OAC said Wednesday its proposed new “master of plant agriculture” (MPAg) program would allow recent graduates and professionals to “quickly upgrade education and training without the need of conducting academic research through a traditional thesis-based program.”

The University of Guelph-based college would offer the first intake to the new program through its Department of Plant Agriculture starting in the fall of 2024, pending approvals from the Ontario Universities Council on Quality Assurance and the provincial ministry of colleges and universities.

The new master’s degree would “address the demands of employers in the private and public sectors who are looking for professionals with advanced expertise in plant breeding, crop production and plant science,” OAC said in a release.

Students would be able to complete the new program in three or four semesters, allowing international students to be eligible to apply for a post-graduate work permit, the college said.

The program would allow students to study on a full- or part-time basis and select courses lining up with “specific career goals in breeding and genetics, biochemistry and physiology, or crop production systems for both agronomic and horticultural crops.”

“We are consistently hearing that employers are seeking graduates that have the scientific knowledge as well as the hands-on training in plant and agricultural science,” Dr. John Cranfield, acting dean of OAC, said in Wednesday’s release.

(Cranfield was named acting OAC dean in July, after dean Dr. Rene Van Acker was seconded to serve as the University of Guelph’s interim vice-president for research, replacing Dr. Malcolm Campbell.)

“This program will fill this gap and provide graduates with valuable skills in collaboration and communication needed for career success,” Cranfield said.

“This program provides an opportunity for students to gain a more comprehensive knowledge in the core subjects of plant agriculture, without focusing on one particular project through a research degree,” Corteva AgriScience research scientist Dr. Eric Shaw said in the university’s release. “I can see this being an advantage to those applying to Corteva.”

OAC emphasized it continues to offer the “thesis-based” M.Sc. and PhD in plant agriculture, which it described as “ideal for students wishing to pursue careers in research in the private or public sector.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Of course, the technology is huge. Just think of the machinery, genetics, chemistry and electronics that are part of daily farm life.

And it’s no surprise to talk to Rene Van Acker, dean of the Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph, who says “There’s tremendous demand for graduates from agriculture and food programs … The demand is at all levels: diploma, undergraduate and graduate (and) program enrolments struggle to meet demand in the sector.”

But it’s a business decision too, starting with the business idea that ag education is a smart choice. In other words, ag education pays, and so do educated workers. And business fundamentals can be as essential as agronomics.

The idea is certainly catching on. Ag enrolment at Canada’s colleges and universities has soared 29 per cent over the past decade, and it still isn’t high enough. There simply aren’t enough graduates to meet demand.

“Canadian farmers are among the most sophisticated in the world,” Van Acker says. “And it’s not just farmers but the entire sector that supports them.”

Industry watchers — especially those with skin in the game — are grappling with the implications.

In the last decade, says Andrew Agopsowicz, senior economist at RBC, there has been an unprecedented shift toward more capital-intensive, high-tech, data- and science-driven farms. As a result, he believes, “We’re on the cusp of an industrial revolution within the agriculture sector.”

The diversity of farm and ag programs stretches the imagination. Lakeland College has launched a degree in agriculture technology, Bishop’s University is offering a bachelor of arts degree with dual specializations in sustainable agriculture and food systems, and Niagara College now has a graduate certificate in commercial beekeeping.

Even legacy agricultural programs at universities have added classes and adapted programs to maintain pace with the ever-evolving sector.

It’s great. But there are challenges too. If you’re a student, how do you know which program you should choose? And if you’re a farmer, what do all those letters on a job applicant’s resumé mean they can actually do?

College or university?

James Benkie, dean of the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology at Olds College, believes that colleges teach “the practice of agriculture” in two-year programs while universities spend four years exploring the “depth and breadth” of topics in agriculture. 

Lenore Newman, director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at University of the Fraser Valley, puts it in another classic context. “Two-year (diplomas) across Canada really are geared for people to go back to the farm to enter a farm environment,” she says. “(Undergraduate degree programs) keep the door to industry open and that’s where there are exciting jobs.” 

But, in a way, that was then. It isn’t today. At least, there’s no longer such a solid distinction between college and university. The lines have blurred. 

