Virtual Food & Farm Field Trips

Farm & Food Care Ontario brings you a series of virtual field trips and the opportunity to learn more about food & farming in Ontario. LIVE events will be streamed to Farm & Food Care Ontario's YouTube and Facebook channels and will run approximately 30-40 minutes in length. Viewers can tune in and ask their questions in the comments to be answered LIVE!

Upcoming Field Trips

Stay tuned!

Previous Field Trips

Chicken Farm

You'll meet Farmer Andrea, a chicken farmer in Wainfleet, Ontario who farms with her husband, Ryan, and their four children. On this field trip, you’ll learn about how chickens are raised, the importance of bio-security, and what it’s like being an Ontario chicken farmer.

Justin's Maple Syrup

Farmer Justin and his family have been producing high-quality Maple Syrup & products since 2005. He offers a wide range of sizes of maple syrup bottles as well as maple butter, granulated maple sugar and other maple products from time to time. Join this virtual field trip and take a tour of Justin's sugar bush and sugar shack.

Cedar Grove Sheep Farm

Located in Perth Country, Cedar Grove Farm has been a part of the McEwen family since 1875, spanning 6 generations. On this virtual field trip, you'll meet Quintin who farms with his wife, Rachel, and their two children.

Melbourne Mushroom Farm

The first field trip of the day will visit Melbourne Mushroom Farm, Ontario mushroom farm. Holburne Mushroom Farm is a family-owned and operated business that grows fresh organic shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Since 1980, the farm has grown from a small white mushroom-growing operation to the largest supplier of organic shiitake mushrooms in Canada.

Blue Diamond Farm- PEI dairy farm

Tom and Leslie Robinson are 2nd generation dairy farmers in Freetown and along with their children Lanae (9), Rosie (6 and a half), Miranda (4), and baby Ben, they milk 75 holstein cows using a robotic milking machine installed last November. Follow along with Tom to learn about what it takes to be a dairy farm family, how a robot is used in farming, and how they keep their herd healthy and happy to produce high-quality, delicious milk!

Arandview Farms - Turkey

Celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week by joining us for a fun-filled virtual tour of an Ontario turkey farm. Learn about the care and life cycle of turkeys, all while asking questions live to Ontario turkey farmers, Amy and Dave, from Arandview Farms!

Strom's Farm & Bakery - Pumpkin

Celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week by joining us for a fun-filled virtual tour of a pumpkin farm. Learn about how pumpkins are grown and harvested, all while asking questions live to an Ontario farmer, Amy, from Strom's Farm & Bakery!

Chudleigh's - Apple Orchard

Celebrate Ontario Agriculture Week by joining us for a fun-filled virtual tour of an Ontario apple orchard. Learn about how apples are grown and harvested, all while asking questions live to an Ontario apple grower, Riley, from Chudleigh's Apple Orchard!

Brantwood Farms- Strawberries

Join us for this virtual field trip with Andrew who is a strawberry farmer and farms with his family at Brantwood Farms. Along with strawberries, he farms rhubarb, apples, sweet corn, pumpkins and much more.

Beef Farm Tour- Cam

Meet 4-H Ontario Volunteer Coordinator and beef farmer, Cam Crogie. Cam will take you on a tour of his beef operation, so that you can see what he needs to do daily to care for the well-being of his beef cows.

Dairy Farm Tour- Cheryl

Join us for a trip to a dairy farm and meet AgScape Teacher Ambassador, Ontario Certified Teacher and dairy farmer Cheryl Olthaar. Cheryl will take you on a tour of her dairy operation, so that you can see what she needs to do daily to care for the well-being of her dairy cows.

Grain Farmer - Sickle Farm

Join us on May 4th at 2 pm as we take a tour with Steve Sickle, an Ontario grain farmer, as he walks us through his planting process for #Plant2022 at Sickle Farm. Sickle Farm is a third-generation grain operation located in Brant County. This tour will showcase Steve's efforts to plant sustainably through continually improving his equipment when new technology becomes available.

Snyder Heritage Farms - Maple Syrup

Join FFCO as we take a tour with Kevin Snyder at Snyder Heritage Farm through their sugar bush on March 22 at 2 pm. Snyder Heritage Farm, a Farm & Food Care member, is a fifth-generation operation, producing maple syrup for over 100 years. The tour will show their efforts to provide the best possible product, through continually improving equipment when new technology becomes available. Kevin has completed courses with the Environmental Farm Plan, Food Safety and Traceability, and the On-Farm Food Safety Program.

