The Ontario Agricultural College has been experiencing a trend of decreasing enrollment as the need for these graduates in the industry increases. The University of Guelph offers its diploma programs at the Ridgetown and Kemptville campuses and major programs at the Guelph location.

Would allowing students to take any course at any of the campuses increase overall enrollment? Although there are many logistics that would have to be addressed; would more students be willing to study agriculture if they had a choice of three campuses to choose from. I believe this may help increase enrollment for the Ontario Agricultural College. If students could take their program of choice at a location closer to home they may be more willing to attend a post-secondary institution. After the removal of the Agricultural diploma program from the Guelph campus, should this be an opportunity that is addressed?

Would having cameras directly in  a barn get the truth out to the urban population? Many tactics have been tried by the agriculture community to promote agriculture such as school visits, blogs, demonstrations and others. But maybe, we just need to make a weekly TV show starring “the farming family” to get the point across. Each episode would show the daily joys and struggles of making food for a growing population, the humane way animals are taken care for and all the other interesting aspects of farming. As a population we follow TV shows located in other working environments like offices (The Office) and hospitals (Grey’s Anatomy) why wouldn’t the population want to follow a TV show on a farm? So I’ve put forward my idea. Would you watch a captivating story either reality or scripted about a family and their farm?

When searching for something interesting to blog about this week I fell upon an article in the Globe and Mail about Eastside Lewisdale Gold Missy the Canadian cow who sold for $1.2 million at an Ontario sale last week. The article written by Nathan VanderKlippe made its way into the Top 5 Must Read Stories of the week. The article talks about Missy’s production, numerous contracts and the general direction of purebred animals on Canadian farms. Being a dairy farmer, I knew the article was written for urbanites and wasn’t directed at the dairy industry, but I do give kudos to the Globe and Mail for including factual agriculture news in their publication.

It wasn’t so much the article that spiked my interest but the twenty or so comments relating to the article.  A few made jokes about the cow’s udder, others commented that Missy would make an expensive steak but the comment surrounding cows and their CO2 emissions made the largest impression upon myself.

The article outlined the great genetics coming from Canadian dairy cows but this comment was off topic and puts a negative image of the dairy industry in consumers’ minds.  The popular topic that animals produce too much CO2 emissions is one that truly bothers me. A friend of mine became a vegetarian for over a year because “it’s better for the environment” but my biggest pet peeve was she still consumed dairy products and eggs. As far as I know, beef cows produce similar levels of emissions as dairy cows. I know everyone has a right to an opinion but consumers should research and know the truth about agriculture before forming them. Agriculture has a large economical impact on Canada and not to mention provides food for each and every person. So I say, the next time Canadian agriculture is featured in an urban publication let’s be supportive and be proud of what Canada has to offer.

In Canada, Fair Trade Coffee is regulated by Transfair Canada and certified products carry the Transfair logo .

 The consumption and distribution of Fair Trade Coffee has been on the rise in Canada and around the world.  Starbucks is the largest seller of Fair Trade Coffee in Canada.

 With the consumption of Fair Trade coffee increasing in Canada is this a new marketing initiative that could be developed for commodities produced in Canada? If consumers are willing to pay around an extra $0.25 for their daily cup of coffee, would they be willing to pay the same amount for an apple, potato or for each pound of meat if they knew where the proceeds were going? Coffee shops use the Transfair logo as a marketing initiative so that consumers know where the proceeds from their coffee is going. So would it work to charge consumers a higher price for Canadian food products if they knew where the money was going?

 In Canada, Fair Trade Coffee is regulated by Transfair Canada and certified products carry the Transfair logo .

 The consumption and distribution of Fair Trade Coffee has been on the rise in Canada and around the world.  Starbucks is the largest seller of Fair Trade Coffee in Canada.

 With the consumption of Fair Trade coffee increasing in Canada is this a new marketing initiative that could be developed for commodities produced in Canada? If consumers are willing to pay around an extra $0.25 for their daily cup of coffee, would they be willing to pay the same amount for an apple, potato or for each pound of meat if they knew where the proceeds were going? Coffee shops use the Transfair logo as a marketing initiative so that consumers know where the proceeds from their coffee is going. So would it work to charge consumers a higher price for Canadian food products if they knew where the money was going?