Several colleges, including Olds College and Lakeland College, offer undergraduate degrees in agriculture along with their diploma programs, while universities like the University of Saskatchewan, Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph, all well known for their undergraduate degrees, also offer a wide array of diploma programs.

“Colleges have always felt they have more to offer than two-year diplomas,” Benkie says.

At the same time, some universities have abandoned traditional agriculture programs, labelling them “expensive and outmoded,” according to Newman, while others have shifted from science-based agriculture education to programs focusing on the social sciences. The University of British Columbia, for example, reimagined its faculty of agriculture into the faculty of land and food systems.

For students, deciding on the right educational path often comes down to interests, program specifics and career goals.

• Read more: Six questions to ask when choosing a post-secondary program

Distance matters, too. Van Acker notes that diploma programs tend to attract local students who want to learn about local crops and management techniques and develop regional networks while more university students are willing to travel farther afield, often to other provinces, to earn their undergraduate degrees.

“Whatever pathway students choose, it’s a good one,” Van Acker says. “Our greatest issue is having enough students to fill open positions in agriculture.”

But how does it look to the students? 

Country Guide decided to ask them, and it turns out they’re making strategic school choices. As you’ll see, they may even have this sorted out better than their parents.

Family input

Andrew Manning
Bachelor of science in agricultural business, Dalhousie University

Before Andrew Manning applied to the bachelor of science in agricultural business program at Dalhousie University, he also researched diploma programs and trade schools to decide which educational path would offer the biggest benefit. 

“I always knew my long-term goal would be to come back to the farm and, eventually, take it over,” Manning explains.

“I looked (at different post-secondary programs) more in depth to see what would give me the best background to take back to the farm.”

Rather than steering him toward a specific program, his parents, second-generation farmers in Falmouth, Nova Scotia, helped him understand how different educational paths would fit in on their family farm.

It turns out that talking about it inside the family proved crucial.

“They were extremely open and that’s what helped me evaluate different programs,” Manning says. “They never limited me in what I should focus on.”

Manning chose a bachelors program because he felt that a degree in agriculture business would provide the background he needed to eventually take over Manning Family Farm, a mixed farming operation that includes greenhouses, market vegetables, grain and beef cattle. 

“The ag business route was the best for what I was interested in and to help progress the farm as well.”

It’s helped on the farm, too. Manning has applied his coursework to better understand baseline financial numbers and offer suggestions to improve marketing and boost efficiencies.

He admits that he doesn’t always get to make the final decisions but his parents have been very open to hearing his suggestions.

Although it will be a while before he takes over the farm, Manning is involved in day-to-day operations and believes his science training will also give him a broad perspective and allow him to successfully transfer to lead operator of the family farm when the time comes.

And there was another big plus to the ag business degree too.

Before stepping into a leadership role on the farm, Manning also wanted to spend a few years working in the agriculture finance industry and he felt strongly that an undergraduate degree would open doors. The program has already paid off. 

The 2021 grad completed summer internships with Farm Credit Canada where he got more insight into how farms (and lenders) use all the financial data captured on the farm.

Together with his classes, this has enabled him to make suggestions about how to better use data on Manning Family Farm. 

Says Manning: “Seeing (the information I learned in school) applied on a broader scale outside of my own farm … and getting a general understanding of how we use those numbers is one of the biggest things I’ve gotten from the program.”

Beyond the classroom

Brody Nestorvich
Agricultural management diploma, Olds College

When Brody Nestorvich started looking at options for post-secondary education, his mom offered some advice: Spend at least two years studying business.

Nestorvich took her advice. In 2018, he enrolled in the agricultural management diploma program at Alberta’s Olds College 

“I chose Olds because it was an agricultural school that’s progressive and forward-thinking about what the future of the industry looks like. Those were huge draws to me,” he explains. “It gave me a business education that was based in agriculture.”

The two-year program, which included classes in agribusiness technology, livestock breeding, pest management, precision crop systems and machinery, also provided Nestorvich with skills he could put to work on the family farm in Innisfail, Alta.

“I took a lot of what I learned and used it,” he says. “I had a lot more knowledge on the farm business management and financial management.”

After his 2020 graduation, Nestorvich decided he wanted to continue his education. He considered a one-year, post-diploma certificate in agriculture technology integration at Olds but opted for two years earning his bachelor of science in agribusiness.

