The Citizen's Salute to Agriculture 2022

Salute To Agriculture

Forest conservation marks 75 years in Huron

and improved since that decision was made, Pullen said, is amazing when you consider the level of tree cover the county now boasts, though there is still more work to be done.

During his annual update for Huron County Council, Pullen said that 143 notices of intent for commercial timber harvests were filed in 2021, which marked a 10 per cent increase in notices over 2020. Thirty-six per cent of woodland owners used professional forestry advice in 2021, which remained unchanged from the previous year.

The county completed harvests at the Taylor, Collins and O’Connor Tracts in 2021 and the department has continued to work on the Huronview arboretum and demonstration farm projects south of Clinton.

What might be

This image of Mr. C.M. Robertson looking over the donated land that would become the Robertson Tract, just west of Auburn, now has a new meaning, as the conservation and tree-planting efforts of Huron County will be celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. Today, the above property is the county’s second-largest forest. (Photo submitted)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

Huron County is poised to recognize an important anniversary this fall: it has been 75 years since the county first enacted its forest conservation bylaw, marking generations of conservation.

Huron County Forest Conservation Officer and Forest Manager David Pullen says it’s an important milestone to heed and the county plans to do so this fall with a special event at the Robertson Tract near Auburn.

It was in 1947, the year the bylaw was enacted, that the Robertson brothers donated the more than 100 acres that now comprise the tract because they wanted to leave a legacy for the children and grandchildren of the community.

It’s a special piece of land to Huron County, Pullen said.

The work of conservation and reforestation in Huron County, Pullen said, can be traced back to Edmund Zavitz, who is known as Ontario’s “Father of Reforestation”. His story is told in John Bacher’s 2011 book, Two Billion Trees and Counting: The Legacy of Edmund Zavitz

The notable environmentalist was the first person to hold the official position of provincial forester and, in 1935, he was eventually appointed Chief of Reforestation in Ontario.

The minutes of Huron County Council’s session of June, 1946, detail a meeting with Zavitz and Mr. T. Thompson, Minister of Lands and Forests, at the home of Dr. Hobbs Taylor, where the trio was joined by Councils of the Townships of Stephen, Hay and Stanley.

The group then drove up the “Blue Water Highway” to inspect several properties that had been severely damaged by erosion.

“Mr. Zavitz felt that in order to control the erosion, it would be necessary to have a survey made in which the Departments of Engineering and Forestry, together with soil experts, be taken into consultation,” the minutes read.

As a result of that discussion, Huron County Council bought 100 acres of land from Mr. Reg. McGee for reforestation purposes.

To think of all that has changed

were laid under the Forest Conservation Bylaw in relation to five properties in four different Huron County municipalities. All five cases were resolved by way of guilty pleas with total fines of $16,500 plus 25 per cent surcharges. Four of the five resolutions included court-ordered tree replanting at the defendants’ expense. Pullen estimated the value of the trees replanted at approximately $16,000 with court orders including protection of the subject areas.

The county saw approximately $25,240 in timber sales last year, including over $13,000 in valueadded sales through the website GovDeals.ca. Notice of intent fees and third-party recoveries also equated to just under $17,000 last year.

In 2021, Pullen said, charges

Pullen also noted that three of the five cases included non-resident landowners from outside of Huron County and that same number of cases involved the use of high hoe excavators owned by the defendants. The size of the areas ranged from 0.9 to three acres of woodlot or woodland and that all cases appeared to involve attempts to expand workable acreage into natural environment areas.

He said that proactive site visits are ongoing to assist with bylaw compliance and that the department is seeing an increasing number of calls seeking advice on woodland

Continued on page A3

Still work to be done on tree cover: Ginn

to reside in Huron and his children are the seventh.

The family first settled on a farm in Goderich Township near Benmiller. The family would stay on the farm for decades until 1952 when Ginn’s current farm along Highway 8 between Clinton and Goderich was brought into the family. At the time, Gerry’s brother took over the family farm.

Ginn’s farm began as a dairy operation, which it remained for many years. In the mid-2000s, once it was clear his children didn’t want to take over the business, Ginn converted it to a beef farm.

Ginn has spent his life in agriculture and thinks that’s an important aspect to his life as warden. However, he feels perhaps his greater qualification is how involved he’s been in stewardship and conservation initiatives over the years.

Conservation efforts were part of Ginn’s farming life from a very early age.

Leaving a legacy

Central Huron Mayor and Past-Huron County Warden Jim Ginn, right, has a legacy of conservation and tree-planting that dates back to the work of his grandfather, who was a Huron County Council member when the county’s first forest conservation bylaw was passed in the 1940s. Ginn is seen above at the Huron County Plowing Match several years ago. (File photo)

Continued from page A2 enhancement, restoration and good forestry practices.

He added that three stop-work orders are currently in place on suspected violations, while investigations are ongoing for three new cases and charges have recently been laid in one of the new cases.

One unresolved case from 2021 is before the courts, Pullen said. It involves a new, non-resident landowner who cleared trees before taking ownership of a farm property. Charges were laid against both the new owner and property seller.

In regards to the county forests, Pullen said that recreational usage has remained high as both residents and visitors have sought outdoor activity and “forest therapy” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pullen said that nine of the 14 Huron County tracts are now included in the county’s hiking guide and parking lots and log landings have been installed or improved at the Adams, Collins, Hays, Robertson, Redmond, Rodger, Taylor and O’Connor Tracts in 2021. Periodic winter maintenance has continued in the most used county forest parking lots to accommodate visitors.

Pullen took time to highlight the O’Connor Tract, which was damaged in the tornado that hit the Kingsbridge area last fall. It had been scheduled for harvest in the winter of 2022, but that was moved up to late 2021 as a result of the tornado. The harvest was successful, completed in January, and the prices are between three and four times higher than most previous sales. This came as a result of the size and quality of the wood, in addition to the current market climate, despite the tornado damage sustained by the wood.

He also spoke briefly on the Huronview Arboretum Project and the Hays Tract Accessible Trail

Project, both of which were made possible through federal-provincial COVID-19 resiliency funding. Both projects are slated for completion later this year.

Pullen also noted that 2022 marks the 75th anniversary of forest conservation in Huron County and the creation of the Forest Conservation Bylaw. He said his department is hoping to host an event to mark the milestone at one of the county tracts this fall.

In an interview with The Citizen, Pullen said he hoped the event will consist of a walk through some of the tract, as well as some speakers to reiterate the significance of conservation and forestry in Huron County, especially the county’s managed forests.

On a personal level, Pullen noted that it has been very fulfilling and heartwarming to work to improve the county forest system and forest cover in Huron County over the years.

He also noted the important role played by the Huron Clean Water Project in preserving forestry and waterways to ensure high water quality within the county. The work done by his department, he said, really works hand in hand with what’s being done by the Huron Clean Water Project, which recently saw a bump in its annual contribution from the county from $450,000 to $500,000.

Central Huron Mayor and PastHuron County Warden Jim Ginn has been passionate about conservation for his entire life and has been an outspoken advocate for the Huron Clean Water Project and increasing tree cover in Huron County.

In fact, Ginn’s grandfather was a member of Huron County Council when it adopted its first forest conservation bylaw, serving from 1945 to 1948.

The Ginn family’s roots in Huron  County reach back to the 1830s. He is the sixth generation of his family

It began for economic reasons, he said, in that there were incentives for farmers to construct fencing around waterways to keep livestock out. Ginn already had fencing near his waterways and it needed to be repaired. The way he saw it, he needed to replace the fencing anyway, so if he could get paid to do so, it just made sense.

The topography of Ginn’s farm property also played into his conservation efforts.

Ginn’s father died when Jim was a

young man. At that time, work on the farm became difficult to keep up. One of the ongoing challenges on the property was the encroachment of thorn trees on the property.

When Gerry was alive, the team was able to tackle the encroachment, but once he was gone, Jim said the job was just too big for one person to handle.

He began planting productive, valuable trees on the property to keep the thorn trees from growing. This would prove to be the beginning of several conservation projects on the Ginn farm.

After seeing an article in The Rural Voice about leaving a legacy for your children by way of planting trees, Ginn contacted Marvin Smith, who was working with the Ministry of Natural Resources at the time. It

Continued on page A5

Tech, local produce married in new product line

stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 60 days.

“There’s no artificial preservatives, just the technology,” he said. “It’s never been frozen, and that’s an advantage we have.”

The Screaming Chef line is a collection of microwavable, readyto-eat meals. Naveed explained the name came from the fact that, when the meal is reheated and reaches the ideal temperature of 95°C, it whistles.

“It almost screams, ‘I’m ready’,” he said. “That’s part of the technology and a unique feature…. There is no guesswork and no cold spots.”

Bowled over

The Hensall Co-op decided to move into a new market last year in a big way with the creation of Hensall Foods Ltd., a subsidiary of the company. The new company is currently focused on the creation of prepared meals that set a new bar for freshness. Cooked in their containers, the dishes aren’t frozen but,

By Denny Scott

The Citizen

Through utilizing new technology and sourcing the best materials, and sourcing them locally when possible, Hensall Foods Inc., a subsidiary of the Hensall Co-Op, is entering into the ready-prepared meals market with its Screaming Chef line.

Amir Naveed, General Manager of Hensall Foods, explained the new company aims to help position Hensall Co-op closer to the retail space in such a manner that it could break into the market with readymade meals that stay fresh for 60 days in refrigerators and are never frozen.

“As a company, we thought we’d move in a different direction, but we would have to be innovative and be able to bring something new to Hensall and Canada,” Naveed said. “That’s why we have this technology out of Europe to make ready-made meals.”

The technology allows the meals to be cooked in the factory to 100°C in the packaging, he said, which prevents cross-contamination. It also creates a natural vacuum, which is what allows the meals to

Canadian maple producers harvested 11.3 million gallons of maple syrup in 2021, down 21.0% from 2020. The decline follows two consecutive record years of production. The lower production was the result of a short maple season brought on by warm spring temperatures felt across all four maple-producing provinces.

Greenhouse, sod and nursery industry sales rose at their fastest pace since 2012, up 9.0% to $4.4 billion in 2020, as operators successfully adapted to the pandemic by offering online shopping, u-pick, curbside pick-up and home delivery, as well as physically distanced on-site sales.

Over half of the sales in 2020 were in Ontario (54.7%), with one-third in British Columbia (22.1%) and Quebec (12.3%).

Greenhouse sales rose 9.4% from a year earlier to $3.5 billion, largely attributable to a 12.3% increase in fruit and vegetable plant sales.

Naveed said Hensall Foods is trying to use local suppliers and, beyond that, almost all the ingredients are made or sourced from within Canada. He said being a local company and knowing area producers has shown how important it is to source things close to home, but to also focus on local markets as well. That focus has served the company well, he said, as reaction to the new product line is fantastic. “The reaction is very good right now,” he said. “This is a new

“Celebrating over 75 Years”

Small conservation changes have big impacts: Ginn

Continued from page A3 just so happened that he was going to be in Ginn’s neighbourhood the following day, so the two men met to discuss planting scores of trees on the property.

At that time, you entered into a legal agreement to plant trees and then not remove them for 15 years. After 15 years, Ginn said, the trees would be between 15 and 20 feet tall, so it’s unlikely that a landowner would remove them.

“At that point, I made my mind up pretty quickly,” Ginn said.

When you lose your father at a young age, Ginn said, you think a lot about legacies and wanting to leave the world in a better place for your children than you found it. It was through that thinking that conservation and the environment became very important to him and his family.

Ginn planted a number of trees and then took minor measures to

repair a stream on his property. For years, he said, cattle would walk through the stream, which had worn down the banks and stopped the flow of water. Under the advice of the local conservation authority, he installed simple concrete barn slats on the bed of the stream. Soon, cattle could walk through the stream, but not dredge up sediment and mud. In just a few years, he said, the banks built back up, the water cleared and fish returned to the stream, which then marked the return of several different species of birds.

It was clear, Ginn said, that a small change made on the ground level can have huge, positive results in the environment around you.

Now, from a constructed solarium on the east side of his house, Ginn can see the fruits of his labour in the form of a strong, beautiful treeline at the far reaches of his property. The results, he said, speak for themselves.

New product on shelves

Continued from page A4 technology for Canada. People are used to eating frozen food, as ready-made options were limited due to shelf-life and product waste, so they were ready for something like this.”

The product “fills a void” in the meal replacement section, he said, as, aside from the Screaming Chef line, un-frozen meals will last a maximum of five days.

“The product we have, because it has a longer shelf life but no preservatives and is clean and healthy, is a unique offering for the consumers,” he said.

As for what’s carried, he said they have several SKUs, or entries in the Screaming Chef line that are only limited by being able to find high-quality ingredients from reputable companies. He said the manufacturing site is federallymandated, so everything has to be of the best quality and contain no additives or colours.