 With little previous media training, Dewey stepped up to the plate to speak to the media regarding the H1N1 virus. She knew the importance of helping consumers understand the truth about the virus and setting the record straight that you can’t get infected from eating pork. With pork prices decreasing by 13% and countries such as Russia, China and Thailand banning imported pork, having positive support from educated people was necessary to change the view in the consumer’s eye.

Dr. Dewey has done an excellent job using her expertise to tell the truth about the H1N1 virus and the relation to pork. She noted two occasion where she wished her statements could have been changed or revoked, but when dealing with the media a negative image sometimes can’t be changed. Although this can happen, it’s better to have a few bad images then no positive images of agriculture at all. As I have said before, the agriculture population must continue to inform consumers on the truth about agriculture and eventually the message will get across.

As November rolls around, the one thing I look forward to the most is The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. From November 6^th to 15^th country folk head into Toronto to show the city what agriculture is all about. The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair will showcase innovations in food and agriculture, thousands of animals, and dozens of the world’s top equestrian horses and riders.

Education is a main focus at The Royal  and  new this year, all food served at The Royal’s five restaurants will be grown and produced locally. This is a great opportunity for consumers to taste and try locally grown food. The Royal is working with fifteen local farmers to provide the food and ensure all consumers enjoy their meals. This is an excellent addition to The Agricultural Winter Fair for 2009 and a great opportunity to educate consumers on choosing Canadian food.

 Each year I look forward the Dairy shows, exhibits and socializing with friends and family, but this year I’m excited to enjoy a meal made from 100% Canadian  food.  This new addition, will allow consumers to taste the delicious food Ontario has to offer. The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair does an excellent job at promoting agriculture to the urban populations and by serving locally grown food they are taking one more step to support the Canadian economy and create a positive image for agriculture.

To see how effective this blog would be in targeting the urban population I conducted a little research with a Google search of “Canadian farm animal welfare.” I wasn’t surprised with the results. The first site was from the  Government of Canada  which gave me a page not found messgae.  Farther down the list were  CanFACT and AWFC whose home pages included descriptions of the horrible ways farm animals are treated. Finally, at the bottom was a link to the OFAC homepage with information about their new blog. As you can see, in the way of a simple Google search OFAC was somewhat effective at getting their message across. The agriculture community needs to work at farther supporting agriculture to the urban populations and move away from promoting agriculture to agriculture enthusiast.

Now you’re likely wondering; how do we promote agriculture to the urban population? Unfortunately, there is no correct answer but OFAC has taken one step in doing so.

Marketing and communications have been moving towards internet based advertising as it allow for more precise targeting and easier measuring with techniques such as click tracking. Agriculture companies have been following this trend and many have taken up using Twitter to update consumers about new products, press releases and events happening within the organization.

 I follow a few agriculture companies on my own Twitter account. Although Twitter has become popular among celebrities, I’m not sure if the agriculture community will seek a benefit or if many will become Twitter users. I can’t imagine many farmers riding in their tractors getting Twitter updates to their Blackberry, but as agriculture moves into the future there may be a use for farmers to receive continuous updates. I believe that agriculture companies need to re-examine the type of information they’re sending out over Twitter. Updates about weather, crop prices and breaking news may be more appropriate for the farming community then sending tweets from the organization’s CEO. It will be interesting to see if Twitter will be the next social site like MySpace to decline in use or if it will become a regular part of the farming communities’ regular communications.

Promoting agriculture to the urban population is often a topic that arises among the Ag-industry. Educational programs are often focused on teaching consumers about food, production and the industry in general. Annually at the Royal Agriculture Winter Fair, urban youth can watch and participate in seminars about agriculture where they can watch cows be milked or learn about the oil content of canola.

I travelled to Atlanta, Georgia for the Best of NAMA conference in April of 2009. I was amazed with the large number of student studying Agriculture Education, and to learn that students can take agriculture in elementary and high school. Learning some of the misconceptions that the urban population have about agriculture I believe teaching agriculture in schools could have a true benefit. Promoting eating local and Canadian food from a young age may be the key to a nationwide movement.

 This weekend I travelled to Rodney, Ontario to a chicken farm with two friends who are both from cities. They were given a tour of a chicken barn along with a shed to see all the farm equipment. They were both amazed with the 24 000 layer chickens in the barn and the size of a combine. On numerous experiences I have seen how amazed the urban population can be about agriculture and I believe learning first hand is the best way for city folk to appreciate agriculture. If field trips, guest speakers and demonstrations were implemented into the Canadian education system we many have a new national appreciation for farming.