The program included eight months of classroom instruction and an eight-month practicum. Nestorvich is working as a research technician in smart agriculture at the Olds College Centre of Innovation, testing the latest high-tech soil sensors, weather stations and autonomous equipment. 

“I’m not a fan of sitting in a classroom for an entire school year,” he says. “For me, coming from an agriculture background, the in-industry experience is where I’m learning a lot.”

The degree experience has been much different than the diploma course, though.“The degree is much more corporate-based. I’m getting a lot more industry knowledge and experience,” he says.

He calls the program “intense,” adding, “It’s definitely worth it.”

A better way to learn

Marc-Olivier Dufour
Agricultural business management and technologies, Collège d’Alma

After high school, fourth-generation dairy farmer Marc-Oliver Dufour enrolled in a CEGEP course at Collège d’Alma to develop the knowledge and skills he needed to be successful on Ferme Rayline, his family dairy farm in Saint-Gédéon, Que. 

“I wanted to gain a better understanding and skills in family farm business management and learn everything I could to be successful from finances to the field,” he explains.

Dufour considered a one-year certificate program but felt it was better suited to future farm labourers, not future farm operators. 

Despite growing up on the farm (and spending countless hours in the milking parlour milking the herd of 220 Holsteins), Dufour learned a lot about dairy farming in the three-year agricultural business management and technologies course. He credits the combination of classroom instruction, field trips and comparing notes with other “farm kids” enrolled in the program.

“It really expanded my horizons,” he says. “We did a lot of site visits to other farms to see how they operate and there was a lot of synergy among the students. We really stepped outside our comfort zones.”

Dufour attended Collège d’Alma with his twin brother, Jean-Michäel. For the pair, learning to create a business plan and gaining a solid foundation in farm management were integral to bcoming more active participants in farm decision-making.

It’s made a real difference. “My twin brother and I were better able to participate in decision-making with our parents,” he says. “We express our opinions more, because we learned a lot.”

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I’m happy that Clarence will continue with his research program and to advise graduate students, and happy that he will have more time to spend with his wife, children and grandson on their farm, as well as more time to travel. The only thing that I’m saddened by is that he will no longer be teaching classes at the University of Guelph, leading the fourth-year “Crop Tour” and the Ontario Agriculture College (OAC) “weeds team.”

Clarence was my favourite lecturer in undergrad. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything he had to say in class but he was engaging, he challenged conventional thinking and he loved a good debate. He provided a venue for critical thinking and I appreciated that. Near the end of my time in his undergraduate weed science course, he mentioned that he was recruiting students to compete in the “Weed Olympics.” Like many aggies enrolled in crop science, I wanted to be on the team.

That year, our undergraduate teams won first and second place, with the top three individual awards all going to University of Guelph students. This was expected, since it had been the trend for several years, and two decades later, the trend continues. I wish there was a list somewhere of all the University of Guelph grads who have competed in the OAC weeds team under Clarence’s guidance. It would include many impressive names involved in Ontario agriculture today.

Clarence started his career with the Campbell Soup Company, and later as a weed biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (Ridgetown College). In 1985 he joined the University of Guelph as a faculty member, and was promoted to full professor in 1996. Clarence served as the first chair of the department of plant agriculture from 1998 to 2004, and was president of the Canadian Weed Science Society from 2007 to 2008. He has received numerous awards including the Outstanding Canadian in Crop Protection (2013) and the Weed Science Society of America’s Outstanding Researcher Award (2002) and in 2011 he was elected to the Waterford District High School Hall of Fame.

I’ve known Clarence for over 22 years and our relationship has evolved. Early on in undergrad he called me Matt, and I would joke with my classmates that he probably thought my name was Matty Cowlick. I’ve since come to realize that for all his strengths, it just takes him a few times to remember names, which given all the people he comes in contact with, is understandable. Looking back, I don’t think Clarence was a big fan of the 20-something version of me. In fairness to him, the current middle-aged me would not have been a big fan of that guy either. Now I’m grateful for our chats about our small farms and being involved in research projects with him, one of the most recent ones being located in Norfolk County where Clarence spent his formative years.

Congratulations, Clarence, on your career so far and for what is to come.

