Cover Story

So says the associate dean of the Ontario Agricultural College in the wake of a report showing that industry demand for agriculturally-savvy graduates is substantially greater than the number of students it is producing

by DAVE PINK

After four years studying at the University of Guelph and a steady stream of summer-time employment, Rebecca Hannam and Eric Martin barely had time to draw a deep breath before being thrust out into the working world.

Three Ontario farmers offer their solutions to avoiding those frustrating glitches, holdups and inefficiencies that can result in you missing those all-important windows for planting

by MARY BAXTER

Weeks of rain were over. The corn hybrids were shuffled. The 16-row planter was in the field ready to go. That’s when Chris Burkholder’s GPS satellite signal failed.

“Our planter was sitting still for three hours,” says the sturdy Stouffville area farmer, remembering one final glitch in last spring’s long delayed planting season.

As more and more farmers embrace the practice, appreciation is building for the sometimes surprising ability of these shoulder-season plantings to enhance the performance of cash crops

by MARY BAXTER

Last year, after Kim Lennox’s daughter earned the Queen of the Furrow title at the Normanby Plowmen’s Association’s annual match in southern Grey County, she asked her dad a question: the only attraction at the plowing match was plowing. Had they ever thought of adding something else?

With contract operators heavily booked after a busy year in 2011, many farmers are taking on the job themselves – and saving money in the process

by DON STONEMAN and ROBERT IRWIN

The Fournies, Joe Sr., his wife Karen, and Joe Jr., work as a team when they install tile drains on their heavy clay farms.

For some farmers, it’s simply something they’ve always wanted to do and now can afford. For others, there are clear advantages in cost and ability to time the market

by MIKE MULHERN

When Dave Brock built his first grain storage bins at the family farm in the southwestern corner of Perth County in 1978, he was starting something that is still a work in progress more than 30 years later.

Rural councils had to reinvent themselves after the massive municipal and property tax reforms of the 1990s. Today, they are still struggling to cope with rising service costs and less available cash to pay them, and are looking to Queen’s Park for help

by MARY BAXTER

Last September, in Middlesex County’s Municipality of Thames Centre, there erupted a dispute about council’s decision to explore centralizing its road works in one main garage.

The Ontario Landowners Association thinks they do and a growing number of Ontario property owners are checking out their patents as a consequence

by MARY BAXTER