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In this issue: Annual Conference Highlights * Champion Award Winners * Interview Prep Workshop * .
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Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan AGM
FFC SK Members are entitled to send up to two representatives to the Annual General Meeting:
7:30 am - 8:30 am | January 9, 2017
Hilton Garden Inn | Saskatoon, SK
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Farms at the Table Conference "engaging and motivational"
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"Great insights!"
"Engaging and motivational."
"Thought provoking."
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"Worth every minute."
"More discussions like this need to happen."
"Eye opening!"
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These were some of the comments shared by the over 150 participants who attended the third annual 'Farms at the Table' Conference that took place December 14 & 15 in Saskatoon.
The conference continues to grow as a project of Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan (FFC SK).
"People are inundated with information about their food these days," said Clinton Monchuk, FFC SK Executive Director. "This conference is to help those in the industry learn more about how to engage in meaningful conversations about food and farming."
The most talked-about presentation on this year's agenda was a panel of consumers who shared
thoughts and opinions about their food choices. "What a great opportunity to learn directly from six representative consumers," said Monchuk. "We were interested to note that price continues to be the top factor in consumers' buying decisions at the grocery store. It was also clear that consumers are eager to hear more about food production directly from farmers."
"Every year, our conference gets bigger and better. It's great to see all the industry support for this event.
FFC SK would like to say thank you to the conference sponsors, without whom the event would not be possible: The French's Food Company, Agriculture More Than Ever and Farm Credit Canada, O&T Farms, New Life Mills, Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, Star Egg Company, Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan, SaskCanola, SaskPork, Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, Saskatchewan Egg Producers, SaskMilk and Government of Saskatchewan.
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Dr. Leigh Rosengren and SaskCanola both awarded first ever Food & Farming Champion Award!
The "Food & Farming Champion" Award is presented to individuals, organizations or businesses who have taken the initiative to help engage consumers about agriculture in our province. Nominees have used their skills to help inform consumers or correct misinformation about production practices, and done a measurable job of promoting our industry
and helping farmers and ranchers build public trust.
Despite this being the inaugural year, we had nine nominees for the champion award from all areas of agriculture. We appointed a panel of three judges to select our winning recipient.
Award Panel
The judges scored each nominee in the areas of leadership, advocacy and innovation and presented their selection to the Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan Board of Directors. This year's panel members included:
- Naomi Paley, Regional Livestock Specialist, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture Yorkton Branch
- Debbie Bailey,Brand Specialist, Farm Credit Canada and Agriculture More Than Ever
- Pat Beaujot, Founder, Seed Hawk, Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan Board Member and 2016 Saskatchewan Agriculture Hall of Fame Inductee
Due to the caliber of the submissions and on recommendations from the panel, FFC SK decided to recognize two winners this year, one individual and one organization.
Dr. Leigh Rosengren
is a veterinarian, epidemiologist and beef producer from Midale, SK, where she lives with her husband Colin and children Tim (11), Brette (8), and Nate (6). Dr. Rosengren was nominated for the Food & Farming Champion Award for her research, education and advocacy in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and prudent antimicrobial use in livestock production. She is the go to expert for interviews and articles relating to antibiotic use in animals and has developed and delivered education and awareness initiatives across the province.
Dr. Rosengren has contributed to local and national boards and committees and is active on social media, promoting Saskatchewan's beef industry, animal welfare and sustainable production. In her spare time she operates her grain, and beef farm, pens the blog "exploring food, farming & fear" and has committed her family to putting her messaging into practice.
The Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission
(SaskCanola) was selected as an industry recipient for their work in developing and marking the License to Farm documentary. This initiative has brought a great deal of attention to the issues farmers deal with in the effort to earn and keep public trust. SaskCanola's communications tool has sparked conversations on important topics affecting agriculture today, including social license. They approached the topic from the standpoint of a complete agriculture industry, as opposed to one commodity viewpoint, and communicated a powerful message that stood to speak on behalf of growers everywhere.
Since its launch in January 2016 this documentary has been viewed over 80,000 times in 163 countries and earned over 2 million social media impressions. License to Farm received an amazing seven awards at the 2016 Canadian Agri-Marketing Association's (CAMA) annual gala, including Best of Show Public Relations Programs and Marketing and Communication Campaigns.
We would like to thank all of our panel, nominees and everyone who supported the award by providing a submission. We encourage everyone to resubmit their nominations again in 2017.