Have a question you want answered? Hashtag #PestPatrol on Twitter to @cowbrough or email Mike at mike.cowbrough@ontario.ca.

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The above quote is straight from the great Jack Alex, retired botany professor and herbarium curator at the Ontario Agriculture College, who used to repeat it to me at every opportunity. Fortunately, most of us own a phone that will allow us to document and map pest activity throughout the season so that we can know the enemy. But first we must set our phone up correctly.

By default, you will have a date and time that your photo was taken (a great first step). However, let me walk you through what I do on my iPhone to capture weed emergence and growth patterns throughout the season, and to make sure that I know which fields the photos were taken in.

Step 1: Go to settings and tap the “privacy” icon and then tap on the “Location Services” icon (see figure 1 below).

Step 2: Make sure “Location Services” is set to “on” and then allow location access to photos taken by your camera by tapping on the “camera” icon and selecting “while using the app”. If you don’t want to geo-reference your photos (because it is sensitive information, perhaps an unflattering selfie), then be sure to select “never” before you take the picture (see figure 1 above).

Step 3: If you’ve taken photos with your phone’s camera and “location services” has been enabled, then when you go into the “photos” app, under “albums” there will be an album called “places” (see figure 2 below), where you can zoom in and look more specifically at where your pictures were taken (see figure 3 at bottom).

Why you would want to do this? I’ve found this incredibly helpful to get a better handle on weed germination patterns within fields so that I can time herbicide applications when the target weeds are more susceptible and get better results. For example, I know it’s impossible to control field violet in the spring because it flowers and matures very early, making it very tolerant to most herbicides. However, since I’ve been able to document that field violet emerges in early fall and is in the seedling stage during mid- to late-September (see figure 4 at top of page), these seedlings are much more susceptible to a number of herbicides and I’m easily able to control it and not waste money on management in the spring that is ultimately unsuccessful.

Have a question you want answered? Hashtag #PestPatrol on Twitter to @cowbrough or email Mike at mike.cowbrough@ontario.ca.

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In a nutshell, it’s because there are jobs in agriculture after school — good jobs that offer exciting and interesting career paths for young graduates. They are jobs that mix high levels of responsibility with the use of cutting-edge technology. Even better, they offer opportunities to help protect the planet and more.

At McGill, one of Canada’s oldest ag programs, more students are signing up than ever, not only for the hands-on side of agriculture where they can implement new technologies, but also for business decision-making as well.

Canada’s ag sector will be in good hands, says a confident Dr. Jim Fyles, McGill’s associate ag dean, who notes that the ag students he meets “are driven by an entrepreneurial spirit of innovation, on one hand, and by a desire to help feed the world in a sustainable manner on the other.”

The story is the same at Canada’s newest ag university.

“It’s unbelievable how many jobs there are in agriculture,” says Dr. Tom Baumann, associate professor in the agriculture technology department at the University of the Fraser Valley in Chilliwack, B.C.

His university is new — only six years old — and it has Canada’s newest bachelor of science in agriculture (B.Sc.Agr.) degree, open only since 2016. It’s small, of course, but enrolment has already doubled to about 25 students this year and they feel they’ve got a tiger by the tail. Plus, their diploma program is booming too.

Employment opportunities are regional, they’re national, they’re in the field and in the barn, and they’re in the boardroom. “There are jobs at Farm Credit Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, so many in sales and extension,” says Baumann. “Our grads are in demand at greenhouse operations, at dairy farms… They are especially looking to fill mid-management positions.”

And the students are up to the job, says McGill’s Fyles. He describes them, as they describe themselves, in one memorable phrase: “super keen.”

The following snapshots across the country aim to capture that excitement. As I said, it’s inspirational.

University of Manitoba

At the University of Manitoba, enrolment in ag programs has been maxed out for quite some time but those days may soon be over.

“Our enrolment over the last five years has remained steady — around 720 students in our undergraduate degree programs and 150 students in our two-year diploma program,” reports Dr. Jared Carlberg, associate dean (academic) of the faculty of agricultural and food sciences.

Now the school thinks it can double its intake.

U of M has hit its admissions cap for both degree and diploma almost every year, and the school, which offers diplomas and five B.Sc. degrees (agriculture, which includes agronomy, plant biotechnology and animal systems, agribusiness, agro-ecology, food science, and human nutritional sciences) will be petitioning to increase its number of admissions spots.

