Call Goes Out for 2015 Faces of Farming Calendar Candidates

Jan 13, 2014

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

Farm & Food Care Ontario, a non-profit organization which advocates on behalf of Ontario’s farm families, announced Monday that it’s seeking candidates for its 2015 Faces of Farming Calendar contest.

A Jan. 13 press release states “the goal of the project is to break down stereotypes of who Ontario’s farmers are and what they look like.” Each year, the calendar is given out to Ontario media, grocery retail outlets and politicians, as well as being sold to the public.

The calendar was first published in 2005, but this is only the third year in a row that it has been a contest among Ontario farmers. The winner, an individual farmer or farm family, will be treated to a photo shoot, copies of the calendar, and two tickets and accommodation to attend the Ontario Harvest Gala, where the calendar will be launched this fall.

In order to qualify, candidates must make their primary income from agriculture. Those interested are asked to submit a family photo and a short essay (400 words or less) which includes the following information:

• Names and ages of family members
• Address
• Background about the farming operation e.g. crops grown/or livestock raised
• History of the farm
• Highlight community involvement, hobbies etc.
• Why they’d like to be featured in the calendar

Last year’s winners were the Heeman family, who’ve been operating a successful garden centre and strawberry business near London, Ont. for three generations.

For more information about the contest visit the Farm & Food Care Ontario’s website: http://www.farmfoodcare.org/. The deadline to enter is Friday, February 21, 2014.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

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.