Right now the most popular items, according to Naveed, are the beef fajita, spicy chicken and vegan bowls, with other products, like a mac and cheese bowl, doing well.

“We’re working on new sizes and recipes,” he said. “We have 400gram meals now, which is a dinner option, and in April we’ll be launching a 300-gram size, which is for lunch.”

Other meals that are being refined or made ready for launch include shepherd’s pie, southwest taco chicken bowls and garlic shrimp meals.

“This is the most convenient item you can buy in the market [in this category],” he said. “You can reheat it in less than three minutes in your microwave.”

While the line launched late last year in grocery stores around Huron County, Hensall Foods first cut its teeth on the market and technology with Metro stores, offering a private-label seafood brand option.

“Towards the end of December and early January, we launched the Screaming Chef line for Hensall Foods,” he said. “It has more options, as the Metro line only has seafood.”

Naveed said the products represent a very exciting opportunity and are especially useful for families on the go, which he said is perfect for Huron County residents.

Products are currently available at the Auburn Esso, Foodland Clinton, Edward Fuels in Seaforth, Jerry Rader Homestyle Catering

In an interview with The Citizen, Ginn said that forest cover and water quality are all part of a thriving ecosystem in Huron County.

He said that a well-managed woodlot can be extremely profitable for a farmer, in addition to aiding the local environment and water quality, but many just have to adjust the way they think about trees, woodlots and managed forests.

When a spring thaw resulted in flooding in St. Marys several years ago, Ginn said, that situation made the case for forest cover. While a river through the town swelled as a result of the melt, much of the snow under tree cover didn’t melt, saving the town from disaster. The many aspects of a community all work together, he said, and that was a perfect example.

Fruits of conservation

and Market in Goderich and the Hensall Mini Mart.

For more information, visit thescreamingchef.ca.

Ginn said he’s grateful that politicians had that foresight all those years ago to establish a forest conservation bylaw in Huron County, and he thinks the subsequent generations have benefited from that decision.

After the county’s tree cover was decimated in the early 1900s, in

The late Joe Freeman, who lived next to Huron County’s Sheppardton Tract all his life until his passing in 2020, is shown next to a wall of wood that was harvested using good forestry practices. (File photo)

part due to burgeoning salt mines throughout the area, Ginn said, the county’s tree cover hit a low in the 1920s. Since then, the county has been working to build it back.

However, with the county at between 16 and 17 per cent now, Ginn says it still needs to get up to about 25 per cent, and that work continues.

Junior Farmers show celebrates century farms

member of the organization, but also owns his own videography business, Lake Affect Media, and works with FauxPop Media of Goderich as well. He has put those skills to use in producing the videos, which are now being broadcast online, as well as on social media and television, with the help of fellow Junior Farmer members Lauren Bos and Jolande Oudshoorn, both of Auburn, who work together, serving as the hosts of the show.

The century farm program was established by the Junior Farmers of Ontario as part of Canada’s centennial celebration in 1967. It remains the only centennial project that has persisted to the current day.

(The Junior Farmers of Ontario now even offer add-on signs that signify 125, 150 and 200 years for farms that have remained in the same family for that period of time.)

100 years in the making

The Huron Perth Junior Farmers wanted to bring more attention to the organization’s century farm program and they came up with The Century Farm Show, which will highlight one of the two counties’ century farms every month over the course of 2022. The first episode, above, featured Tom and Bev Prout, centre, interviewed by Junior Farmers and hosts Jolande Oudshoorn, left, and Lauren Bos, right. (Photo courtesy of Nick Vinnicombe and Lake Affect Media)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

The Huron Perth Junior Farmers are now three episodes into The Century Farm Show, a project the group created to shed light on one

of the organization’s most storied programs.

The group broadcast its first episode in January and has plans to produce 12 monthly episodes over the course of the year. Each episode will focus on one of the certified

century farms in Huron and Perth Counties and the family behind it. They have already recorded interviews for about three-quarters of the year’s episodes, with more work to come as the year goes on.

Nick Vinnicombe of Walton is a

Supported by the Huron County Museum’s Heritage Fund and the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, the show can be viewed on the Huron Perth Junior Farmers’ Facebook page, as well as on Vinnicombe’s Lake Affect Media site and FauxPop Media’s The Staysh. It can also be viewed on LocalOne via Hay Communications.

The episodes themselves also have sponsors. The first three episodes were sponsored by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, the Perth Federation of Agriculture and McGavin and Robert’s Farm Equipment, respectively.

The first 15-minute episode

focuses on the farm of Tom and Bev Prout, who live in the Exeter area. The hosts are Bos and Oudshoorn, who are the president and vicepresident, respectively, of the local chapters of the Junior Farmers. Vinnicombe, in an interview with The Citizen , said the project stretched back more than a year ago when he first joined the Huron Perth Junior Farmers in the fall of 2020. In his first few months with the organization, members were looking for ways to further promote the organization and the work it does. Focusing on the century farm program and its local supporters, he said, only made sense and planning then began about a year ago.

In that time, Vinnicombe, Bos and Oudshoorn have conducted a number of interviews and have material for nine episodes of the show, which will be released monthly throughout 2022. They are still on the hunt for more century farms to feature.

In addition, Vinnicombe says they are actively working to present a variety of farms as well. For example, they will feature cash crop and dairy farms in the early episodes, but are on the hunt for pork and chicken farms to highlight in the later episodes.

Not only has the experience been educational in regards to the agricultural history of the area, Vinnicombe says, but many of the participants in the program are former Junior Farmers members themselves, so it has proven to be a great showcase for the organization. Vinnicombe says that, while the

Continued on page A7

Prouts, Loves, McGavins profiled in shows

both Huron and Perth Counties these past months, learning about how farming has evolved in each generation. I was surprised about how open everyone has been, telling us about their hardships, but also about the good times.

“This project has allowed some of the farm families who weren’t aware of the project to learn about the Century Farm program with the Junior Farmers Association of Ontario, which has been great, as we are doing this project to help promote the Century Farm program too,” she said. “We’ve had good feedback from the families so far, being honoured to be part of our project, but also thankful as they looked through some of their own history, bringing back old memories. I am looking forward to each episode airing and seeing where the show goes.”

Generations of history

Century Farm Show hosts Lauren Bos, left, and Jolande Oudshoorn, right, will be coming to viewers 12 times this year, shining a light on a new century farm in Huron and Perth Counties every month. Above, they interview Hugh and Rhonda Love in the second episode of the show. (Photo courtesy of Nick Vinnicombe and Lake Affect Media)

Continued from page A6 show is definitely a Junior Farmers project, it fits in well with both his business and FauxPop, which is always working to produce local content when possible. As a result, it was a pretty good fit for all.

On a personal note, being part of the Huron Perth Junior Farmers has

been a very positive experience for Vinnicombe, he says, and he’s learned a lot working on the series.

He joined in October of 2020 and once he got started as a volunteer with the organization, he wished he had joined sooner.

Oudshoorn, in an e-mail to The Citizen, said the whole experience

has been new to her, but that she’s enjoyed working on it immensely.

“This was a new experience for me, interviewing farm families and being on camera. I’ve found it interesting, learning about what all goes into doing a small documentary,” she said. “It’s been neat meeting with farm families in

The first episode, which focuses on the Prout family, tells the story of their small-scale farm, which, over five generations, has produced aggregates, cash crops, beef and even bees and honey.

The Prouts are Junior Farmer alumni and say their farm is a place for new ideas where community members are welcomed to learn about the traditions of both agriculture and horticulture.

The second episode, made available at the end of February, featured Hugh and Rhonda Love’s century farm in Perth County.

The farm has been in the Love family for over 125 years. Over that time, it has been home to dairy, beef, hogs and cash crop operations, facing a number of challenges along the way.

While each generation of the family has taken the farm in a new direction, a devotion to Clydesdale horses has provided a through-line that has persisted over the years. Horses from the farm have been sent to national and international destinations, earning recognition at many competitions and shows. The family’s horses and their success even resulted in a relationship with Anheuser-Busch.

The third episode focused on Walton’s McGavin family, specifically Neil and one of his sons, Jeff.

In the episode, which is set to premiere at the end of the month, the two men recount the history of their third-generation, 200-acre cash crop farm.

The location was ahead of the green energy curve, generating electricity from a dam and water wheel installed by Neil’s father Gordon decades before the green energy movement began to take hold.

While the farm was the original location of the historic McGavin  Farm Equipment, which has since merged with Robert’s Farm Equipment and is now run by Jeff and his brother Brian, it is now home to the Freedom Syrup sugar shack, which donates its proceeds to the families of fallen veterans.

Since launching, the show has been well received by its audience, with social media expanding its reach far and wide

To connect with the Huron Perth Junior Farmers, e-mail the group at huronperthjf@gmail.com. To watch episodes of the show, find the organization on Facebook.

Organizers, farmers expect good sales year

continue to do the same thing this year, Onn said.

After opening on May 27, the market, which includes produce, baking, crafts and music, will run June 24, July 29, Aug. 26 and Sept. 30. Most of those days will see the event run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., however on July 29 the market will be extended to 4 p.m. as part of the Brussels Homecoming celebration.

“We didn’t have much of a concern last year and I think we’ll have even less this year when it comes to COVID-19,” she said.

“Pretty much [all measures] will be lifted by the time the market starts and it’s outside, so it’s well ventilated. It will be up to individuals as to whether they want to wear a mask.”

Back at it

The Brussels Farmers’ Market will once again be running one weekend a month from May through September this year after returning to Richmond Square last year. Organizer Zoellyn Onn anticipates a successful market with loosening COVID-19 restrictions. (File photo)

By Denny Scott The Citizen

While COVID-19 had a definite impact on markets around the world over the past two years, those truly local markets, like farmers’ markets and farmgate markets, have been bouncing back and are looking

Good year

forward to a good spring, summer and fall this year.

After moving back to Richmond Square, across from the Brussels post office on main street, the Brussels Farmers’ Market had a great year in 2021, according to organizer Zoellyn Onn. The market ran one Friday a month last year

after not being able to return to the Four Winds Event Barn, and will

Finding vendors wasn’t a problem, Onn said, as everyone is eager to return to the village.

There will be some changes this year, however, as the Brussels Leo Club has completed fundraising for a new dog park right beside Richmond Square.

“We’ll have to see what

happens,” Onn, who is also the Brussels Lions Club representative for the Leos, said. “We might have to relocate some of the vendor booths.”

For more information, visit the Brussels Farmers’ Market on Facebook.

Farmgate operations are also forecasting a busy season, according to people like Davin Lichty, who operates Maitside Orchards near Brussels.

“I can’t honestly say I saw too much of a difference over the past year,” he said, adding that his regular customers would come in and follow whatever rules are in place. “We are anticipating a better summer than last year.”

He said COVID-19 didn’t really impact the business over the winter season, but said there might have been some impacts last summer, though there was “nothing outstanding” said to him by customers.

For more information on the business, visit its Facebook page or website at www.maitsideorchards.ca.

Davin Lichty, who recently purchased Maitside Orchards, said he saw little impact from COVID-19 last year, and anticipates an even better spring, summer and fall this year. (File photo)

Todd W heeler Insurance Inc.

Todd W heeler Insurance Inc.

AGENT: TODD WHEELER

AGENT: TODD WHEELER

Box 394, 75 Sports Dr., Brussels, ON N0G 1H0

Box 394, 75 Sports Dr., Brussels, ON N0G 1H0

For all your insurance needs

twheeler@mckillopmutual.com

twheeler@mckillopmutual.com

OFFICE: 519-357-0155

OFFICE: 519-357-0155

FAX: 226-889-8944

FAX: 226-889-8944

Sitter, former Farmerettes push for recognition

never heard of the Farmerettes and decided to investigate further, and once she began looking into it, she was immediately interested in learning all she could.

This curiosity would eventually lead to Sitter writing a book with Shirleyan English, telling the stories of numerous Farmerettes called Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes

Connecting with numerous Farmerettes from all over the province, Sitter wrote an article for The Rural Voice, The Citizen’s sister publication, that would serve to connect her not only with many Farmerettes, but with English, who would eventually become the coauthor of her book.

English, who was a farmerette herself, saw the article and then wrote a letter to the editor. She said she was moved by the story and then told her own story about working on the Sitter farm in Thedford in the early 1950s. That was the connection Sitter was looking for and the two women soon began speaking and working together.

Unsung heroes

The Farmerettes, as they came to be known, were a crucial part of the war effort during the Second World War, stepping up on farms across the country when many of the male farm labourers were sent overseas to fight. Now, a small, but passionate, group is calling for the Farmerettes to be honoured on a Canadian postage stamp. Above, a Farmerette is seen as part of a tomato harvest during World War II in Essex County. (Courtesy photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

The work to recognize the crucial role played by Canada’s Farmerettes during World War II continues, according to the group’s unofficial biographer, Bonnie Sitter, with a push to have the group featured on a postage stamp.