Says Carlberg: “We believe our faculty has the potential to double in size in the intermediate term as we complete our ongoing curriculum renewal, update our promotional and recruitment efforts, and consider new programs that could include areas such as food justice and sovereignty and sustainable food systems.”

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is another institution with capped and maxed out ag program enrolment. The institution offers several B.Sc.Agr. degrees (agriculture and resource economics, animal science, crop science and sustainable ag systems), a B.Sc. in animal health and B.Sc. in agriculture/food business management, in which students access a range of courses within the Alberta School of Business.

Women account for three-quarters of ag students, and international enrolment in its ag programs sits at about 15 per cent. Many of these students transfer from partner universities in other countries, notably China.

Jim Bohun, assistant dean (academic and student programs) in the faculty of agricultural, life and environmental sciences, says the B.Sc.Agr. animal science major and the B.Sc. in animal health have the highest enrolment due to factors such as professor expertise, industry support and institutional infrastructure (U of A has cattle, swine and poultry facilities).

“Applications to our ag-related programs have been steadily increasing,” says Bohun. “As we have a mandated enrolment target, we are unable to increase enrolment to meet this demand. As a result, admission averages have been rising. Increasing applications are largely based on efforts to promote employability of agriculture graduates along with interest in pre-vet programs.” Incorporation of new technologies is also attracting students to the U of A.

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan has one ag program already capped, and Dr. Fran Walley, academic associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, says the institution has seen “a pretty dramatic increase” in enrolment in the college over the last five years. In the last year, it’s exploded from 850 students to just shy of 1,300 this year. Some of that, she says, is due to the launch of new programs related to land and resource management, but also due to the great career opportunities for graduates.

“There are a lot of jobs in Saskatchewan in agriculture and resource management,” Walley notes. “Agriculture is a big industry in the province. Ag business is very strong as well. Our students do well getting summer jobs and our graduate surveys show that they get really good jobs in their areas of study.” The college doesn’t need to do much promotion, she says, as prospective students living in the province are quite aware of opportunities that exist in the ag industry.

U of Sask offers three main ag degrees and two diplomas. The B.Sc.Agr. is the main degree, but a B.Sc.Agr. business was introduced several years ago, as was a B.Sc. in animal bioscience (which had 150 applicants this year for 90 spots). The ag-related diploma programs are available in agronomy and ag business. Walley notes that for more than a decade now, there have been more women than men in the ag programs, and that the percentage of international students has stayed pretty steady at about 10 per cent.

University of Guelph

In Ontario, the University of Guelph has seen steady growth in enrolment across all agricultural programs over the last five years, with a B.Sc.Agr. offered at the main Guelph campus and diploma programs at its Ridgetown campus. Dr. Jonathan Schmidt, associate academic dean in the university’s Ontario Agriculture College, attributes growing student numbers to a general increase in the awareness of agriculture and food in the population at large.

Schmidt believes society today values learning about food production and is excited about producing food in sustainable ways. He also thinks awareness of all the opportunities available in the ag sector has grown, with a large number of careers inside and outside the farm gate, including many professional opportunities and cutting-edge jobs with exciting futures.

“We promote agriculture as it is today, technically demanding and sophisticated, and that resonates with young people,” Schmidt says. “Agriculture includes running significant-sized businesses. I think there’s a positive feeling about the sector these days… it’s the largest economic sector in Ontario, so that creates an attraction to being involved in it or at least exploring it.”

Schmidt says that farm kids wanting education before they return to the family farm account for only a minority of their total student numbers.

Like other long-established ag institutions, U of G’s offerings have evolved and are quite different now compared to decades past. “Topics are much more spread out now among various programs,” Schmidt says. “For example, the food and agricultural business program is offered in the bachelor of commerce degree now, and things like pest management and soil science are included within the B.Sc. in environmental science.”

Schmidt believes the number of women in almost all of the programs has stayed steady for the last seven or eight years, at about 60 per cent (except the equine programs, which are about 95 per cent women).

“We would like to grow our international student enrolment, which has gone down a bit in recent years,” Schmidt says. “It’s one of our goals as a college and one reason for this is that interactions with international students are very enriching for domestic students.”

