Features

Upon arriving at the McCracken family home in Scotland, Ontario, we are greeted by their standard schnauzer named Fritz. Friendly, regal and a big part of the family; little did we know how Fritz would play a part in our story. Ron and Doreen McCracken both grew up on farms, and still feel at home in the country today. Their current residence, built in 1993, has some 48 acres. A neighbour farms a portion of the land with the remaining set aside for hobby farming, their garden and a place for Fritz to roam. Ron has kept bees, raised geese and ducks, and even guinea hens, but today he enjoys retirement after a long and interesting career.

In 2010, Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) dean Rob Gordon met with Aileen MacNeil, director of the Agriculture Development Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) regarding the challenges the branch was facing with finding qualified employees. While scribbling ideas on a napkin at a restaurant, the two agreed on a partnership where OAC students could learn new skills under the mentorship of both OMAFRA staff and University of Guelph (UofG) professors.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin makes up one-fifth of the world’s freshwater and some of the most productive agricultural land in North America. It is also home to over 35 million people, or roughly 10 per cent of the population of North America, and with such a concentrated human presence comes environmental impact.

Let’s set the stage. World War II was over. Canada’s and the World economies were ready to “take off”. In September 1949, 89 young men and 4 young women arrived in Guelph to study at the Ontario Agricultural College.

It’s not everyday that class projects come to life, however for 55 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) students this is indeed the case. In 2015, the Town of Penetanguishene’s will celebrate the historic landing of Samuel de Champlain on their community’s shores 400 years ago on August 1, 1615. To commemorate this, and the fact that the town is one of the oldest in Canada west of Quebec City, the town formed a Champlain Penetanguishene committee which will oversee the celebrations.  For inspiration, the committee invited the class of BLA students to re-imagine the town’s waterfront and downtown space as a class project.

Karen Eastman Velthius, who attended University of Guelph and completed a Bachelor of Animal & Poultry Science degree with a major in Dairy in 1983, is the recipient of the 2012 “Woman of Excellence in Agriculture Award” presented by the Federated Women’s Institutes of Ontario (FWIO).

For first year Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) student Carrie Davenport, plowing competitions are all about making and breaking traditions. Carrie may be the 4th generation in her family to take part in plowing competitions, but this year she became the first woman to hold the title of Junior Canadian Plowing Champion.

Asparagus is a plant with a pace all its own. On a hot day the stalks can grow six inches, yet it can take up to twelve years to develop a new variety at the University of Guelph’s Simcoe Research Station.