Sitter, in an interview with The Citizen, said that the Farmerettes Forever Committee is a small, but passionate group of advocates working to tell the story of the Farmerettes, their impact on the world and the role they played in

supporting the Allied Forces during the Second World Wa r As the country faced a farm labour shortage due to men being shipped overseas to fight in the war, young women from all over the country stepped up to fill that void. And Sitter says that, when the story of World War II and the Herculean effort made by just about everyone to do their part is told, the Farmerettes are almost never mentioned.

Sitter’s involvement with the group dates back several years when she found a picture in her late husband’s possessions. She had

English told Sitter that the summer of 1952 was the best summer of her life and that she looks back on that time very fondly.

Once Sitter and English began working together, collecting stories, letters and photographs from living Farmerettes, the pair committed themselves to a tight deadline. Sitter

gave English no choice in the matter, telling her they had to write a book and they should aim to finish it within a year. Due to the advanced age of so many Farmerettes, they wanted to pen the story as soon as they could, so as many women who lived the Farmerette life as possible could read it. The book has proven to be a success and has served to connect the authors with even more Farmerettes.

It would eventually make its way to Kim Blackwell, Managing Artistic Director of 4th Line Theatre near Peterborough, who is working to turn the book, and the story of the Farmerettes itself, into a play that Sitter hopes will one day grace the Blyth Festival stage.

Recently, however, Sitter and other Farmerette supporters have been more focused on getting these women recognized by the world at large and the best way they’ve brainstormed thus far has been on a Canadian postage stamp or a collection of stamps, which is what Sitter says would be her dream for this group.

They have been reaching out to national and provincial politicians for support and working to have their case heard by Canada’s Stamp Advisory Committee. The group had pitched the idea once, but was turned down, which is why they’re now hoping to cast a wider net of support,

Continued on page A10

Senator Black supports push for Farmerette stamps

Continued from page A9 with prominent politicians on their side.

Senator Rob Black pledged his support immediately, writing to Bronwyn Graves, Director of Stamp Services for the Canada Post Corporation, advocating for recognition for the group by way of a stamp.

“This move to include women in the agricultural sector in the Second World War signified an important shift in the sector. Today, women play a vital role in agriculture and their roles on farms and in the sector continue to grow and evolve with the industry,” Black wrote in a letter dated Jan. 10, 2022. “As a Senator who focuses on agricultural and rural communities, I am confident that the Farmerettes would be an excellent addition to the suite of stamps offered by Canada Post.

Pitching in

They not only represent an incredibly important part of Canadian agricultural history, but also of the history of Canada as a whole. I would encourage you to strongly consider this proposal, which will acknowledge and immortalize the female farmers that led the way for women in the industry today.”

Sitter and the rest of the committee has also encouraged Farmerettes, many of them in their 80s and 90s, to write letters of support for the cause as well.

In a letter written by Denise Powell, a Farmerette who is now 97 and living in London, she called for support of the project.

“I was a Farmerette and worked on farms in Winona and in the E.D. Smith plant in the Niagara Peninsula during the summers of 1941, 1942

Continued on page A11

Time for recognition

Bonnie Sitter, the co-author of Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz, has been one of the most vocal members of the Farmerettes Forever Committee. While the committee is working to have this group recognized for all it has done, one of the main initiatives is to get these hard-working and industrious women on a Canadian postage stamp, a push that has garnered the support of Senator Rob Black. Above, a group of Farmerettes work on a tomato harvest in Essex County. (Courtesy photo)

In 1943, Pamela Conron Smith, an evacuee from England, came to Ontario with 45 students and two teachers from a private high school to Branksome Hall in Toronto. Her parents were in India, as her father was the home secretary at the time for Winston Churchill’s government. When she couldn’t return home upon graduation, Smith volunteered as a Farmerette, assigned to the Waterton Camp. (Courtesy photo)

FWIO president supports Farmerette stamp

live in. I urge the committee to issue a stamp in honour of this group.”

Margaret Ogar, president-elect of the Federated Women’s Institute of Ontario, also wrote a letter to Graves expressing her organization’s support for the request.

“As you know, food production and our farm sector were essential parts of Canada’s war effort; agriculture, farmers and food processors had been encouraged to increase their output to the maximum. As many of the farm labourers volunteered at the front line, the women then had to become employed in agriculture led by the government,” Ogar said in her letter.

“Including women in the agricultural sector was a significant shift in this sector during the Second World War Today, women play an important role on farms and in the agriculture industry. Women help the farming communities grow and evolve with the industry.”

Sitter says that the effort on behalf

of the Farmerettes was so great and the response was so positive that it’s hard not to think of the Farmerettes as a crucial aspect of the war effort in Canada. However, for a number of reasons, the group just isn’t thought of in the way that others who made sacrifices or gave of themselves are, which, she believes, is a real shame.

She is hoping that a push for further consideration will change some minds and result in some recognition. With the advanced age of the women who are now known as the Farmerettes, Sitter said it would be great if they could be honoured for their work while they are still alive.

For more information on the ongoing efforts of the committee, visit its Facebook page.

Sitter’s book is available at local book shops, including The Citizen office in Blyth. She continues to serve as an authority on the subject, making presentations on the group across the province

Continued from page A10 and 1944. My sister, many of our friends and thousands of young women served at Farmerette camps over the years. The brigade is part of Canada’s agricultural history,” she wrote just a few weeks ago. “Issuing a Canadian stamp would be a means of honouring our service. It would help remind Canadians today that service takes many forms in whatever age or circumstances we

and leading the effort to have the group represented on a Canadian stamp.

Brussels Fall Fair to go ahead at Four Winds

a weekend parade preceding the traditional fair activities on the following Tuesday and Wednesday.

The four options were:

• Host a parade and meal on Sunday, Sept. 11 and then a full fair on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and Wednesday, Sept. 14.

• Host a traditional Brussels Fall Fair with a meal on the evening of Tuesday, Sept. 13 and a parade on Wednesday, Sept. 14 with activities in and around the Brussels Four Winds Barn.

• Host a scaled-down Brussels Fall Fair in and around the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, potentially providing tours of the ongoing construction and renovation project at the centre. (Cardiff told members

A fresh start

The Brussels Agricultural Society, under President Zoellyn Onn, is planning for a return to an in-person Brussels Fall Fair this September. It will be held at the Brussels Four Winds Barn, due to the ongoing renovation and expansion of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, its traditional home. Above, ambassadors, queens and other dignitaries raise money for charity through the fair’s cake-decorating competition, held at the 2019 Brussels Fall Fair. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

After two years of cancelled fairs and hosting truncated events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brussels Agricultural Society is planning a full-scale return to the Brussels Fall Fair this September, but at a new, temporary home in the Four Winds Barn.

The society made the decision to take this direction last month after striking a special committee to consider a number of options for the fair, given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic and associated public health guidelines

to limit the spread of COVID-19. Past-President of the association Matt Cardiff led the committee, which consisted of Matt’s father Jeff, Reg Vinnicombe, Mary Ann Thompson and Lori Vader.

At the organization’s annual general meeting in January, the membership charged the committee with brainstorming some options for the fair this September, to be presented for consideration in February. Then, Cardiff presented four options from the committee, ranging from not hosting a fair again for a third year to hosting a fair that would be more elaborate than pre-pandemic fairs, including

this option would be a bit of a gamble, as the status of the centre project and construction would be unknown at the time, with September likely being a crucial period for the project.)

• Do not host a traditional, inperson Brussels Fall Fair, instead hosting a meal and parade on Sunday, Sept. 11, as the society has done the previous two years, and plan for an in-person fair in 2023.

Cardiff told those in attendance at the society’s February meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom, that the second option, to host a fair at the Four Winds Barn, was his committee’s preferred option. He did note, however, that option would come with a price tag of nearly $1,500 to rent the Four

Society hosted parades in 2020, 2021 for residents

Morris and Grey Community Centre.

Onn followed the straw vote with an official motion to host the Brussels Fall Fair on Sept. 13-14 at the Four Winds Barn, which the membership carried.

At the January meeting, members also decided that the 2022 Brussels Fall Fair, should it go ahead in its traditional form, will be referred to as the 159th Brussels Fall Fair. (The last official Brussels Fall Fair was held in 2019 and was the 158th fair.)

There was some discussion on the issue, with members making points on both sides. In the end, members

A fresh way to celebrate

While the Brussels Fall Fair wasn’t able to go ahead in its entirety in 2020 or 2021, the Brussels Agricultural Society was able to host some events in those years, such as Sunday parades and take-home fundraising meals. Above, the Brussels Legion Pipe Band entertained, as it always does, in the 2021 Brussels Fall Fair parade. (File photo)

Continued from page A12

Winds Barn from Sunday to Wednesday.

He said that while the Sunday events have proven successful in the past two years, they may cannibalize the fair being held on the following Tuesday and Wednesday, which traditionally would host both a meal and a parade. In addition, it’s possible that hosting the weekend events might leave a bit of a hole in the weekday programming, though Cardiff said he was confident the

society could be creative and fill the time in other ways.

Cardiff said that, for the second option, there would also be an opportunity for expansion as well, with the meeting room at the Brussels Library being available if needed. In addition, he said the plan would be to host outdoor events/exhibits in the Four Winds parking lot, potentially employing a shuttle service for the duration of the fair.

He also said that bringing back the Tuesday night would likely

serve to draw more people into the fair.

In a straw vote, Society President Zoellyn Onn asked members to speak up as to their preference. Thirteen members voted in favour of the second option, to host a fair on Sept. 13-14 at the Four Winds Barn. Two members voted for the first option, with a Sept. 13-14 fair and a meal and parade on Sunday, while two others supported the fourth option for Sunday events and no fair. No one voiced their support for the third option at the Brussels,

agreed that, while events, such as meals and parades, had been held in 2020 and 2021, they were society events and did not constitute a full fall fair in the traditional sense. The plan now, Onn said, is to mark the society’s 160th fair in 2023.

In an interview with The Citizen, Onn says the planning for the Brussels Fall Fair has continued in the subsequent weeks, with more details falling into place.

She said plans for hosting the fair at the Four Winds Barn are moving ahead. Onn is working on a floor plan for the barn in regards to

DIETZ AGRI

High meat costs not benefiting producers: study

While some farmers have criticized the federal government’s carbon tax, McArter said it’s less of an issue for beef farmers, but still a factor when it comes to a farm family’s everyday life.

Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb tabled a motion in the House of Commons last month to ask that farmers be exempt from paying the carbon tax on natural gas and propane where it pertains to grain drying and housing livestock.

Since beef farmers don’t heat their barns, McArter said, it’s not a concern from that perspective, but it has more to do with fuel and home heating costs.

DONATIONS

While the COVID-19 pandemic has had its way with many industries, resulting in the aforementioned increases, the Huron County Beef Farmers have, at the same time, recognized the increased need within their communities and have stepped up

A new challenge

The Huron County Beef Producers, whose executive is seen above in 2019, are among the beef farmers across Ontario who aren’t seeing price increases at livestock sales that reflect the increases customers are seeing at the grocery store, especially when rising input and fuel costs are considered. From left: Matt Shortreed, Matt McCall, Kittie MacGregor, Harvey Hoggart and current President Kevin McArter. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

A recent study conducted by the Beef Farmers of Ontario shows that, while meat prices are increasing dramatically, when it comes to beef, that added cost is not resulting in money in beef farmers’ pockets.

“Your steak is more expensive, but Ontario beef farmers aren’t getting the biggest cut,” reads a CBC News headline from earlier this month.

According to Statistics Canada, the price of beef has increased since March of 2020, when the COVID19 pandemic was declared worldwide. The CBC story states that price increases range from just six per cent for a kilogram of ground beef to nearly 25 per cent for some premium steak cuts.

However, beef farmers have not seen a 25 per cent increase in prices

received at the livestock sales, while input costs, such as feed, have skyrocketed. Belinda Bowman of BB Cattle Co. in Lucan is quoted in the CBC story as saying that a bushel of corn, which is a key ingredient for feeding cattle, has risen by 40 per cent during that same time period.

A study commissioned by the Beef Farmers Ontario suggests that between 2016 and 2021, the sale price of cattle for producers has remained rather stable, increasing by just 2.8 per cent, while at the same time, wholesale beef prices have risen by 27 per cent.

“Historically beef prices and cattle prices have gone hand-inhand, as one goes, so goes the other, but in the last couple of years that relationship has been broken,” Kevin Grier, the Guelph-based economist who

authored the study, told the CBC. Grier’s study also found that, from 2016 to 2021, the farmer’s share of profits fell from 41 per cent to 39 per cent, while the meat packer’s share rose from 51 per cent to 59 per cent. Grocers and butcher shops, according to the study, earned just two per cent of the profits in 2021, when compared to eight per cent in 2016.