Like many other institutions, the U of G promotes ag programs to students in high schools, and Schmidt says the university’s website is also very important in promoting programs and graduate job opportunities to high school students, teachers and guidance counsellors. He adds that other organizations such as AgScape are also doing very proactive things to drive interest in agriculture sector education.

As to whether more farm business management content has been added over time to various programs, Schmidt says no, as it’s been there the whole time. “We’ve been pretty rigorous all along in including a lot of it,” he says. “Farm businesses require understanding the soil, plants, animals and so on, as well as financial management, operations management, economics, marketing. So we’ve always strived to provide a balance for the B.Sc.Agr. students who study everything from breeding and agronomy to commodities markets. The description in the academic calendar makes this very clear.”

Eastern Canada

Dalhousie University’s faculty of agriculture, in Truro, Nova Scotia, reports that animal-focused programs like bioveterinary science, animal science and pre-veterinary science remain popular and that they have stable enrolment across ag programs.

In fall of 2017, McGill University in Montreal enrolled over 2,100 students in the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences, 1,455 being female, up about eight per cent over the last five years. One diploma (Farm Management & Technology) is offered, along with s everal B.Sc.Agr. environmental science degrees (such as agricultural economics, agro-environmental sciences and global food security).

Jim Fyles, associate dean of student affairs in the faculty of agricultural and environmental sciences, says he and his colleagues are “delighted” to see enrolments in agriculture programs rebounding after many years of decline, a scenario which he says has been experienced across North America.

“Our enrolments in agricultural degree programs have increased almost 90 per cent since 2010, which is remarkable enough, but particularly when the demographic trend in university entrance-aged students has declined 20 per cent over the same time,” Fyles says. “Enrolments in bioresource engineering, which has a strong foundation in agriculture, have increased by over 40 per cent.”

While Fyles says the content McGill offers in its ag programs “seems to be working well,” he adds that his faculty has several new professors, and that their new perspectives and expertise may result in some changes.

Like the other ag department leaders, Fyles believes ag program enrolment is growing at McGill because of an increasing emphasis on the cutting-edge science and technology in modern agriculture, from genomics to remote-sensing driven precision management. He also agrees that there is a broader understanding of agriculture these days, and the fact that McGill’s ag programs include urban, international and organic production contexts for food production draws a wider cross-section of students, many of whom are from an urban background.

“We have diversity of students with a diversity of motivations, but on the whole it seems that they are looking for a balance,” Fyles observes, “A career path certainly, but one in an area that is interesting and exciting to them.”

However, Fyles adds that while “students, parents and surveys tell us that getting a job is very important in enrolment decisions… some programs, such as agricultural economics in which a job at the end is almost certain, are undersubscribed.”

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The municipality of North Grenville, which includes Kemptville, about 40 km south of Ottawa, closed a deal in December to purchase the Kemptville ag campus, with the official transfer due to take place March 28.

The deal will see North Grenville buy much of the main Kemptville campus and surrounding property, including 34 buildings on about 633 acres of land.

An agreement announced Wednesday between the municipality and the province will see the “majority” of the Kemptville campus transform into an “education and community hub that focuses on: education and training, health and wellness and economic development, emphasizing climate change resiliency and low-carbon innovation.”

The plan follows through on former federal agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief’s 2014 review of options for the campus.

The University of Guelph, operator of OAC, announced earlier that year it would wind down operations at its Kemptville and Alfred OAC campuses.

North Grenville, on its website, said the Kemptville campus “has long been recognized as a defining element of the local community” and the university’s 2014 decision “came as a shock to many farmers, residents, businesses — and potential students.”

Vanclief, in a report commissioned by the Ontario government, recommended the province transfer the property to the municipality.

The province, in a release Wednesday, said it worked withe the municipality toward a deal “which would support the municipality’s vision of the hub as a place for education and training, health and wellness and economic development.”

Community hubs, the province said, are “locally-driven.” The provincial government’s role is to “make it easier for community partners to offer services that are integrated and co-ordinated, strengthening community partnerships and making the best use of public space.”

Management and maintenance of the new Kemptville campus will be through a wholly-owned not-for-profit corporation operating at arm’s length from the North Grenville government, the municipality said in a separate release.

