New program at College Boréal geared towards tomorrow’s farmers

Sep 20, 2016

Program offers students a choice in animal or plant sciences

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

A new agricultural techniques program at College Boréal is giving new and beginning farmers the tools they need to be successful in the field.

The program is in its first year and only has six students enrolled, but faculty recognize there’s a growing interest in agriculture.

“We're hoping to be a part of what drives the agricultural sector,” Brian Vaillancourt, dean of the School of Trades and Applied Research, told Northern Ontario Business. “It's hard to get youth interested in farming, but in the North they are talking more about farming.”

College Boreal

The program focuses on animal and plant sciences, and students choose which field they’d like to specialize in.

The courses cover a variety of topics including: finances, labour and growing methods. In addition, mandatory summer work placements put students on farms to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom.

There’s also a program in place to help students land a job right out of school.

“That’s what we’re responding to,” Daniel Lapointe, a professor with the school of business and applied technology, told Northern Ontario Business. “All of the importance put on agriculture, the low price of land (in the northern part of the province), and that people want to grow local food.”

Lapointe said being a farmer means being your own boss, and the public appreciates farmers because farmers provide meals for them.

Interestingly, Vaillancourt was raised on a bison farm and Lapointe grew up on a dairy farm.

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.