Kevin McArter, a championship livestock auctioneer and president of the Huron County Beef Producers, in an interview with The Citizen , said that beef prices “worked for a while” but as other costs, such as feed, fuel and others, rise dramatically, those increases aren’t being reflected in cattle sales. All of those costs, he said, are “part and parcel” of being a beef farmer and the sharp increase in costs has made it much more difficult.

We’ve been insuring farms for generations, providing excellent service and local know-how. We know the special demands of the area, and we’ll be there if you have a claim. We live here and we work here - local starts with mutual insurance.

to help in the best way they know how.

When the pandemic struck in 2020, the membership donated the meat of an entire animal to food banks within Huron County. Partnering with Green’s Meat Market in Wingham, the group would purchase the cattle beast, have it processed by Green’s and then have the meat sent to the food bank to be distributed as the food bank sees fit.

The Beef Producers did the same in 2021 and McArter says the membership is working on doing it again this year. He says, depending on the weight of the animal, each donation is likely worth between $2,500 and $3,000.

As for the processing, he said that the entire cattle beast is processed into ground beef for distribution, rather than butchered into different cuts, which is the most convenient option for the food bank and its distribution centre.

Procession to replace parade at 2022 fair

year. Most of the annual Brussels Fall Fair book is available now online, with some categories still to be added in the coming weeks. She says she hopes the entire book will be available within the next month.

The 2023 Brussels Fall Fair has also already been scheduled with a date set for Sept. 19-20, 2023. The theme for the fair is

The more things change...

The saying goes, “the more things change, the more they stay the same” and this is true for most events in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations are being forced to adapt to ensure the safety of members and community members, but many are looking forward to a return to in-person events this year. While this year’s Brussels Fall Fair won’t include a traditional parade, President Zoellyn Onn hopes for a procession from the Brussels Legion to the Four Winds Barn including a handful of VIPs, one of which she hopes will be Don McNeil and his famous parade car, above. (File photo)

Continued from page A13 exhibits, attractions and other amenities for which the fair is known. In addition, there will also be satellite locations for the fair at the Brussels Library as well as the Brussels Legion, where there will be a program for children. The Legion will also be hosting a fish fry dinner on the Tuesday night of the fair.

She also said that plans for the fair’s parade had changed slightly Onn said the membership has decided that it will be more of a procession, making its way from the Legion to the Four Winds Barn, featuring society members, the fair ambassadors and the children taking part in the programs, rather than a parade that calls for floats from local businesses and service groups. She did say that Don

McNeil’s famous parade car may also be included in the procession.

The 4-H achievement days at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre grounds will also be going ahead, despite the centre not being accessible due to a planned renovation and expansion project later this year.

On a personal level, Onn says she’s just happy to be able to plan for a traditional, in-person fair after two years of pandemic-related cancellations.

Onn was elected to a third year as president of the society earlier this year. Her first two-year term directly preceded the declaration of the pandemic, so the society has not held a fair during her time at the helm. She just says she’s happy to be able to host an event this year and she’s looking forward to

welcoming the community back to the fair.

She hasn’t done it alone, however, adding that she had only just returned to the community two years before taking on the society presidency, so Onn says she has leaned heavily on more senior society members for help and they have all been willing to pitch in.

As part of the fair’s big return, Onn says she’s hoping that exhibition entries will be high this

“Bank Barns and Spinning Yarns”. A theme for the 2024 Brussels Fall Fair will also be chosen at a meeting sometime this year.

The 159th Brussels Fall Fair, with the theme of “Twist and Sprout” will take place on Sept. 13-14 at the Four Winds Barn. For more information, visit the society online at brusselsfallfair.ca. or on Facebook.

In 2019, Canadian wool producers encountered market pressure and uncertainty due to the ongoing trade conflict between China and the United States. The volume of raw wool purchased directly from Canadian producers decreased 10.2% from 2018 to 1.1 million kilograms in 2019. The average price paid for wool to Canadian producers in 2019 was $0.88 per kilogram. The total farm value was $1.0 million, down 27.6% from 2018.

Migrant labour program still facing COVID delays

By Denny Scott The Citizen

While COVID-19 has been a hindrance for many businesses over the past two years, many people would point to agriculture as an industry that would need to continue to operate no matter what, however COVID-19 infections and regulations have proven a problem even in that most essential industry.

From producers to processors, COVID-19 regulations, slowdowns and lockdowns have had an impact on all parts of agriculture, including the ability to have foreign workers or migrant labourers available for an agricultural business.

Foreign workers come from countries across the world to work in Canada, and for many it provides an opportunity to work for a wage that can both support themselves and support their families back home. However, slowdowns both here and abroad have caused significant delays in getting those labourers here, according to local agricultural business owners and representatives.

Amy Cronin, president of Cronin Farms Ltd., which is based near Bluevale, said that COVID-19 has definitely had an impact on her farm business through temporary foreign worker programs.

“We use both high-skill and lowskill workers on our farm because they do different jobs and handle different responsibilities,” she said.

“There have been challenges in both programs in getting the workers here.”

The challenges have been varied, however, with Cronin explaining barriers have changed significantly since the pandemic started through to even the middle of March of this year.

“We continue to face challenges with getting our temporary foreign workers here even now,” she said.

The farm employs approximately 25 workers right now, with numbers varying at times due to delays.

“In the beginning of the pandemic, we were extremely shorthanded, so we compensated with more temporary foreign workers than normal,” she said. “But delays hampered those efforts. Even right now, we are waiting on six employees who have been delayed.”

Cronin Farms has workers on two-year contracts with the workers returning home for a vacation midway through, she said. The workers typically spend an extended amount of time at home before returning for another contract.

“They come back contract after contract,” she said.

The most recent barrier isn’t anything to do with rules imposed by the national or provincial

governments, however, but rather it’s tied to bureaucratic delays in the home countries of the labourers.

Cronin explained the employees need medical paperwork, passports and work visas, among other documents, before they can leave and there are currently significant delays associated with that.

“When Omicron hit Canada, it hit the whole world, and we saw government shutdowns in the countries we were bringing foreign workers from,” she said. “We were able to, with some small delays, get paperwork done in a reasonable amount of time in Canada. It’s often been the [home country] that has a delay.”

Cronin said that, before the COVID-19 pandemic and even its early days, temporary farm workers were able to go home every year, however, there were complications with that as they would need to isolate for two weeks after coming back.

“That delayed our schedules with them coming back, and we had labour shortages because of that,” she said.

Fortunately, Cronin Farms’ brushes with COVID-19 were limited and didn’t contribute to the aforementioned barriers, with the exception of one case.

Cronin said that, this past January, the farm ran into its first COVID-19 case.

“Although the gentleman wasn’t [displaying symptoms], when he went to get his PCR test to fly home, it came back positive,” she said.

The staff at the farm handle the logistics for the workers coming and going, she said, but the young man who was sick ended up being stuck in limbo due to a loophole.

“At the time he tested positive, we knew he needed to isolate, just like we would do for any worker, though he needed to isolate longer to be allowed to go home,” she said.

After that, however, he wasn’t able to get a second PCR test as Ontario won’t test people until 90 days after their last positive test.

“He recovered quickly, but he couldn’t get a test to show he was negative for the virus,” she said. “Because it was a loophole, it was a challenge to find anyone that could help the situation.”

It took five weeks, Cronin said, to get the worker tested and get him on the plane.

Cronin said the farm has also had delays as workers contracted COVID-19 before leaving their home country, causing further delays.

“We’re counting on people being here, but that delays it,” she said. “Every time we’re down a worker, the team is short and it adds extra stress to the team in trying to make sure the farm work gets done, the animals are well looked after and we’re able to take care of the staff we do have.”

Aside from the delay, the farm staff have to spend a lot of time and

effort getting the paperwork lined up for employees coming, and that’s increased with COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has cost our business a lot of money,” she said. The virus has also wreaked havoc with her immediate family’s schedule, as they serve as the backups when staff can’t work, which might mean her children miss school or have to rearrange other activities. While she’s grateful her family can mitigate any barriers to production, she said it’s not an ideal situation.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Cronin said, the turnaround between hiring and employees arriving was about four months, but

now it’s closer to nine months.

“We have to plan nine months out to make sure they have the right paperwork in play and that the employment has been approved by Service Canada,” she said. “Then, we need to make sure of the same in the home country. Then we bring them in, train them and have them ready to work. We really have to have a lot of foresight and a plan to make sure we’re staffed, and that’s become more difficult.”

Cronin said the delays were a problem not just for agriculture, but for the employees whose lives are made better through the programs. She said the foreign workers

Thompson lends recipe to Ontario rural archive

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice

Lisa Thompson is not only the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, she’s also a selfconfessed foodie who shared her favourite recipes in one of 24 inaugural stories for the newly launched People’s Archive of Rural Ontario (PARO).

Described as a living archive of rural Ontario that is widely accessible, ever-growing, online and a repository of multimedia stories, the PARO officially launched in November with a slate of speakers applauding the endeavour.

“We are really excited because it’s been a lot of time and thinking and

Contributor

Huron-Bruce MPP and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs shared one of her favourite recipes as one of 24 inaugural stories for the People’s Archive of Rural Ontario, launched earlier this year by the University of Guelph. (File photo)

COVID-19 delays hit companies differently

Continued from page A16 aren’t interested in immigrating to Canada, but in the opportunity to work in the country which allows them to provide for their families back home.

“It changes their lives and their family’s lives,” she said. “The longer that we utilize this program, the more we see benefits from it. When something like COVID hits, it makes that very difficult.

Cronin believes the programs are the most effective aid programs that Canada offers in those countries, and when the workers can’t make it there, they could be without work and unable to provide for their families.

The jobs are always offered to Canadians first, she said, but they find little interest from people in taking the positions. The foreign workers, however, are anxious to have the opportunity and provide a better life for their family.

While Cronin has run into a number of barriers, Susan Hubbard, of G.L. Hubbard Ltd., Blyth’s rutabaga plant, said that, aside from the increased paperwork and isolation requirements after workers arrive, her company has “lucked out” with scheduling their foreign workers.

“The only real issue, aside from having to provide more documentation, is finding accommodation for them to quarantine,” she said. “We know a lot of other organizations have had problems getting them in.”

Hubbard said the rutabaga factory usually has six employees at the site at any given time, and has a total of 10 employees per year.

“Right now we have four, we bring four in around July and do a transfer, and then we get another two in September,” she said.

Fortunately for her company, they had employees arrive just before the first lockdowns hit in 2020 and were able to bring the next shift in during a time of eased restrictions later that year. They saw similar good timing in 2021.

“We were one of the lucky ones to get our workers here on time,” she said. “There were a couple of delays here or there, but nothing major.”

Some of the workers did have to stay a little longer due to lockdowns, she said, but they were out of the country when they needed to be, according to the tenets of the program.

“We know other businesses that were months behind,” she said, and couldn’t put a finger on why they were able to bypass most of the delays other than just luck and good timing.

That said, she understands the concerns and problems being faced by other companies and says she hopes that, with eased restrictions, those problems become less of an issue.

collaboration to make a website that is easy to use, engaging, accessible and does justice to stories of people living in rural Ontario,” said Dr. David Borish, knowledge mobilization associate with PARO during the virtual launch.

Senator Rob Black agreed. “Time and time again I hear about the rural urban divide and the need for urban people to learn about rural culture. It’s high time the history of rural Canada is awarded the recognition it deserves,” said Black.

Thompson agreed to be interviewed by Owen Roberts for the repository. The story focuses on farming, food and her role as the agriculture minister. She shared three family recipes and the interview ranged from issues of rural

migration to the role of rural Ontario in food production.

“Small-town Ontario goes handin-hand with the agri-food system,” said the minister in her PARO story. “They depend on each other and need each other to succeed.”

PARO is the brainchild of the University of Guelph which has a history of teaching and promoting agriculture since 1874, when the government bought 550 acres from the Stone family to start a college of agriculture.

“We work in partnership with committees and we are proud that we mobilize knowledge into action,” said Dr. Charlotte Rates, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Guelph. Deeply rooted

Continued on page A18

Equipment, parts delays not limited to auto sector

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Equipment shortages and increased prices on raw materials due to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in delays for everything from houses to automobiles and the farm industry is no exception.

Locally, two dealerships are sitting on either end of the spectrum when it comes to those delays with Garrett van Dieten, Branch Manager of Huron Tractor’s Blyth location saying that delays have only increased slightly from prepandemic levels, while Jeff McGavin of McGavin Farm Equipment saying they have seen

delays of between six months and a year.

Huron Tractor has been lucky, van Dieten said, to see no additional significant delay he said, and any delays could be linked to greater demand due to crop prices and favourable crop-growing conditions over the past year as much as they could be linked to the pandemic.

“We have had a couple great growing years leading to good crop prices and good conditions in the market,” van Dieten said. “When there’s a good crop, and good growing conditions, that means greater yields, especially when it’s coupled with good, strong prices and that usually means good years for us as well.”

