We are heading into the final stretch of the cropping season, the final decisions have been made and by the time you are reading this, you are reaping the fruit of your labours.
The fruit of your labours is also what makes volunteer organizations run. Like our field work, we very much get out of what we put into these organizations. This is a call for members to contribute to Bruce Soil and Crop for the 2023 season.
Our bread and butter is to facilitate responsible economic management of soil, water, air and crops through development and communication of innovative farming practices. We do this by seeking, testing, and adopting optimal farm production and stewardship practices. Yes, these are the mission and vision statement of OSCIA.
We are looking for members with an eye to keep improving our local soil and crop; Please come to the annual meeting and bring resolutions to make our provincial organization relevant. Stand for election when there are open positions to fill. Follow up when follow up is requested. Take advantage of the OSCIA grant programs to run local events and trials.
This happens by doing. There are many new and innovative practices to share and validate at the local level. Pick one that interests you and there are others also seeking out how to adopt it to their farm. There is strength in numbers, and knowledge compounds when it is shared across many. The life blood of volunteer organizations is its active members. And our organization is no different. Being active in Bruce Soil and Crop allows you to practice your skills in a topic that many of us are interested in. We can also adapt to new ways of sharing this information rather than recreating the wheel, but we need member input to do this.
For those of you reading this and running trials, planned or otherwise, please document them as you finish the season. We can share this content at our annual meeting.
To cap off the 2022 year, our annual meeting is planned for January 19, 2023, with a slate of speakers to address local soil and crop opportunities. Thank you for your attention and we look forward to your participation as an active member.
Jonathan Zettler, President, Bruce SCIA.
Cell: 519-323-7505
Dec 12, 2022 - 11:14 AM
Good morning.
We are Syd and Cathy Wilkie.
We own a 100 acre pasture farm located in Allenford Ontario.
This farm has been in the family for four generations and we want to continue family farming for future generations.
The farm has not been “turned over/fertilized and seeded” for ~100 years.
We have been bartering pasture rental for boundary page wire fencing with the same dairy farmer for the last decade.
We do have a municipal drainage ditch that divides our farm. It is not fenced.
This ditch was cleaned this year and we did add a culvert this year to allow on farm access.
We think this farm would be an ideal farm for several if not all of your funded/subsidized programs.
We firmly believe in climate change and would like to do our part improving our farm property to the best of our family’s ability.
We do not have a farm number. We are retired and working on farm succession.
Any guidance on any of the above would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.