Ontario Agriculture Week Celebration Underway

Oct 01, 2012

Ontario PC MPP Celebrates Ag Week with Agriculture Open Houses

The first week of October marks Ontario Agriculture Week. This celebration has been an ongoing tradition since 1998, when former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Bert Johnson (Perth-Wellington) started the initiative.

Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece is doing his part to ensure that Ontario Agriculture Week doesn’t go unnoticed. Pettapiece will be hosting two agriculture open houses in his riding on October 5th. The first open house one will take place at the Arthur Public Library from 9:30am-11:30am and the second one will take place in at the Royal Canadian Legions in Mitchell from 2:00pm-4:00pm. All interested constituents are asked to RSVP by calling 1-800-461-9701.

“The week leading up to Thanksgiving is the perfect time to reflect on the importance of agriculture in Perth-Wellington and in our province,” said Pettapiece. “It’s a chance to celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of our farmers and all those who work in the agriculture and agri-food sectors.”

The Ontario agriculture and agri-food sectors together contribute more than $33 billion dollars to the economy and employ almost 700,000 people in the province.

Video: How Can We Grow More Food With Less Impact?

For over two decades, Dr. Mitloehner has been at the forefront of research on how animal agriculture affects our air and our climate. With deep expertise in emissions and volatile organic compounds, his work initially focused on air quality in regions like California’s Central Valley—home to both the nation’s richest agricultural output and some of its poorest air quality.

In recent years, methane has taken center stage in climate discourse—not just scientifically, but politically. Once a topic reserved for technical discussions about manure management and feed efficiency, it has become a flashpoint in debates over sustainability, regulation, and even the legitimacy of livestock farming itself.

Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Specialist with the CLEAR Center sits down with Associate Director for Communications at the CLEAR Center, Joe Proudman.