PARO makes rural history accessible

Continued from page A17 to the prosperity and growth of rural Ontario, the launch of PARO by the university aligns with the overall mission of the university to improve life.

PARO describes itself as presenting stories that showcase the diversity of rural Ontario people, repair the gaps in knowledge about rural experiences, challenge unexamined assumptions, build bridges that bring people closer together and shed light on the way choices impact ourselves and the people upon whom we depend.

It has four key principles:

• Open access: PARO commits to extending the circulation of knowledge in accessible and understandable ways, and therefore ensures all of the audio-visual and written content within the archive is open to everyone online, free of cost or other barriers to engaging with this work.

• Aligned with rural needs: PARO is focused on supporting the recovery, preservation, and resilience of rural Ontario, and aims to be a flexible initiative, with evolving practices and efforts in response to the changing priorities and needs of people and communities in this region.

• Diversity and equity: PARO is all about highlighting and celebrating the diversity of rural Ontario, and is dedicated to amplifying stories across different ages, races, sexual orientations, socio-economic statuses, abilities and religious beliefs.

• Privileging rural voices: PARO is meant to be a platform that supports rural representation, and so the focus is to highlight rural stories, experiences, perspectives and voices in ways that are meaningful to the people of this region.

PARO was modelled after a similar venture in India called the People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI) whose founder, Dr. P. Sainath, spoke virtually at PARO’s launch. He said people have great romantic notions of famous libraries, such as the library of Alexandria. However, these libraries were not free and open. They largely excluded most of society. In his own country of India, Sainath said the Brahma caste had lists of punishments for people of lower castes who listened to their sacred texts.

“Punishments included having hot iron nails placed on their tongues or having their eyes gouged out. That is how leaders

“We haven’t seen too much of a slow down other than a United Auto Workers strike which kind of slowed everything down, but only a little bit,” he said. “Everything we’ve ordered has come in at a reasonable time.”

He said that John Deere, the primary supplier for Huron Tractor, has been able to absorb some of the market variability as well, which has led to less volatility in pricing.

“The big increases are in a lot of the short lines, or smaller companies, that can’t absorb those costs,” he said. “They are having to add surcharges or up pricing.”

He said that, while he feels Huron Tractor has been lucky as far as delays are concerned, there are

certain items, including GPS equipment and other electronics, that have seen longer delays than normal.

“If you order a GPS receiver, you might wait a year, when, in a normal period, we stock that kind of equipment,” he said.

The priority for him has been on keeping customers operational, but some products, like autosteer controllers, have taken some time to come in. He said that’s the case with anything with a circuit board. That said, van Dieten said if someone were to order a new tractor in early March, they would likely see it in August or September, a month longer than normal.

“While the company used to keep

things on the lot, more and more of what we offer is special-ordered and people are already willing to wait for it,” he said.

McGavin Farm Equipment hasn’t been as lucky, McGavin said, with over 100 tractors on order and likely only a quarter of them set to show up by the end of the year.

“Everything is getting pushed out right now,” he said. “If we’re pricing a tractor right now, it will probably be 2023 when we see it.”

McGavin said the situation is making it difficult to help keep farmers going, and it further complicates setting prices due to variations on trade-ins.

“It makes it difficult because, if you’re taking a customer’s unit

Continued on page A19

kept a monopoly over knowledge.”

Most archives have been a repository of protected privilege.

PARI is meant to be the exact opposite. “We need archives that are controlled neither by the government nor by corporations. There is a need for a people archive based on a concern with everyday lives or everyday people that cannot be taken down by someone else and cannot be declared classified information,” said Sainath.

It will be very important for PARO to remember to credit every writer, every subject and every person involved in the stories. Also, to record stories from many angles, even if the writer does not agree with the angle. Moreover, to publish in multiple languages.

Students at the University of Guelph curated the first 24 stories and, in sharing their experience, one writer expressed that he learned rural Ontario is more diverse and resilient than he imagined. Another writer said she learned the importance of creating an interesting narrative and how to work together with someone to create a story of which they were both proud.

The PARO website can be found at https://www.ruralontario.org/.

Click on the stories tab to find the story on Lisa Thompson along with the other rural repository stories.

COVID-19 causes delays in electronic systems

sympathetic towards some of the smaller companies out there who can’t buy entire container loads and are at the mercy of what’s available.

Commercial truck tires have also proven difficult to source for the

last six months, he said, though they have some in stock.

“It may not be exactly what people want, but we try to have what people need to get going,” he said.

Hard to come by

With delays in everything from entire units

dealers are facing similar problems to automotive

equipment to their customers. (MS photo)

Continued from page A18 on trade-in, they have the unit for another whole year, putting more hours on it while waiting for the new one to arrive,” he said. “It’s hard to appraise it based on an unknown increase to the hours in use.”

He said that, prior to the pandemic, the wait time was around six months for something that wasn’t on the lot, and now, depending on the producer and the line, it could be a much longer wait.

“Some models are more readily available than others,” he said.

McGavin echoed van Dieten when talking about individual parts, saying anything with electronic components is getting difficult to find and, in many cases, equipment can’t move without some of those pieces.

“All these ECU, or Engine Control Unit, pieces are backordered,” he said.

McGavin said anyone who knows they may need to replace something should plan as far ahead as possible and be ordering now if they can get it because the turnaround time isn’t what it used to be.

He said he doesn’t see that changing throughout this year, adding it will likely be next year before they have more inventory in the yard.

Another issue McGavin pointed to has been tires for farm equipment, and Matt Townsend of MGM Townsend Tire agrees, saying that, especially with farm tires, delays have been getting progressively worse since the pandemic started.

“Keeping inventory is very difficult for agricultural tires,” he

said. “Three years ago, I could quote a variety of manufacturers, but now we can only look for what’s available at the time.”

He said producers have given him a number of reasons for the problem, the most prominent of which is that they are servicing the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) needs first, meaning they are focusing on getting tires on new agricultural units that are rolling out of production facilities.

Townsend said he has several hundred thousand dollars worth of tire orders waiting, and said people are responding to the delay as well as can be expected.

“We try to fill the need, but we have fewer companies to draw on,” he said, adding that there are still Michelin and Alliance tires available but other companies, like Firestone or Continental, are just not able to deliver.

He said some product lines have been suspended for the entire year as companies look to the OEM market or focus on specific needs. He said he predicts a huge shortage for the next few years.

He said that farming equipment has gotten so intricately-produced over the past few years, with tires that are made only for specific speed-rating or specific units, and that makes it hard to stock and track those down. That’s put pressure on even the generic farming tires, as companies are focusing on speciality tires to catch up.

“It has been a very volatile market for the past two years with massive price increases brought forth by the manufacturer,” he said.

MGM Townsend Tire has been able to weather small truck and

passenger tire issues because the company can buy larger amounts of stock. Townsend said he is

to specific parts, agriculture equipment

dealerships in getting

solution to this problem,” said VanderLoo. “Yet farmers cannot claim carbon credits. This legitimately needs to be done as farmers are sequestering carbon in their woodlots and pastures and this needs to be addressed by Ottawa.”

Inflation is rising and predictions suggest interest rates will be soon, which will result in wage increases across all sectors. Labour shortages will also continue, predicts VanderLoo.

Part of the solution is growing goods at home and bringing manufacturing plants back to Ontario. He wants to see less reliance on China and more manufacturing and processing based

By Lisa

Looking for inspiration on what approach to take on your farm?

Judging from a panel speaking on the future of agriculture, you can export to the world, sell at the farmgate and/or be a mixed farm on a large scale to be profitable, happy in your business and promote Ontario foods.

According to the panelists, farming doesn’t require a “Go big or go home” approach. It takes a “Go big” or “Go home” or “Go big and go home” approach.

All three visions were explored during the “Perspective on the Future of Farming” virtual presentation late last year, which was organized by the Huron County Water Protection Steering Committee to inspire future farmers by what is happening right in their backyard.

Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, was listening in and said the future of agriculture and primary production is based on sustainability.

“Ontario already leads the way, whether we are embracing the four ‘R’s (right source, right rate, right time and right place) in how we manage crop inputs to how we manage cover crops and how we do everything we can to make sure water is pristine before it hits Lake Huron. It is stunning what farmers can do when leading by example and generally being good stewards.”

Moreover, sustainable practices open up new markets, added Thompson.

Martin VanderLoo, Huron Commodities

International business faces huge logistical issues in the future, believes Martin VanderLoo of Huron Commodities, whose presentation was largely on the struggles involved in exporting. At the same time, he believes investing in the Canadian economy, supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs and cutting regulatory red tape is the way to seize opportunities and foster growth.

“Our financial industry does not want to take a chance on your entrepreneurs with great ideas. What often happens is the Americans step in to finance it and bring it back to the United States,” said VanderLoo. “We need to insist that our financial industry offers credit and investment to these new opportunities.”

He sees new opportunities in the export market, which Huron Commodities depends on to sell premium seed and crop varieties by partnering growers with buyers and managing the transportation and logistics processes. Huron Commodities is a successful,

established business, but shipping issues have been a real struggle.

For instance, the majority of beans and grains are shipped overseas in sea containers. The crop’s journey involves trucks and railways to make it to Vancouver for loading onto ships. The problem is a lack of sea containers because of freight costs. Freight for those containers used to cost about $3,500 U.S. Now it costs $25,000 to ship those same containers from China to North America and Europe.

Normally, North American exporters fill those containers with exports and ship them back to China. However, there is an extreme

shortage of these containers and, because moving them from China to North America is an “extreme revenue generator”, many containers now get moved back to China empty so they can be quickly reloaded to take advantage of the profitable shipping rates.

“We are short of containers and that has created a bottleneck,” explained VanderLoo. In addition, climate change issues such as the mudslides and flooding ruining roads in British Columbia have turned shipping into a logistical nightmare.

Climate change is a huge concern for the future of farming. “Our government seems to think that implementing a carbon tax is the

in Canada to protect our food security and create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for Canadians.

Teresa Van Raay

The Whole Pig Company

Growth was the key point of Teresa Van Raay’s presentation about the successes of The Whole Pig Company, which also markets corn, wheat, soybeans and garlic. This third-generation farm works hard to maintain healthy family relationships with two sons and one daughter involved in the operation. A new pig barn will be in operation in 2022 and they also built a “Shause”, a house in a shed, to

Creek Farms

Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice

The future of farming means balance: Trick

to fit the land to the operation.”

He makes it clear that he has an off-farm business and his wife is a teacher, which brings additional income to the family and allows their mixed-farm operation to succeed. A grist mill and sawmill on the property indicate that historically agriculture was always a part of, but not the focus, of the operation.

This is not a detriment to the

Tricks’ way of thinking. When asked what he enjoys most about farming, “variety” is his answer.

He sees the way he farms as being a way of the future for small-scale farmers willing to develop a loyal customer base for products raised on the farm. As such, Trick’s Creek Farms provides many services such as custom lumber orders, broilers

Continued on page A24

Greenhouse, sod and nursery industry sales rose at their fastest pace since 2012, up 9.0% to $4.4 billion in 2020, as operators successfully adapted to the pandemic by offering online shopping, u-pick, curbside pick-up and home delivery, as well as physically distanced on-site sales.

Over half of the sales in 2020 were in Ontario (54.7%), with one-third in British Columbia (22.1%) and Quebec (12.3%).

Greenhouse sales rose 9.4% from a year earlier to $3.5 billion, largely attributable to a 12.3% increase in fruit and vegetable plant sales.

The future?

As one of three panelists on the Huron County Water Protection Steering Committee’s “Perspective on the Future of Farming” panel, Tom Trick sells beef, firewood and lumber from his 120-acre Huron County farm. Of the three panelists, Trick was the one who most saw the future of farming as a balance between profitability and protecting the environment.

Continued from page A20 provide housing for one of the sons.

“We have been in the process of succession planning for more than five years. It’s not easy. Land prices were $1,500 an acre when we started farming and now they are over $25,000. Do the math.”

She admits they do ponder the idea of selling and living comfortably, but farming is about family and the business continues to embrace the next generation.

The new generation will need to find new markets for former waste products, such as the scapes that are cut off garlic plants. “We have to snip them off before harvest to ensure bulb growth but these scapes are full of nutritional value and we need to find new markets for them,” explained Van Raay.

Like VanderLoo, Van Raay says labour is a huge issue. Things have to change in rural areas to attract workers. “We need more affordable housing, high-speed internet, community activities, sports, schools, health care, gyms and good roads,” she said. The Whole Pig relies on temporary foreign workers to help harvest garlic.

Farmers need to embrace change by looking back and seeing how much it has already changed. “Our manure used to be spread with a gun, then a splash barn, and now we have manure injection which has the benefit of cutting down on odour for our neighbours and also makes sure nutrients are available to the crop instead of being lost to the air.”

She believes no-till cropping and the use of cover crops are great practices to prevent soil from blowing into neighbours’ fields. The addition of precision agriculture ensures efficient and cost-effective cropping, Van Raay added.