The mandate for the not-for-profit, the municipality said, will be to develop the Kemptville Campus Education and Community Hub as a “multi-tenant” site.

Some of the campus land and building infrastructure has already been “repurposed” for use by multiple French- and English-language school boards for early years, elementary, secondary, adult education and “related community service activities,” the municipality said.

“Discussion with a number of other education and community groups are ongoing with the objective of leasing all available space on the campus.”

“It has been an extensive process, but we are extremely pleased that an agreement has been reached, and we are looking forward to further exploring the possibilities for the development of the hub and the benefits it will bring to our community,” North Grenville Mayor David Gordon said in the province’s release.

“By working together, we are ensuring that the Kemptville site continues to be a positive economic asset for the community and for Ontario,” provincial Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal said in the same release.

“The Kemptville campus played a pivotal role for agriculture in Eastern Ontario for the past 100 years. Its transformation to an education and community hub under the direction of North Grenville positions it to play an equally relevant and innovative role over the next century.”

The campus was set up in 1917 as Kemptville College to “support and strengthen” farming practices in eastern Ontario. It became part of the University of Guelph in 1997, and got the “campus” designation in 2006.

North Grenville said it plans to hold a press conference sometime this week to “communicate additional information” on the future of the Kemptville site. –– AGCanada.com Network

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The Ontario Agriculture College (OAC), at the university has boosted spots in its agriculture programs by 30 per cent since 2012 and by 50 per cent in its Bachelor of Science in Agriculture program.

However, in the five years since the university last did a similar survey, respondents in agriculture and food processing say they have even more trouble filling jobs in the sector than they did five years ago – 67 per cent of agriculture companies and 51 per cent of food companies report difficulties in recruiting qualified workers. That compares to 40 per cent of agriculture and 28 per cent of food companies reporting similar challenges in 2012.

Rene Van Acker, dean of OAC, says the data explains the strong job market that OAC graduates find when they finish their degrees and diplomas.

“It is relatively easy for the vast majority of our graduates. We don’t really have to guide them at all. They get into a stream of employment in the sector right from the get go.”

Most OAC students go through a co-op program that allows them to work in the sector for a period during school. That period allows the students to create valuable networks even before they finish college or university, says Van Acker, and the survey shows the industry appreciates the practical knowledge gained during the co-op programs.

The survey also shows that the problem will likely to continue to grow, with 56 per cent of agriculture and 44 per cent of food respondents saying they will increase hiring in the next five years.

Van Acker says the university takes seriously its responsibility to educate enough students for the sector, including increasing enrollment and creating programs to educate students the industry needs.

That’s why it’s introducing a new degree program, a Bachelor of Food Industry Management, a cross between a food science and food management program, with the first intake of students next fall.

The challenge is to continue to grow the number of high school graduates willing to apply to agriculture programs.

“It is challenging because there are perceptions, or it could be the invisibility of the sector,” says Van Acker. Students coming from outside of an agriculture background are the toughest to convince. “They might very superficially think ‘I have no link of farming, I don’t want to farm, ergo I don’t want to be in a program with food and agriculture’ and they don’t realize the opportunities in the sector and how to achieve their dreams in the sector.”

Van Acker is effusive in his enthusiasm about opportunities in agriculture. The industry is diverse and large enough that “whatever a young person dreams of for their future they can fulfill it in the agriculture and food sector.”

If they want to live in New York, or London, UK, or Chicago, there are agriculture jobs there, he says.

“If you want to, say, have a great paying job and career and want to live in Mitchell, Ont., you can do that too.”

He says he’ll take every student off of a farm who qualifies for an OAC program, but that they won’t be enough to fill the demand.

Van Acker was at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show last week and he says there was tremendous enthusiasm there for the sector.

But he says enthusiasm for the agriculture and food sector is spilling beyond the usual industry players. The Globe and Mail is also doing a story on this report, something Van Acker says he doubts would have happened five years ago.

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Tansy ragwort is a noxious weed most often found in pastures and hayfields. It is a biennial or short-lived perennial that reproduces through seeds and roots. Tansy is poisonous to livestock and can cause liver damage. Symptoms that may occur after plant consumption include: weakness, high temperature, inco-ordination and yellow mucous membranes. Currently, there is no known antidote for this alkaloid-based toxin.

