Day 4 - Joey

 Today, June 21st, the fourth day of the 2019 Summer Ag Tour we went to four different locations. We went rolling out of our hotel at five AM this morning all the way to our first stop, Strawberry Tyme Farms. When we got to the farm we were introduced to Diane Cooper co-owner with her husband of the business. Quickly, I noticed the huge plastic covered structures that seemed to make up the majority of the land. It was not late after that we were informed of their methods of farming in Canada consisting of hoop houses. These are long metal poles held by cement lined with a plastic covering across the top allowing the tunnels to be sealed and protected from the wind and cold weather in the winter. Most of the runners planted in the tunnels are varieties sent from their farm directly to Plant City, Florida. Some of the berries grown there are small scale for Ontario, Canada. Another crop grown on their farm is raspberries which are grown under hoop houses as well. She grows two different varieties of raspberries one yielding in the summer and the other in the fall providing products year round. Talking to Mrs. Cooper more we found out about her work program. This is where she files paper work to prove that the workers are not present in Canada and that people need to be flown here to do the work for them. Many of the workers that come to her farm are from Jamaica and can only work eight hours a day and are not allowed to work more hours to make up for bad weather earlier in the week. Mrs. Cooper gave us a small snack of strawberries from her farm topped with whipped cream. We said our final goodbyes and loaded back into the vans.

Strawberries being grown in raised troughs in a hoop house.

Lake Erie Salmon and Trout Club, where they house and hatch their own trout and salmon until they are fully grown and able to be released into Lake Erie where they will be able to grow, and live out the rest of their lives. The fish start out in a little tub so the eggs can hatch and the babies can begin to form. Once the majority of the fish are big enough to be moved into a bigger tank so each fish can take up more space as well as get bigger and grow to about five ounces they can be moved to a net that is located in the pond with the more developed trout that are about 5-10 pounds but the smaller fish are isolated away from the rest of the school of fish. At the end when all the fish are full-sized they are released into canals and Lake Erie.

  

Mr. Kit Brown explains the process of collecting eggs, hatching and growing the trout.

              

We were able to scoop up the babies to see just how small they were. Mr. Don also shared some history of the facility with us. 

 

At Great Lakes Farm, we started with watching a video about the process of apples growing from a seed to a full fruiting tree, and included how the plant reacts in the different types of weather. The video was very informative, and taught us all about apple trees and the growing of apples. After the video and a few questions, the staff provided us with apple cookies, muffins, cider, and strawberries.  We all really appreciated the tasty snack. Once our break was over, we got on the wagon and went for a tractor tour through the many different types of fields. They include strawberry, apple, peach, corn, and a few others. We learned that they paint the trunks with white latex paint to protect against cracking, which can lead to disease in the tree. Also, we saw their pheromone traps for the different insect predators like flies and wasps. Finally, we saw a frost blower, which will turn on when the plants get frost over them to protect against freeze damage. This blows warmer air down to the plants so that the air isn’t making frost on the plants. After the tour, we got to pick some strawberries, which were really juicy and sweet. Most of us took a quart of strawberries for the road. We all appreciate their kindness and generosity and showing us around their farm, as well as teaching us about the apple crop. 

As part of the IPM plan, they place insect traps in the fields. These traps have phermones that attract the common pests of the crop. This allows them to determine if they need to spray and which area of the orchard to spray, keeping unnecessary chemicals out of the fields.

We also got to visit the Clovermead Apiary where we met Chris Hiemstra, a beekkeeper, who taught us about bees and how they make honey. They have a really cool place that not only teaches people about this field of agriculture but offers a lot of other fun activities and events for the whole family.

 

Today was a very fun day in Canada, and learned a lot, as well as had some fun. I look forward to seeing what the rest of the trip has to offer.