Change is also about embracing technology and their new hog barn is largely computerized with a warning system to indicate if anything is

wrong with the feeding system.

“We’ve had times in the past where a pipe broke and the feed room was filled with feed. Technology can help prevent that,” says Van Raay. Her last prediction on the future of agriculture is that farmers need to, and will, take care of their mental health. “It’s okay to take a break,” she concluded.

Tom Trick Trick’s Creek Farms

Of the three panelists, Trick saw the future of farming as less of a growth and profit-driven business and more of a means to find balance between profitability and protecting the environment.

The Tricks sell eggs, beef, firewood and lumber from a 120acre farm in Huron County. The farmland is sandy and gravelly, so crops struggle during hot, dry summers, which is why beef farming is an ideal choice for a farmer who “tries to fit the operation to the land rather than trying

Authorized dealer for Central Boiler

Maxim Wood Pellet and Corn Burners And Gasification Units Carman Bernard 519-887-6405

RR #4 Brussels centralboiler.com

(Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot photo)

Trick’s mixed farm a model for environmentalism

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice

Tom Trick’s approach to farming is to try and run an environmentallybeneficial mixed farm in a landscape of intensive agriculture and urban influx.

Mixed farms are rare these days and Trick’s passion for his endeavour was evident in a talk on “The Perspectives on the Future of Agriculture” hosted by the Water Protection Steering Committee late last year. Curious about the farm and Trick’s goal to “inspire a bit of thought”, I visited the farm shortly afterwards to see how it operates. I discovered a farm that was once a gravel pit, and is now being regenerated with beef cow manure, forestry and farming practices that honour the soil and provide Trick with a variety of tasks that suit his approach to life.

“I try to fit the operation to the land, rather than fit the land to the operation,” says Trick as we wind down a long lane that takes us from his house near Bayfield Road between Clinton and Bayfield, past the chicken tractors (moveable pens) to a pond and creek that powers the

generator, which powers his parents’ house back behind the woods. In between, there was beef pasture, acreage for edible beans, beehives, newly-planted trees and a beef barn. There’s a sawmill too, which was once a profitable business for a pioneer of old, as was the grist mill that once ground grains by harnessing the water’s energy. It’s a gorgeous farm and Trick said he loved growing up here.

As a child, he lived in both houses. His parents, Bill and Thea, liked the off-grid home down the winding lane, but it was too far from the road, so when Tom and his siblings went to school, the family moved into the house by the road. Tom, his wife Cherilyn and three children live there still while Bill and Thea, now well into their senior years, moved back to the off-grid home. They still like to help and Thea is always busy planting trees.

As a child, Trick loved to have friends over. “If I went to visit a friend in town, we’d often play crappy video games but there was such a variety of things to do on the farm.”

That “variety” is something Trick

Continued on page A23

Environmentalism and history

Tom Trick shows off some of the historical pieces he keeps in a museum space at his farm, Trick’s Creek Farm. The museum is in a former grist mill which generates electricity for his parent’s house. Trick has a multi-function farm raising grass-fed beef and chickens. (Lisa

Boonstoppel-Pot photo)

Trick farm offers crops, livestock and sawmill service

and provide nicely marbled meat.

“Ruminants are a critical choice. They are best for the property in terms of soil, water and labour,” he says. Plus, cattle are such a wonderful species. “They are very hardy and their diet means there is no need to grow high-input annual crops with impacts that are not positive. They allow the farm to be in perennial pasture for years on end and enable long rotations for cropping that make organic farming realistic. These pastures have lower capital costs, low diesel consumption and are beneficial to wildlife, soil, water and air. The pasture double duties as an environmental habitat.”

Trick also sells eggs, pastured broilers and honey and cash crops and a small amount of edible beans, which is quite profitable but since he only grows between seven and 10 acres at a time, it’s not enough to sustain the farm. It is the bush that makes the most money on the farm as Trick fulfills custom sawmill orders.

Fitting in

Tom Trick’s farm focuses on working with the land instead of on it. Above, an old grist mill provides electricity to his parents’ house, which is on the farm. It’s just one way he capitalizes on what nature can offer.

(Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot photo)

Continued from page A22 still loves and craves. He’s not one for “bowling alley” fields and he finds field work tedious, though he loves to work. “I don’t mind having a lot on my to-do list. The thing that frustrates me is that the end of the day comes too soon,” he says. There is a lot to do between all the farm’s income streams. Because he’s committed to clean water and ecological ideals, he wants the 100acre property to dictate how it should be farmed. Since the soil is gravelly and sandy, it’s not a place

for cash crops. Acreage that was cleared and worked in the past has since been reforested to keep the soil that was there from blowing away. There are quite a few pastures for beef cattle to graze on, allowing Trick to sell grass-fed beef at both farmers’ markets and the farm gate. The beef herd started primarily as Dexter cattle. Then, Trick bred-in some Lowline Angus, added a bit of Wagyu (which was not successful for his operation) and is now breeding Galloway genetics. The 40 cows and calves are stout and meaty

It’s all the parts working together, plus a business in town and Cherilyn’s teaching income that give the family a good living and allow Trick to live his vision for Trick’s Creek Acres. His parents also had professional careers and did not depend on the farm for their income.

Trick recognizes the farm, due to its size, and being broken up by a creek, pond, bush and winding laneway, is not conducive to aggressive farming. Instead, it has a romantic appeal and his next venture will be building and renting cabins for urban dwellers to experience life in the country, if only for a weekend at a time.

His thoughts meander like the laneway, dwelling on many ideals, such as respect for land and neighbours.

“When I think of buzzwords to describe what we do, I use the word respectful. I like to be respectful to myself, my family, my neighbours,

the community and the land. As soon as you put business ideas through the filter of being done respectfully, it knocks a lot of potential ventures out of the contention.”

He likes to ponder the question, “Is more better?” Trick wonders about farms that keep putting up barns and adding acreage. How will families be able to transition these operations, worth millions of dollars, to their kids? Will the next generation ever be able to afford it? Does it really improve the farmer’s way of life?

“My personal view is that farm aggregation has led to undesirable outcomes. I think enabling severances of smaller acreages would be a big benefit for rural residents and small producers,” says Trick. He despairs when a farmer buys the neighbour’s farm and immediately rips out the fence lines and windbreaks to make one big field. “It’s not for me to say what they can and cannot do, but I think it is not proactive.”

Overuse of drainage and its effect on rivers and streams is a concern, as is the effect of agriculture intensification on water quality.

“We’ve got two creeks and the farm

is on the Bayfield River, so water quality is a high priority for us. We like the idea of having a lot of the farm in grass. When I spread manure, it’s a great way to make sure the manure stays put.”

Trick says he uses sustainability as a guideline when making decisions.

“When you are using a finite resource, you kid yourself to think you are sustainable. My goal is to reduce the use of finite resources as much as possible.” As such, they generate electricity for one of the houses with water power, heat their houses with wood (while replanting trees) and use the manure from cattle to fertilize their soils.

Trick welcomes visitors to the farm, which is why he enjoys farm gate sales. “There is significant value to actually meeting a customer in terms of legitimacy, real time for questions and trust building.”

Having been a visitor myself during a month of awful weather, where mud is a fixture on all farms, I’m keen to return in the spring, where, as Trick says, it’s a place “that puts a smile on someone’s face with the trees all green, the birds chirping, the cattle happily grazing in the field.”

Trick shares his farming tricks of the trade

and it was quite a struggle to get trees established in some of those areas again.

• We have not used any agricultural chemicals, petroleumbased nitrogen or pesticides in the last 12 years. We have little or no monocropping and very little tillage. Much of the land is in perennial pasture and hay.

• Some of my beans go to Cullins Foods, which is a business that contracts Ontario growers and distributes beans to grocery stores. They have production, cleaning, packaging and consumption all within the province.

• The market for grass-fed cattle is quite strong. I store the meat in freezers and it goes directly to the customer cooking it. Today’s technology helps me connect with customers and I like it when people stop by the farm. I leave it in the

Taking a look

Tom Trick of Huron County’s Trick’s Creek Farms says he has a number of tips as to how he runs his farm in order to prioritize both profitability and the good of the environment, which he shared as a member of the Huron County Water Protection Steering Committee’s recent “Perspective on the Future of Farming” panel. Members of Trick’s beef herd can be seen above. (Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot photo)

Continued from page A21 raised on pasture, small acreages of edible beans or corn, eggs and honey. One of two homes on the farm is powered by a generator that runs by water running under the mill.

He loves the farm and the way he farms and had these points to share about how he makes it work:

• Broilers are fed organic feed and the pens are moved daily. This way the chickens have new stimulation every day and do not sit in yesterday’s manure. The feed input from the pasture is minimal but I definitely see them pick at insects and chew grass.

• I have a few dozen laying hens with a nice set-up where people can go to the building where the fridge is and leave a payment or e-transfer a payment. A lot of people really like the eggs from free-range hens.

• I do a bit of logging. If I can convince the older set (Trick’s parents, who also live on the farm) then we can sell just shy of a tractor load every year and that is a sustainable level.

• I do 100-200 face cords for firewood, which is delivered to customers. I also custom saw wood with no intention of being a highvolume output operation. It’s a unique service that is only economical in certain situations and it is a wonderful exercise.

• I grew a seven-acre patch of open pollinated corn seed, which was planted June 1 after a spring graze. It yielded a little more than 100 bushels per acre and I’m sure everyone else who grows corn is shaking their head and pitying me, but that was grown with zero chemicals, no fertilizer (was formerly pastured) and free seed. It’s also certified organic so it has more value.

• There has not been a spring when we did not plant trees. We have probably planted 15 acres of what was considered a field back into trees. The main reason to reforest is for windbreaks and to expand the riparian areas around the creeks and pond. Also, some of the land that was stripped for cropping should have never been... it just blew sand

Jim

Jason

freezer and they can pick it up when it suits.

As for the future, Trick said once high-speed internet came to rural Ontario, it created a stampede of urban dwellers to the area. He is not surprised. “We are in an incredible area,” he says. The increased population will offer more opportunities for farm profitability as entrepreneurs learn to market high-value and value-added products to health-conscious clientele.

Improved cattle and pasture grass genetics will allow farmers to offer more pounds of grass fed beef and chicken to the customer without using more resources.

Farm legitimacy will become essential to customers who are intentional about what they eat. Trust-building needs to be a part of the farm business model, Trick said.

Shipments of ammonium sulphate within Canada decreased by 7 000 tonnes to 138 000 tonnes in the first quarter of the 2021/2022 fertilizer year, down 4.8% from the same quarter a year earlier.

Over the same period, shipments of ammonium sulphate to the United States increased 23.7% to 120 000 tonnes.

These trends were consistent with shipments of several other fertilizer products, as demand was strong south of the border.

Clean Water Project welcomes changes, new faces

per tree, plus $500 per acre; wellhead protection area reforestation project, maximum $2,000, plus $500 per acre and wetland restoration incentive program, maximum $300 per acre.

The Huron Clean Water Project launched in 2004 and the first projects were completed the following year. Since then, 3,371 projects have been completed with a total project value of just under $14 million based on $3.9 million in grants being paid out.

Over 100 liquid manure storages have been decommissioned, 415 wells have been upgraded, 610 wells have been decommissioned, 25,000 acres of cover crops have been planted and 926 tree-planting projects and 278 erosion control

From the sky

Doug Hocking, who has since retired from his position at the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, would often take to the skies as an amateur pilot and photograph some beautiful vistas throughout the county. Before he retired, he would say that while much of the “clean water” focus is on Lake Huron, much of the important work that takes place is all about keeping the county’s rivers and creeks clean as well. (Courtesy photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen

The Huron Clean Water Project marked another successful year in 2021, with a funding increase and some changes to look forward to in 2022, as well as some new faces behind the popular program.

Last month, Nathan Schoelier of the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and Ben Van Dieten of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority presented an update on the project to Huron County Council. It marked their first annual update to council since the pair took over administration of the program from Kate Monk (Ausable Bayfield) and Doug Hocking (Maitland Valley), who had successfully administered the program throughout the county over a number of years.

The pair, with an introduction courtesy of Project Review Committee Chair and MorrisTurnberry Mayor Jamie Heffer, presented to Huron County Council at its Feb. 2 meeting, which was held virtually via Zoom. The presentation served as the project’s annual update for council, as the county contributes $450,000 annually to the project. Earlier this year, however, during council’s budget deliberations, council decided to increase the county’s annual contribution to the program to an even $500,000.

Last year, the committee reviewed 318 new project applications, approving 300. Fifteen of the project applications were denied, while three were withdrawn by their applicants.

The committee approved $393,199 in grants and the total value of the approved projects is in excess of $1.24 million, equalling a matching funding ratio of greater than three to one.

