag industry.
Ideas I got from his talk:
- Create a contact with a Sarnia Observer reporter. Ask them for an opportunity to take them each month to a farm and show them/ educate them on what is happening and why.
- I feel this would be a great way to educate the people of Lambton County on Agriculture and let them know what is happening each month on our farms.
- By highlighting a different operation every month it would also allow people to understand many different commodities that we have in Lambton and what they do in their busy season.
Second Keynote speaker was Lori Stahlbrand from localfoodplus.ca
Interesting points from her talk:
- People do care where their food is coming from and want to learn more about it.
- Their organization is helping connect local food to hospitals and Universities. The university paid for the food cost increase by making the students scrape off the wasted food into the garbage thus reducing the food waste by opening the student’s eyes to how much they were wasting!
- When 10,000 people shift $10/wk from imported to local sustainable food Greenhouse Gas Reduction would equal pulling 1000 cars off the road. This puts enough money back into the local economy to create 100 new jobs!
I won’t speak much to OFA as I know most others will but I really thought the clickers for voting were a wonderful asset. It defiantly saved a lot of time, especially when the votes were so close.
~Steve Murphy~
OYFF Report – Sarah Jackson
Thanks to the Lambton Federation of Agriculture, I was given the opportunity to travel to Toronto to take part in the Ontario Young Farmer Forum.
The OYFF is a group of young men and women involved in agriculture that hold a conference once a year. This year’s topic was local foods, which as we are aware, is a very important topic to consumers.
We listened to many speakers who spoke about local agriculture and what we could do as producers to find niche markets to sell our crops and livestock. My favourite speaker was Lori Stahlbrand who started the charity Local Foods Plus.
This is an organization that farm can become certified with to be able to sell their products with LFP’s stamp of approval. With consumers looking to buy more local food, this is an excellent avenue for farmers looking into if going organic isn’t a viable option, but they would like to add value to their products.
Another very inspiring set of speakers were the Hills from Willowgrove Hill farms. They have gone through many trials and tribulations with their Omega 3 enriched pork, yet won an award from the Premier. They have overcome many challenges and are a true inspiration to all.
I’d like to thank the LFA for sponsoring me on this trip to Toronto to the OYFF.I learned so much about so many different aspects of agriculture and I hope that Aim able to attend in future years to come!
~Sarah Jackson~
OYFF Report – Megan Coke
The Young Farmers Forum was an excellent opportunity to network with other young farmers as well as the OFA delegates that were also in Toronto. I really enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones.
I believe the best part of the forum was having discussions with other young people. Listening to their thoughts and ideas about the future of their farms was interesting. It was an excellent opportunity to join with other young farmers with similar ideas and ambitions.
This year the theme of the forum was local food. The keynote speaker was Lori Stahlbrand from the organization Local Food Plus. She spoke about their organization and how they promote local sustainable food production.
Her message to the group was that we need to value local food and strive to keep money in our local communities in order to keep farming viable.
They are working to get more local food into institutions such as hospitals and universities. I was very interested in this topic and have had discussions with dietitians since then asking about the food in their hospitals. Lori told us that it costs $1200-1400 dollars a day for a bed in a hospital and they spend $5.50 on three meals and a snack.
I also was glad I was there and available to vote in the OFA convention as a substitute.
The forum was definitely two days well spent and I would like to thank the Lambton Federation for their sponsorship and giving me the opportunity to participate in the Young Farmers.
~Megan Coke~
OYFF Report – Paul and Megan Buttery
The Ontario Young Farmers Forum was held November 20-21, 2011 in conjunction with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture Annual Meeting at the Doubletree in Toronto.
We would sincerely like to thank the LFA for providing us with the opportunity to attend the OYFF and for covering our registration costs. Thank you to Secretary, Melissa Forbes, for providing us with all of OYFF information, booking our hotel room and confirming our registration.
The two day forum was themed “From Farm to Fork” and included presentations from:
- Lori Stahlbrand, Founder and President of Local Food Plus www.localfoodplus.ca
Lori discussed the idea of local sustainable food and working with institutions and agencies, Universities, schools, restaurants, etc. to develop local food strategies and targets. Local Food Plus works with its partners to develop targets that allow them to build their local food capacity over defined time periods. All partners can become certified as local food suppliers including the farmers. Megan discussed the opportunity to use Local Food Plus approaches in her teaching. - Owen Roberts, Director of Research Communications for the University of Guelph.
Owen made the argument that farmers need to begin telling their own stories and not allowing journalist and opponents to write about farmers. He encouraged us all to be pro-active and begin contacting journalists to develop stories that drive the news, e.g. how does climate change effect farmers? How has the agriculture industry become the number one economic force in Ontario? How do farmers save and contribute to economic recovery? Why do farmers care about animal welfare? - Producers from across the province, Ed and Julien Danen, John and Maxine Zekveld, and Paul and Rosie Hill.
- Ed and Julien are dairy farmers who developed a business strategy to build their own barn and expand their farm. They shared their trials and tribulations and how they made it all possible.
- John and Maxine are from Wyoming and discussed how and why they purchased their market garden farm at Reece’s Corners. They discussed the importance of marketing and developing strategies that provide the best produce for the consumer and the community.
- Paul and Rosie are hog producers who developed the first pork products that are enhanced with DHA/EPA Omega-3 fatty acids. They discussed how the death of their son directed them to produce healthier foods and they have since marketed and patented this product.
We also participated in many networking opportunities with other young farmers from across the province. The OYFF delegates were fortunate enough to observe the OFA Presidential Election and meet with counterparts attending the OFA Annual Meeting.
The newly appointed Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ted McKeekin, made a surprise visit to OYFF and took time to answer questions from the delegates.
Thank you again to the Lambton Federation of Agriculture for sponsoring young farmers like ourselves from across Lambton County to attend the Ontario Young Farmers Forum.
~Paul and Megan Buttery~