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Celebrating Canadian Agriculture Day

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Let’s (always) celebrate the food we love.

Top 10 reasons to celebrate Canadian agriculture

The first-ever Canada’s Agriculture Day was a huge success. In 2018, it’s getting bigger and better. And why not? There are so many reasons to celebrate our industry. Here are our top 10.

  1. The ag industry is a major employer. Agriculture employs over two million Canadians – that’s one in eight jobs.
  2. We’re a trading powerhouse. Canada is the world’s fifth largest agriculture exporter with over $50 billion in annual sales.
  3. Family matters. We love ag for the life it gives our kids now and the opportunities it will give them in the future. It’s not just our livelihood, it’s our legacy – 97% of farms are family farms.
  4. Ag plays a major role in our economy. It contributes over $100 billion to Canada’s GDP each year.
  5. We’re proud environmentalists. Ike Skelton once said, “Because of their connections to the land, farmers do more to protect and preserve our environment than almost anyone else.”
  6. We love and care for our animals. We believe in responsible animal care and follow nationally recognized codes of practice for the care and handling of our animals.
  7. Ag is innovative. Thanks to modern farming practices, the average household saves more than $4,000 on food annually – that’s about $60 billion across Canada.
  8. We believe in quality. Canada ranks number one in global food safety.
  9. We’re a trusted industry. A recent Canadian Centre for Food Integrity survey shows that consumers trust farmers more than any other group and 60% want to know more about farming practices.
  10. We love what we do. Agriculture isn’t just our business, it’s our passion and our way of life. So, let’s be proud to share our story, explain where food comes from and how it’s produced, and reach out to those not in the ag industry.

No matter how you look at it, Canadian agriculture is a success story. Let’s get out there and start having ag and food conversations. And let’s celebrate!

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Naahii Ridge students learn about agriculture

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February 16 was Canada’s Agriculture Day and the students at Naahii Ridge Public School in Ridgetown, Ontario, had the chance to celebrate the day with many volunteers from the agricultural community.

“Canada’s Ag Day was a great opportunity for us to talk to the students about why the Canadian Ag industry is so important,” says Amy Caron, Communications Specialist for Dow Seeds. “Dow Seeds was very fortunate to work with some great community volunteers to bring that message to the students at Naahii.”

Travis Roodzant from Thompsons Limited – Blacks Lane branch.

Educating children in school

Students from grades 4, 5 and 6 listened to presentations on the importance of the Ag industry and the various career opportunities this sector offers. The students then participated in the “Canada’s Ag Day Trade Show” where they travelled around the gym to various stations to talk to the volunteers about what they do in the Ag industry.

Students had the opportunity to talk to: Cara McCready, a Greenhouse IPM Specialist with OMAFRA who talked about beneficial pests and pest management; Jane Lawton from Chatham-Kent 4H about the organization and how to become involved; Janice Anderson from Pioneer about the importance of Women in Ag; Rob Reid, Dairy Education Center Manager, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, who spoke on what happens in a dairy barn; Grace Jones, a Dow Seeds Territory Sales Rep, spoke on the importance of business and crop planning with farmers; Travis Roodzant from Thompsons Limited talked to the kids about agronomy and the use of drones in that process; Madison Trozzi, a high school senior who completed her co-op in the Dow Seeds Seed Lab showed the science behind ag industry and Eric Bastiaansen, an egg farmer from Thedford talked about how your eggs get from his farm to your grocery store.

Pictured are the Canada Agriculture Day volunteers, left to right: Cara McCready, Travis Roodzant, Grace Jones, Madison Trozzi, Rob Reid, Jane Sawton, Janice Anderson, and Eric Batiaansen. Absent from photo was Cassi Boersma.

Ag Day in Ridgetown, Ontario photo

Students from Grades 1 to 3 didn’t miss out on the festivities. Cassi Boersma, a part time teacher with Naahii and the Farm Safety Coordinator for Ridgetown, spoke to this group of students about the importance of ATV and farm safety.

Other organizations who helped support this event were FCC, Ag in the Classroom and Agriculture More Than Ever.

“We only had a couple of hours to share our stories with these students,” says Caron. “However, there were some great questions and hopefully some great conversations around their dinner table that night.”

Click for more information on Canada’s Agriculture Day.

Source: Ridgetown Independent News – 1 Main Street, Ridgetown, ON (519) 674-5205.