Twenty-nine per cent of the allocation went to 128 cover crop projects, followed by 22 per cent of the allocation going towards 17 erosion control projects and 21 per cent aiding 70 tree-planting projects.

The Huron Clean Water Project has continued its work even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all project applications now

available online and the review committee meeting virtually. The opportunity for one-on-one site visits, landowner supports and advice is still there, however, according to the pair’s presentation.

The project currently offers grants for 17 project categories: erosion control measures, maximum $6,000; special projects, maximum $3,000; rural stormwater management and wetland management, maximum $3,000; clean water diversion, maximum $3,000; fragile land retirement, maximum $4,000; livestock access restriction, maximum $3,000; manure storage decommission, maximum $3,000; community projects, maximum $2,000; septic systems and composting toilets, $2,000; forest management plans and woodlot enhancement, maximum $1,000; wellhead protection, maximum $1,250; well decommission, maximum $1,250; stewardship guide implementation, maximum $500; cover crop incentive, maximum $15 per acre; living snow fences, maximum $20

projects have gone ahead.

Later in that same meeting, Huron County Council also approved some changes to the program, which were recommended by County Biologist and Stewardship Co-ordinator Marcus Maddalena.

He told council in his report that project categories are reviewed on an ongoing basis in an effort to better deliver projects that support work that directly benefits water quality in Huron County.

In the fragile land retirement category, Maddalena recommended adding a project requirement stating that “to be eligible for the grant, projects adjacent to buildings must clearly demonstrate benefits for

County approves biologist’s recommended changes

available meeting following application submission. The annual process for reviewing septic system applications is “cumbersome” for the committee, he said in his report, and results are being deferred in many cases.

Reviewing the projects in the proposed manner, he said, would increase consistency across the project categories and help projects get moving in a timely manner.

Landowners, he said, often wish to complete the project during a reasonable timeframe and being required to wait until the committee’s annual meeting presents challenges for some landowners and results in some projects not going ahead.

Maddalena also recommended the removal of the “75 per cent rule”, which is in place to limit grants to not exceed 75 per cent of the total cash expenses on a project, with some exceptions.

An unwelcome sight

Huron County is home to some of the best and most productive soil in all of Ontario, so soil erosion on area farms is a major concern, especially when it can be so easily swept away, like the image above. As a result, cover crop initiatives, tree-planting and erosion control projects have all gained in popularity through the Huron Clean Water Project, administered by Huron County and the Ausable Bayfield and Maitland Valley Conservation Authorities. (File photo)

Continued from page A25 water quality.” He told council that this change would discourage applications for planting that are considered landscaping and provide

limited water quality benefit. In that same category, he also suggested including land value as an in-kind reporting figure. He said it’s a common practice with similar

cost-sharing projects and it would more accurately reflect the value of fragile land retirement projects. For septic systems, he suggested evaluating the systems at the first

He said removing this rule will allow for further support of water quality initiatives in Huron County with less burden on the landowner, who often has a significant in-kind investment into a project.

Once council approved the change, he said he would continue to monitor the impact on category grant caps over the course of the year, which he said shouldn’t affect the project’s finances over the course of the year, operating within the current year’s budget allocation.

As for the new faces, both Schoelier and Van Dieten say they’re happy to be working on the program and continuing the good work of Monk and Hocking.

Schoelier has worked with the

Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority since 2018, serving as a stewardship technician. He was promoted to stewardship and conservation lands manager last September.

“We are extremely pleased to have Nathan take on more responsibility in management of our important stewardship and conservation lands programs,” said Brian Horner, ABCA General Manager and Secretary-Treasurer. “Nathan has excelled in delivery of stewardship in our local watershed communities over the past four years. He has proven his abilities and we will benefit greatly from his stepping into this leadership role.”

Monk has continued with the organization, taking on the role of project’s co-ordinator, after working with Ausable Bayfield for more than 30 years.

Before his time with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority, Schoelier worked as a land management technician with the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority between 2015 and 2017. He completed the Ecosystem Restoration program at Niagara College between 2016 and 2017 and prior to that he completed the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Technician program at Sault College between 2014 and 2016.

Schoelier grew up in the St. Marys area and says that growing up in a rural community has been a real asset to his work with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority.

“I am honoured to be named as the new Stewardship and

Schoelier, Van Dieten take over Clean Water Project

water quality specialist with the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority.

Van Dieten, in an interview with The Citizen, says he was able to work under Hocking for a while and then, late last year, when it was clear Hocking would be retiring, more directly as his successor with the project.

Van Dieten was able to take the reins on several aspects of the project while Hocking was still on the job, consulting with him along the way, though he says he’ll still make the occasional call to Hocking to pick his brain for some guidance.

Keeping it clean

The Huron Clean Water Project has made it a priority to keep the county’s water clean through a number of means, such as cover crop and tree planting, among other things. This year, Huron County Council decided to increase its annual contribution to the project from $450,000 to $500,000. (File photo)

Continued from page A26

Conservation Lands Manager and I look forward to continuing our close partnership with rural landowners and municipalities on projects that make improvements in our watershed communities,” he said. “I look forward to managing our conservation areas and forests as we balance the needs of the environment and citizens.”

In an interview with The Citizen, Schoelier said that, in his early days with Ausable Bayfield, he worked with landowners on the ground to implement changes through the Huron Clean Water Project, so he has a clear understanding of the program and what it seeks to accomplish. In his new role, he said, there is just a bit more administration, which has been a fine addition by him.

He said that just in the past five years, he has seen an increase in interest from local farmers and landowners, depending on the project. Cover crop projects, treeplanting and erosion control projects have been among the leading categories to see an uptick in interest in recent years, he said, but it always depends on

the year and on the farm.

Seeing the increased interests and administering the project year after year, he said, has been gratifying, especially when it comes to partnerships within the community and everyone really working towards the same goal of improving water quality, as it affects every resident of Huron County.

Van Dieten began his time with the Maitland Valley Conservation  Authority about six years ago, beginning in stewardship and working on the Garvey Glenn shoreline watershed project. In those early years, Van Dieten said he worked liaising with landowners and conducting edge-of-field water quality research.

The organization is still working on Garvey Glenn, but Van Dieten has moved on from that specific project, working more with municipal regulations and other stewardship projects. At the beginning of 2022, however, Van Dieten said that about threequarters of his workload is associated with the Huron Clean Water Project after Hocking’s retirement. Hocking retired at the end of December after years as a

Growing up on a farm north of Seaforth, Van Dieten says his work with the conservation authority is rewarding and heartwarming, as he and his colleagues are able to work with landowners to improve water quality in the county. Connecting with those landowners who are just as concerned with water quality and environmental improvements as he is, Van Dieten said, is very fulfilling work.

He agrees with Schoelier that the three most popular projects have been cover crop initiatives, treeplanting and erosion control. When

it comes to cover crop projects specifically, he said, there is a tremendous amount of cost efficiency when considering how much soil can be protected for a minimal level of investment.

While Van Dieten is working as the Stewardship Project Lead, he is also working with Forestry Technician Greg Urquhart, who is handling the tree-planting aspect of the Huron Clean Water Project for the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority. Urquhart, Van Dieten said, is another keen participant in the program, who, like him, has a long-term vision for work with the conservation authority and within the community.

For more information on the Huron Clean Water Project, visit the county’s website online at huroncounty.ca, the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority at abca.ca or the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority online at mvca.on.ca

Canadian agricultural producers used approximately 1.8 billion cubic metres of water to irrigate their crops in 2020.

ROTH DRAINAGE LIMITED

* Farm Drainage * Excavator & Backhoe Service

* Municipal Drainage *No Obligation Quotes

Gads Hill 519-656-2618

Quality Workmanship Since 1948 1-866-494-2618

Blyth 519-895-6367

Auburn

519-529-7212

E-mail: info@smythwelding.com

Visit our website www.smythwelding.com

to find a Dealer in your area!

28' FS PTO

Stone Windrower

Crimper Rollers

NEW

•8' to 61' widths available

•30" Diameter Rollers

•Great for Organic Farming & Cover Crop Management

•Cat II 3pth models available (8' to 16')

• Straight, Vertical, X-Fold & Double Fold Designs. (CRV model shown)

44" Wide Tag-Along Sweeper with Collection Bin

• (2) 12' Folding Sections

• “V” Formation

• 5 ft. Windrow

• Auto Wing Lock/Unlock

• Enclosed Chain Case

• 12' & 32' Models Available

XS Model

•30' to 47' Land Roller

•30" Diameter Rollers

•4 Wheel design

•42" Diameter Rollers also available

• Straight, Vertical & Double Fold Rollers also available

•GX160 Honda engine with 6:1 gearbox

•Adjustable tongue height

•Single lever controls the spring tension of brush against lawn

•Trip-style tailgate for quick, easy removal of materials from the 10 cubic foot bin

•Other models available

Eat Local Huron opens in new facility after fire

losses with the recent renovations on the Westfield location and the equipment we lost.”

She said it’s been so much easier

to recover, not only having the financial support but also the knowledge that the community is

Hauling produce

Eat Local Huron, a company that focuses on helping people source their groceries close to home, had to relocate last year due to a fire in its Westfield facility. The move was only possible with community support according to General Manager Gemma James Smith, not shown. Above, Chris Spaleta, a Huron County native who had the original idea for Eat Local Huron, moves product into the new space. (Photo submitted)

By Denny Scott The Citizen

After fire devastated the company’s Westfield-area facility, Eat Local Huron was able to open up late last year just outside of Bayfield and continue growing the company.

Eat Local Huron, according to General Manager Gemma James Smith, was able to re-open in December and things started to grow quickly when the calendar turned to 2022. She explained that the location at Westfield is gone and unable to be used, but the Bayfield location will suffice for the time being.

The company, started by Huron County native Chris Spaleta, offers a one-stop shop for people looking to buy things as locally as possible. Everything they sell through their website is sourced locally, if possible, James Smith said.

“We have over 50 local farms and producers,” she said. “We have everything sourced from Huron County and the surrounding areas as possible, and we’re augmenting those products with other grocery staples, which we get as close to home as possible.”

James Smith said the point of the organization is to allow people to do a “full grocery shop” online and have it delivered to their home. She said her own family of six has been trying to order all their groceries through the organization, and it’s definitely possible.

“Orders are fully customizable,”

she said. “You can order milk, butter, cheese and flour to make your own meals, but then also grab some potato chips, frozen prepared meals, fruit, veggies and some toothpaste. You shop as you normally would, only it’s online.”

Eat Local Huron first fills orders with local options, then sources other items from as close to home as possible.

“As we grow, we find things that might be available in Huron County that we didn’t know about before, and may be able to replace items we were sourcing from further away,” she said.

So far, they’ve sourced everything from fish to baked goods to pre-cooked meals within Huron County and its neighbouring counties, she said. Eat Local Huron has also been able to start finding, within a reasonable distance, fresh produce during the winter and shoulder seasons, pointing at New Life Farm near Chatsworth, from which they recently started sourcing microgreens this winter.

James Smith said Eat Local Huron’s staff are extremely thankful to the community who, through both their regular patronage and through donations to a GoFundMe campaign after the fire, have made them able to recover

“We would not be back without the support of our community,” she said. “They came together and generously donated to our GoFundMe campaign after the fire, which allowed us to recover our

Eat Local Huron plans growth

use it as a weekly shopping service.

The goal, however, is to be fielding 150 orders per week by the end of the year, James Smith said, which will require not only a larger space, but also a dedicated delivery van.

The current space, she said, won’t meet that increased demand, and right now the company is renting a van for one day a week, which offers limitations.

“The flexibility of our own vehicle would allow us to look at different days,” she said. “We also couldn’t likely do 150 orders in one day…. Right now, we deliver on one day only and we’re already outgrowing that.”

She said the company had to run another day using alternative vehicles, which made her look at what the company needs for the future.

Regardless, James Smith says the business is ready to serve the community with its online store open Wednesday-Sunday for orders to be delivered the following Wednesday. For more information, visit Eat Local Huron online.

Shipments of ammonium sulphate within Canada decreased by 7 000 tonnes to 138 000 tonnes in the first quarter of the 2021/2022 fertilizer year, down 4.8% from the same quarter a year earlier.

Over the same period, shipments of ammonium sulphate to the United States increased 23.7% to 120 000 tonnes. These trends were consistent with shipments of several other fertilizer products, as demand was strong south of the border.

Continued from page A29 behind the company.

While the company has recovered, Eat Local Huron is already looking towards expansion from their new space in Bayfield.

“We’re going to stay here as long as we can,” she said. “It’s a wonderful new space, but it’s also very clear to us we may outgrow it within a year.”

Right now, Eat Local Huron is

fielding about 50 orders a week, she said, from a rotating cadre of 250 customers.

“We have some customers who do a large order, which gets them through a couple weeks, then they order again,” she said. “It seems to rotate each week as to who needs what.”