In Eastern Canada, there are four herbicides which list tansy ragwort on their labels as being controlled: Banvel II (dicamba), 2,4-D Amine 600, Milestone (aminopyralid) and Restore II (aminopyralid/2,4-D). It is unclear, from reading each product’s label, which herbicide would be the most effective at managing tansy ragwort. A trial was conducted to evaluate the performance of each herbicide.

At the time of application, the majority of the plants was 15 cm tall and 10 to 20 cm in diameter (See figures 1 and 2 below).

Summary:

Milestone was the most effective herbicide evaluated in 2015. It caused the majority of plants to wilt and die. However, new plant growth has been observed since application but at levels much lower than all other treatments. Digging up tansy ragwort and removing all of the roots was also effective with no observed regrowth throughout the season.

Have a question you want answered? Hashtag #PestPatrol to @cowbrough or email Mike at mike.cowbrough@ontario.ca.

The post Pest Patrol: How do I control tansy ragwort in my pasture? appeared first on Country Guide.

The new name, the Department of Animal Biosciences, “helps describe the department’s evolution from a livestock husbandry department in the 1870s to the highly dynamic and integrated department it is today,” OAC dean Rob Gordon said in a release Monday.

University of Guelph president Franco Vaccarino approved the renaming and notified the university senate last week, the school said.

“After a long consultation period with our staff, students, faculty and alumni, I am so pleased to see the department renamed,” department chair Jim Squires said in the same release.

Several “internal and external audiences” don’t realize the department works in genetics, physiology, welfare and behaviour, animal models for health, animal metabolism, reproduction, nutrition, equine management, animal care and the social and environmental impacts of both livestock and companion animals, he said.

Squires and department staff, faculty and students “feel the new name will better communicate the department’s mandate to others,” the university said.

Communications and documents are to be updated accordingly over the next few months. — AGCanada.com Network

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The University of Guelph, which operates OAC, announced in spring 2014 it would wind down operations at its Kemptville and Alfred satellite campuses and consolidate its ag education and research operations at its Guelph and Ridgetown campuses by the end of 2015.

The province in January pledged to work with local municipalities to “determine options for a sustainable path forward” for ag education in eastern Ontario involving the Kemptville and Alfred campuses.

To that end, the province said then it would set up a “working group to explore new models for delivering agricultural learning, training and instruction” at Kemptville.

The working group, whose establishment was announced Wednesday, is to include representatives from the University of Guelph, Municipality of North Grenville, United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, the provincial agriculture ministry and the provincial training, colleges and universities ministry.

The province said Wednesday its working group “will explore what courses and programs could be offered at the campus, as well as which organizations could help deliver them.”

The group is also expected to look at ways for the Kemptville campus to continue to focus on ag and food education, while considering offering courses in health and wellness, business and trades training, the province said.

The working group is expected to submit its findings in late fall this year.

“We see the group’s efforts as forming the basis of a sustainable business plan leading to a not-for-profit corporation to renew and redevelop Kempvtille campus into an educational and multi-institutional campus relevant to eastern Ontario,” North Grenville Mayor David Gordon said in a provincial release Wednesday.

The province’s aim in this process is to help secure a “long-term solution” for the two campuses, Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal said in the same release, but added “the future of the Kemptville campus must be based on a fully sustainable, sound business plan.”

The campus’ land and facilities today are owned by the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO); the province said in January it would negotiate with North Grenville to transfer the Kemptville property to the municipality.

Acting as a provincially appointed facilitator, former federal ag minister Lyle Vanclief in late 2014 prepared a report on the Kemptville site, noting “several” proposals had been received for use of parts of the campus, some of which are “mutually exclusive of others.”

Vanclief urged the province to steer clear of “short-term” decisions to lease or turn over property or buildings to any one group permanently or long-term, which he said could “limit the potential for renewal of the campus for future education and community development purposes.”

Given “a sufficient number of years” with a non-profit organization acting as a landlord, manager and potential owner, he said, the Kemptville campus has potential to develop as “a diverse community and educational centre for eastern Ontario.”

No “specific” proposals had yet been received for use of the campus’ farmland, forested land or dairy, equine or maple syrup facilities, Vanclief said at the time. — AGCanada.com Network

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