Look for the new nomination form coming in January.
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Interview Preparation Workshop
Interested in improving and testing your interview skills?
Then this is an opportunity you won't want to miss!
As the CEO, president, executive director, manager or public face of your organization there may come a time in your career where a controversial topic or issue will lead to difficult questions from the media. Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan invites you to their
Interview Preparation Workshop
to help arm you for this occasion by giving you the tools to face these tough questions and the opportunity to test them.
February 21, 2017 from 9 AM - 3 PM
Saskatoon, SK
Through the use of mock television interviews and media scrums,
participants will have the opportunity to use and evaluate these new tools and strenghten their confidence for future engagements with the press.
This one day workshop is facilitated by Kevin Hursh of Hursh Consulting & Communications Inc. and Adele Buettner of AgriBiz Communications Corp.
The fee is $395.00 plus GST, which includes lunch and refreshment breaks.
To maximize learning and ensure that every participant benefits from the workshop, space is limited, so register early!
Deadline for registration is February 15
, 2017.
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If you're interested in organizing a
Real Dirt on Farming Speakers Training Workshop in your area, presenting to your RM or local charity associations or are looking for copies of
The Real Dirt on Farming publication to hand out in your community, contact the
Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan office:
1 (306) 477-FOOD (3663)
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 Tour Host Training
February 23, 2017
This workshop is for farmers and ranchers interested in hosting consumer tours on their farms. It will help farmers answer tough questions, rephrase industry jargon, and present their farms in a way that consumers will understand and be able to relate to. FFC SK member groups are invited to send up to 3 producers to attend.
For more information and to register or sponsor, contact our office.
_________________________
Real Dirt on Farming
Speakers Training Workshop
Monday February 27
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Tisdale, SK
$50 per person, lunch included
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The Virtual Farm tours are a great tool for the classroom or those relatives in Toronto who don't have the opportunity to visit a farm!
virtualfarmtours.ca
has a complete list of Canadian farms you can visit from the comfort of your living room:
Turkey
Chicken
Egg
Dairy
Beef Cattle
Veal
Goat
Sheep
Pig
Grain
Fruit
Vegetable
and even
Ostrich!
So before you sit down to your holiday turkey/ham/roast learn more about where it came from!
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Seeking Nominations for Equine Awards of Excellence
Nominations Due February 19, 2017
People familiar with Saskatchewan's equine industry are invited to nominate individuals, organizations and companies for awards recognizing excellence in animal welfare and health.
Farm & Food Care SK (FFC SK) and Saskatchewan Horse Federation (SHF) are again partnering to present the Awards of Distinction for Equine Welfare.
"The Awards of Distinction for Equine Welfare recognize dedication to the equine industry, while serving as a reminder of the importance of exceptional care," says Krissy Fiddler, SHF Executive Director.
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The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network is a not for profit volunteer network of precipitation monitors with 160 registered, who read and record their rain and snow measurements using the website or free mobile app. CoCoRaHS is looking for more volunteers in the province, with a target of 500.
Sign up today!
To join, visit
cocorahs.org/Canada
The province has experienced dry seasons the
past few years with drought and wild fires a concern. This year however we saw near normal levels of precipitation. Monitoring is important to identify these high risk areas and weather trends that can sometimes be misinterpreted by radar and weather forecasts. This, however, is just one example of how the data can be used. It is also used to measure the amount of moisture impacting the soil and how much potential runoff there is caused by excessive precipitation. Crop production & yields, forecasting areas needing to ship livestock to, purchase feed and measuring precipitation over the winter months to identify if forage deficits are likely to occur can all benefit from better precipitation monitoring.
Saskatchewan volunteer coordinator, Garry Sibley encourages all to
View the Map
and join to share your backyard and on farm precipitation.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or a sponsor for the network, please contact Garry at
[email protected].
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Whats the deal with hormones?
Jean L Clavelle, Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan
Written for The Real Dirt on Farming Blog, and shared over 1000 times on facebook!
I'm just going to say it - grocery shopping is complicated business. You are bombarded by confusing marketing campaigns and it seems everywhere you turn there is another 'dangerous' food item you should avoid.
Take hormones, for example. You see chicken, turkey, and dairy products with stickers that say "hormone free" or "raised without the use of added hormones" and then around the corner, cattle ranchers ask us to buy their "grown with hormones" beef! What's the deal?
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