Some people order just to fill their freezers, she said, wanting specific cuts of meat from local farmers, while others

No-till gardening requires planning, cover crops

plant the same crop in the same spot every year. “We also don’t plant large areas of one crop - that would be like serving our crop to pests on a silver platter!” she says. “We move our crops around from year to year and grow different crops beside each other to confuse the bugs.”

After three challenging years of

drought and wet, she decided to park the tractor and go no-till.

Daniel Mays, Frith Farm

Coming from southern Maine, Daniel Mays of Frith Farms has been growing vegetables commercially using no-till methods since 2011. His Waldorf education and Quaker

Continued on page A31

Enjoyable

Isabelle Spence of Field Good Farms near Nipissing says the no-till section of their vegetable farm isn’t nearly as neat as the tilled section but it has become their favourite place to garden as the soil becomes loose and the plants thrive. (File photo)

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice

Growing no-till vegetables requires a strategy which includes lots of mulch and the use of tarps or cover crops to control weeds, say three vegetable growers.

Speaking on no-till vegetable farming at the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s annual conference held late in 2021, Ryan and Isabelle Spence of Field Good Farms near Nipissing said the first step is to consider growing adaptive plants that will thrive even as the climate changes. The Spences choose to grow sea buckthorn and cherries as adaptable berries on their no-till acreage. Farming in Zone 4a and 3b, the pair have different challenges than growing vegetables in southern Ontario but many practices are province-wide.

About one acre of their growing space is no-till. Brassicas, greens, fresh onions, carrots and all legumes are grown in the tilled garden space. “Our no-till section is a plethora of all sorts of family groups that come together and have a party,” laughs Isabelle. It isn’t always the neatest space compared to the tilled beds where the couple used a tilther (a battery-powered tiller designed to work the top two inches of soil) to smooth out the beds.

“We have seen huge improvement in our soil structure and the no-till garden has become our favourite garden. Once you change your attitude towards how you manage it, you can appreciate it,” she said.

When transitioning from tilled

beds to no-till, they cover the ground with silage tarps. They do use oldfashioned wheelbarrow and shovel techniques, but also employ an Earthway seeder and paper pot transplanter to plant seeds and seedlings.

Compost is a huge part of their notill system and they use a compost spreader from Millcreek Spreaders to bring it to the fields. They also layer heavily with straw to mulch the beds and have connected with a neighbouring farmer who grows switchgrass which they will use this year.

“Mulching is not a single-purpose thing to fight one problem,” says Ryan. “Mulching is a multi-purpose weed management and diseasemanagement tool. When we use it around tomatoes, it prevents soil from splashing and causing blight. It’s good in a dry year and even in a wet year.”

Kristine Hammel, Persephone Market Garden

Kristine describes her farm as 100 acres of swamp, forest, pasture and vegetable fields. Persephone Market Garden is located between Owen Sound and Sauble Beach. Kristine farms with her partner Thorsten, but the market garden is her own particular vocation. The pair has three young children, so she chooses to market her products within 30 kilometres of the farm.

Kristine grows 40-60 different vegetable crops in uniform blocks with five-foot centres measuring 100 feet long. She practises intensive crop rotation and intercropping in the garden, ensuring she doesn’t

125 Ontario Street, Stratford

Phone: (519) 271-7581 Fax: (519) 271-2737

E-Mail: office@fammeandco.on.ca

25 Water Street N., P.O. Box 1228, St. Marys

Phone: (519) 284-1030 Fax: (519) 284-4393

E-Mail: st.marys@fammeandco.on.ca

210 Oxford Street, E. London

Phone: (519) 432-1663 Fax: (519) 432-7662

E-Mail: london@famme.ca

Stop

Cover crops, weeds present challenges in no-till

we have enough heat,” said Isabelle. Using Silage Tarps and Landscape Fabric

Kristine uses silage tarps to keep her compost area weed free. “I don’t use it on plots because it doesn’t let water through.” When she wants some control and moisture, she uses landscape fabric. However, she is finding with no-till that her soil holds moisture better. “This past spring was very dry and May and June were frightening. I was relieved that I made the transition to no-till because the soil was still moist.

A learning experience

Continued from page A30

upbringing defined his relationship to land and community and set the foundation for his commitment to soil health, biodiversity, humanscale practices and on-farm education. He even wrote a book about it, called The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm.

Growing three acres of vegetables in Zone 4b, Daniel employs eight full-time people, which is why he can grow so much produce in such little space in the farm’s permanent raised bed system.

“My mantra is never see the soil. Keep it covered at all times,” he says.

Also a fan of mulching, Daniel uses anything from compost to straw, bark and wood chips. Over the last five years, he has used more and more cover cropping and says it has been rewarding to see the vitality of the soil from this practice. “Cover crops are good for the soil above and below ground,” says Daniel. He plants a lot of winter rye, which is crimped by hand, killing the plant. Daniel creates a crimping tool using boards and a t-bar. Ropes fasten the boards to people’s feet and they stomp in unison going down the bed. “Then we pull a tarp over the bed for a few days and when we lift it, it’s like beautiful golden straw mulch.”

Vegetables are grown in between the rows of rye and the dead rye becomes “grown-in-place-mulch”.

Challenges of No-Till Vegetable Farming

Growing rye as a cover crop presents challenges because it is so dense and has so much root mass, says Daniel. “It’s hard to break through the root mass to get seedlings into the ground.” He has used trowels and forks and is now researching forestry products that can poke through fibrous roots easier.

Quackgrass is a persistent and aggravating weed to conquer for Kristine. She tried pulling, letting plots remain fallow, using cover crops and it always came back. Now, she doesn’t till and uses compost and mulch and occasionally landscape fabric to smother it. She also had a change of attitude. “In the past, I felt I had to fight the quackgrass. I’ve shifted to ignoring the quackgrass and taking better care of the soil so that it pulls out easier. My soil is looser and more relaxed and I can pull quackgrass strands out (which are sometimes a metre long) and I feel the soil is saying, ‘OK, I can let it go as I don’t need it anymore.’”

Isabelle and Ryan also have issues with quackgrass and all grasses. In the past, they would till the soil to

discourage it. Now, they believe in creating healthier soil so it is easier to pull out. They’ve also had an attitude shift and actually use quackgrass for their cheese-making because it is full of minerals and tastes somewhat like cucumbers

when pulled out of the soil. Not all crops work well in no-till. Isabelle and Ryan grow carrots in tilled beds. Melons, squash and cucumbers don’t seem to thrive in no-till environments either. “I don’t think

Ryan says he has tarps and uses them, but they are not a prefered solution. “Cover crops are better, but we do use tarps when I know I won’t have time to get to a block of beds and weeds are coming in,” he says. It doesn’t always work, however, and it’s hard to handle when it is wet. “When tarps have water on them for a long time, they become a disgusting, slimy mess.”

Another comment was that landscape fabric is a good alternative for paths when wood chips are costly.

Other Vegetable Growing Tips:

Kristine really likes five-foot centres in beds to allow for intercropping. With her wide beds,

she can grow two rows of cabbages with a row of leeks down the middle and still have sufficient space to work. Daniel went from 42-inch beds to 48-inch beds to allow double cropping.

Daniel allows three or more years between growing crops in the same space. “In three years, if you plant something that could be a host for a disease, that disease is gone.”

Kristine has discovered the bicycle shops are great sources of cardboard which become a source of mulch. Burlap from coffee roasters also makes good mulch.

Intercropping techniques can work well with the right combination of vegetables. One grower planted beans between potatoes, which worked well for the soil, but not for the humans picking the beans. Another grower liked green onions between beets because it fits in terms of agriculture and timing of harvest. Another liked planting three rows of carrots with two rows of ginger.

The EFAO conference was held virtually over four days in November and December. The conference is part of a broader scope to support farmers to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community.

Kristine Hammel of Persephone Market Garden, located between Owen Sound and Sauble Beach, decided to go no-till after running into issues with drought and wet seasons. (File photo)

MVCA looks at connection between nature and health

By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot The Rural Voice

Humans rediscovered nature during the pandemic and are making the link between the health of our natural system and humans, which is why One Health, locally known as “Healthy Watershed, Healthy People, Healthy Wildlife”, is gaining traction amongst both rural and urban dwellers.

Taking the lead on this connection is the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority (MCVA), which is working closely with Dr. Justina Ray, President and Senior Scientist with Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, to build bridges between the health of the environment and health of people. Part of the goal is to reduce our vulnerability to pandemic viruses.

With 72 per cent of new viral disease outbreaks originating in wildlife, it’s the perfect time to assess the environmental determinants affecting human health. In a presentation late last year, Dr. Ray explained what One Health is and why this integrated approach is critical in making people and the environment more resilient to pandemics in the future.

To understand how wildlife and pandemics are connected it’s important to know the definition of zoonosis. Zoonoses are diseases that move between animals and humans. Some of those are viruses and scientists only understand a fraction of them, says Dr. Ray. “We only understand about 250 of the viruses that affect humans. The rest out there haven’t made the leap and normally, they won’t make that leap - until

they have the right constellation of factors to make that leap.”

In the particular constellation that led to SARS in 2003 and COVID-19 were wildlife markets in China, something Canada doesn’t have. In these markets, wild animals live in cages stacked one on top of each other in a way that would never occur in the wild. Occurring indoors, with a large human population in attendance, these conditions have led to at least two serious disease outbreaks.

Ultimately, it’s really the “ongoing destruction of nature that will result in these diseases jumping from animal to animal and then to humans,” explains Dr. Ray. Disruptions to ecosystems literally shake viruses loose from their natural hosts so they have to search for a new host which, in a world growing in population, is often humans.

Plus, the increase and expansion of human activity is breaking down the natural buffer that once protected us, says Dr. Ray. In tropical countries where the virus jump is happening, country roads are penetrating into areas that had previously not seen human contact, forcing animals out of their environments.

Humans are, in effect, creating the situations leading to virus jumps.

The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) says nature is critical for human existence. Yet, humans “devastate wildlife, we eliminate entire species and then at

the same time we squeeze the rest into perverse and dangerous configurations and then we jeopardize our own health.”

Most of this is happening in tropical forest regions, but Europe and North America are not off the hook, says Dr. Ray. Canada has intensive agriculture, combined with high populations and land degradation. In Southern Ontario, the landscape has been hugely modified. “Wetlands and forests are a shadow of what they used to be. Overall biodiversity of the region has been vastly simplified and homogenized,” says Dr. Ray.

North America’s poster child of emerging diseases is lyme disease, which is connected to deforestation. Lyme disease comes from bacteria on ticks that rely on deer to survive, as well as such species as the whitefooted mouse, which thrives in forests fragmented by agriculture.

Lyme disease isn’t a pandemic but is a “slow-moving problem that can collectively lead to bigger problems over time,” says Dr. Ray.

It’s almost impossible to stop what’s happening to the planet, so the goal is to “improve resilience” globally and locally. Ironically, the pandemic has underscored the importance of the environment for human well-being. As people explored nature, they experienced the physical, psychological and mental benefits of being outdoors.

Dr. Ray says the global response needs to be in preventing the next pandemic via stopping the wildlife trade, wildlife consumption and destroying nature. Locally, building resilience includes safeguarding nature in a stable ecosystem with sustainable resources.

The MCVA has long been a protector of waterways and, moving forward, water quality will remain a prime concern. Encouraging farmers and landowners to think of nature as an asset, promoting best management practices, mapping, conservation, protection of biodiversity, watershed monitoring and creating functional ecosystems will all be part of the process.

Phil Beard, General Manager of the MVCA, explained that many people in Southern Ontario aren’t familiar with the One Health concept, which is why the MVCA has coined it Healthy Watershed, Healthy People, Healthy Wildlife. One of the first goals of this action plan is assessing forest health, a vital tenet of this vision.

As mentioned, forest fragmentation contributes to the spread of lyme disease so, at a very

real level, protecting forests can protect the health of all the pandemic-driven nature seekers who have been walking in the woods.

Dan Crouse, who works with Dr. Ray, says people are really starting to grasp how the health of the forest affects microbial health of the soil, which, in turn, affects the microbes in our gut. “It isn’t just hippie stuff anymore. We know that kids that play in nature are healthier because of that connection.”

As One Health and Healthy Watershed, Healthy People, Healthy Wildlife move forward, it will require a team effort including public health units, the agricultural community, government and individuals to really make a difference.

Greenhouse, sod and nursery industry sales rose at their fastest pace since 2012, up 9.0% to $4.4 billion in 2020, as operators successfully adapted to the pandemic by offering online shopping, upick, curbside pick-up and home delivery, as well as physically distanced on-site sales.

Over half of the sales in 2020 were in Ontario (54.7%), with one-third in British Columbia (22.1%) and Quebec (12.3%). Greenhouse sales rose 9.4% from a year earlier to $3.5 billion, largely attributable to a 12.3% increase in fruit and vegetable plant sales.

DR. JUSTINA RAY