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Being thankful ahead of Thanksgiving

Being thankful ahead of Thanksgiving

Ontario producers highlighted the importance of family and good crops

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

People across the country will spend time with family and friends during Thanksgiving celebrations this weekend.

Before carving into a turkey or ham with by multiple delicious sides, many people will take a moment to give thanks to whatever or whomever has helped make 2019 a memorable and successful year.

With that at top of mind, Farms.com reached out to members of Ontario’s ag community to find out what they are thankful for this year.

Some producers are thankful that they get to wake up every morning and be a farmer.

“For me, I’ve got the best job in the world,” Rudi Spruit, a dairy farmer from Bruce County, told Farms.com. “After going to school and getting work experience, I got to go home and work with my mom and dad every day. It’s the best thing you could ever do and I’m extremely thankful for that.”

Spruit is also appreciative for a new addition to his family.

He and his wife Samantha welcomed a baby boy, Hendrik, in May.

“I’m thankful for my amazing wife and how she was able to get through all of that and how strong she was, and that we’re starting a happy, healthy family,” he said.

Other farmers, like Christine Francis, a corn, soybean and white bean grower from Perth County, are also thankful for their loved ones.

 “I’m certainly thankful for my family,” she told Farms.com. “Family is everything, so it’s wonderful when everyone can get together to have a beautiful meal and spend time with one another.”

Francis is also thankful that some of her white bean crop turned out well despite some challenging conditions.

“I’m very happy with the outcome of the white bean harvest considering how dry it was,” she said. “We’re hoping to start soybean harvest soon and that the yields are good there too.”

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Farms.com!


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The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.