Kakabeka Falls – AGRICULTURE – With the International Year of Soils declared by the United Nations, Thunder Bay farmers are gearing up to learn about how to improve soils as one of the topics at the Thunder Bay Spring Farm Conference.
Running from May 24 to 26, the Thunder Bay Spring Farm Conference kicks off at the Kakabeka Legion bringing together farmers, business owners, speakers and interested community members with a common topic of farming. Organized by the Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association, this conference has been running annually for over 40 years.
The trade show happens on Wednesday March 25 and Thursday March 26 with business from the local region and as far away as Manitoba and Southern Ontario. From businesses on finance, equipment, crops and genetics, the trade show provides an opportunity for farmers to interact with many people in one place.
Since the farming community is small, many relationships are strengthened to get supplies that are hard to find in the local area.
Organizers say, “During this time we also have speakers on a variety of crops such as Brian Hall from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs talking about “Winning with Canola” and ‘Everything Pulses’, Julia Booijink from Select Sires whose talks include ‘Chasing a Dream, Driven by Passion, Rooted in Farming’, and many others. With the focus on improving the region’s local food production, the long standing conference has been a place for farmers to get the information they need to grow their farm businesses. Lakehead University’s Forest Soil Lab will be presenting the ‘Northwestern Ontario Healthy Soils Project’ on the Tuesday evening with a training session on soil management software to help with fertilizer and manure applications. Other topics include growing corn with Morgan Cott from the Manitoba Corn Growers Association, Sheep Dairy Industry with Andrew Gordanier, farm risk and insurance coverage with Jim Zyta and traceability in the beef industry with Cory VanGroningen.
Membership of $25 will get you admission to the conference as well as a subscription to the NorthWest Newslink, opportunities for crop tours, and other farm education opportunities throughout the year.
Hot roast beef and roast pork lunches will be $20 prepared by the Kakabeka Legion. Payment will be accepted at the door.
The Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association is a part of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association. OSCIA represents many commodity organization and is devoted to communicate and facilitate responsible, economic management of soil, water, air and crops.