KAKBEKA FALLS, Ont. – Like any industry, technological advances have impacted agriculture in ways most farmers in previous generations never thought possible.
Keeping up can be full-time job.
On Wednesday dozens of local farmers descended on the Kakabeka Falls Legion to take part in the annual Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association Spring Farm Conference.
“Agriculture is a very fast-moving, fast-paced industry these days,” said organizer Jason Reid, the two-day conference hitting its stride on its opening day.
“There’s a lot of new technology coming in, new hybrids of crop varieties and we like to be able to make sure we have the latest technology coming into our area to keep our young, progressive farmers on the forefront of technology in the industry.”
This can include anything from new GPS technology to advanced ways to remain environmentally friendly to sustainable practices to keep the industry alive and continue to produce high quality food for Canada and the world.
One thing they looked at specifically on Day 1 of the conference was ways to diversify the types of crops being produced in Northwestern Ontario.
Faced with a shorter growing season and other challenges, it can be difficult to find new crops that will not only grow regionally, but thrive.
And there also has to be a market to sell them in.
“We’ve had a lot of research done in the last number of years at the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research station. And we do a lot of work through the soil and crop improvement association to bring that technology from the research level onto the farms, to be able to scale up in to new crops like malting barley that would be used for beer production and canola for food-grade cooking oils and such things as that,” Reid said.
About 30 exhibitors are taking part in the conference, which wraps up on Thursday. Admission is $15 for non-members per day and $25 per household for Crop Improvement Association members.