Pig Farm Tour - Sarah

Join Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan to learn about what it’s like on a typical pig farm in western Canada. What does it look like inside a modern pig barn? What do pigs eat? How do farmers look after their pigs? This is your chance to find out! Take a video tour of a hog barn and then ask questions in real time with Sarah Heppner, a farm girl as well as marketing manager with Fast Genetics, a pig breeding company. Sarah has lots of experience answering questions about the pork industry through her volunteer experience with Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan, the SaskPork Symposium and with Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan. .

J&E Meats - Beef Farm

Join Farm & Food Care Ontario to learn about what it’s like on a beef farm in Eastern Canada. Emma Butler is a full-time wife, mother, farmer and entrepreneur from Croton, Ontario. She and her husband Josh raise beef, lamb, chicken, and crops as well as own and operate their on-farm retail store, J&E Meats. Since 2018 Josh and Emma have been serving their community, and selling their farm-raised products direct to consumers. They have ambitious plans to grow and scale their business so they can better serve their community. Find them on Instagram and Facebook @jandemeats or learn more at www.jandemeats.com

Bunny Burrow Vegetable Co. - P.E.I Vegetable Farm

Tour Bunny Burrow Vegetable Co. with the McKenna family in beautiful Kinkora, Prince Edward Island. See how a family farm grows carrots, turnips and potatoes on a large scale. Do you need different types of soil? How long do these vegetables keep? How do you get them ready for grocery stores? Meet Gordon and Andrea McKenna who farm with their three children, Coy, Alexandrea and Charlie. Gordie and Andrea love talking about how their food is grown. They’ve hosted many farm tours, presented at school events, and mentor young people through a co-op student program. Andrea also leads an organization that does research and provides environmental sustainability research to farmers.

Linwell Gardens- Poinsettias

Join us for a tour of Linwell Gardens in Beamsville, Ontario. Linwell Gardens specializes in the propagation of rooted annuals, chrysanthemums, and poinsettia. We'll join Tom, a fourth-generation flower farmer, to learn all about Poinsettias, the perfect flower for the holiday season. They are full of bright colours including reds, greens, pinks, whites, and combos. A great addition to any holiday decoration.

Freeman Herbs Inc.

Freeman Herbs is one of the leading growers and distributors of fresh herbs in Canada. From it's humble beginnings Freeman Herbs is now the largest fresh herb grower in Canada and listed in the top five in North America. Today, Freeman Herbs grows over one hundred varieties of herbs with recent introduction of the Organic Herbs and Vegetable line.

Eggs- From farm to table

Join us for this food and farm field trip, where you can ask questions live to learn more about egg production from farm to table with Egg Producer Janelle and Chef Mike.

Virtual Apple Field Trip with Maryanne Van de Gevel

Join us for this virtual food and farm tour, where you can learn more about apple farming with Great Lakes Farms. See how apples are produced on trees in orchards, harvested and much more, all while learning about the different of varieties of apples produced in Ontario.

Dairy farm equipment

Farmer Norm is back for another tour! Join us for this virtual food and farm tour, where you can learn more about food that is fed to cattle, technology on the farm and much more with Farmer Norm.

Dairy Farm Tour

Join us for this food and farm tour, where you can learn more about dairy production with Dairy Farmer Norm. Join Dairy Farmer Norm as he’ll be inside the barn talking about the cattle, his robotic milking system and their future goals of opening up a processing facility.

Ottawa Dairy Farm Tour

Learn about dairy farming with this tour of a local Ottawa dairy farm

Ottawa Egg Grading Station

Learn about how your eggs get from farm to grocery store with this tour of a local Ottawa egg grading station!

Wine Growing with Gavin Robertson

Join us for a virtual field trip, where you can ask questions live to learn more about viticulture or winegrowing (wine growing) which is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes from Niagara College expert, Gavin Robertson. Raised in the Ottawa Valley, Gavin Robertson studied the Humanities before moving to Europe where he encountered wine culture at the ground level, picking grapes to fund his travels and developing his palate by tasting great wines at every opportunity. On his return to Canada, he enrolled in the Winery and Viticulture Technician program at Niagara College in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, and expanded his education through the Wine and Spirits Education Trust program and the Court of Master Sommeliers. Having worked in a variety of vineyards and wineries in Ontario, Australia and New Zealand, he is currently employed as Vineyard Manager, Head Winemaker and Instructor at the Niagara College Teaching Winery and the Canadian Food and Wine Institute at Niagara College. He is also an instructor for the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers. He is co-owner and Cidermaker at Garage d’Or Ciders and is a 2018 Nuffield Schol

Potato Farmer

Meet Josh! Josh grew up on his family farm near Chatham, ON, where they grow corn, wheat and soybeans. Josh studied agriculture at the University of Guelph and later moved to Prince Edward Island for three years to farm potatoes. Now that he is back in Ontario, Josh is working as a Certified Crop Advisor (kind of like a personal trainer for crops!) and started growing potatoes on his own farm.

Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese

Meet Shep! The owner and head cheesemaker at Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese. Shep's journey to becoming a skilled cheese maker began on the family dairy farm where he not only loved dairy farming but all the delicious products that come from dairy. After he completed university, where he received a degree in business, Shep had numerous opportunities to study and make cheese in the United States, British Columbia and most recently Switzerland. It was during these ventures that he developed his passion and skill set for cheese making.

Shady Creek Lamb Co. - Sheep Farm 

Chris and Lyndsey operate their family-run sheep farm in the Ottawa Valley. These sheep farmers are passionate about raising quality pasture, healthy animals and nurturing resilient soil. In the spring, summer, and fall their sheep graze on pasture, in the trees, and along rocky outcrops of the Canadian Shield and under solar panels!

Beekeeper 

In this tour, meet AgScape's very own Project Assistant, Ontario Certified Teacher and beekeeper, Shaunna MacQuarrie along with husband, Beekeeper Ken. Beekeeper Shaunna and Ken, along with their children, care for over 30 honeybee colonies, sell honey and beeswax products locally and speak regularly to groups about both native bees and honeybees, pollination and caring for the environment.

Heeman’s Strawberry Farm

We’re kicking off Local Food Week with many Ontarians’ favourite summer fruit - strawberries! Join us for a trip to Heeman’s; a family-run strawberry farm, cidery, greenhouse and garden centre. They grow over 50 acres of strawberries which are available from June through October. Here you’ll meet Susan and Tom, who grew up on berry farms and now play many different roles in the family business and local community.

Goat Farm Field Trip

Join us for a virtual field trip to a dairy goat farm! Here, you’ll meet Emily, a recent graduate from the University of Guelph and herd manager at her family farm Frankhaven Dairy Goats. Her family started the farm in 1999 with 23 milking 'does' (female goats) and now have 700! Emily’s main focus on the farm is caring for the young goats, known as ‘kids’ and improving the health of the herd. Tune in for a LIVE tour and Q&A!

Rosa Flora (Flower Greenhouse)

Join us on May 25 at 1:30 p.m. for a virtual field trip to a flower greenhouse, where you will meet Arielle and Ralph. Arielle's parents started Rosa Flora in 1978, so she's been a flower farmer for nearly her entire life! They initially specialized in hybrid tea roses, but now Arielle and her husband Ralph have grown the farm to include gerbera daisies, snapdragons, lisianthus and garden roses in over 40 acres of greenhouses! They look forward to showing a slice of life in a cut flower greenhouse from seed to shipping.

Dairy Farming with Cassi Brunsveld

Join us for this virtual food and farm tour where you will meet AgScape's very own Program Assistant, teacher and 3rd generation farmer, Cassi Brunsveld. Cassi currently operates a 140+ organic dairy cattle farm with her husband in the Cambridge region. In this live tour, you will have the opportunity to learn about organic dairy farming, and ask questions to explore how organic milk gets from the farm to your table.

Maple Syrup Tour with Jodie and Dugald Aldred

Celebrate Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month with Jodie and Dugald Aldred who specialize in maple syrup production at Aldred Maple Products. Jodie and Dugald will take us through a live virtual tour of their sugar bush and sugar shack on AgScape or Farm Food Care's Facebook or YouTube channels.

British Columbia Beef Farm

Meet Doug and Erika. They are a family of 5 with a cow/calf ranch near Rock Creek, BC. They are in the middle of a very busy calving season with up to 10 new calves born a day.

Alberta Canola Research

Meet Brittany, a Canola Researcher in Alberta. Learn more about the history of canola, crop pests and diseases, and her research!

Ontario Egg Farm

Meet Janelle, an expert in egg farming and learn all about enriched hen housing and egg collection.

Nova Scotia Chicken Farm

Meet Amy. She runs a third-generation chicken farm in Nova Scotia, with her husband, in-laws, and three sons. Amy will share what she loves about being a chicken farmer and all the work and rules that go into ensuring that the chickens she raises are safe and well-cared-for.

Local Food Week Turkey Tour

Thanks to Clair and Kathryn for touring their Ontario turkey farm!

Canada's Agriculture Day 2021 - Sheep Farm Tour

Meet Romy, an Ontario Sheep farmer

Nature Fresh Farms Greenhouse Tour

Celebrate Canada's Ag Day with a tour of a Tomato greenhouse. Learn about pest and water management.

Canada's Agriculture Day 2021 - Pig Farm Tour

Join us to tour an Ontario pig farm!

Canada's Agriculture Day 2021- Bean Processing Tour

Happy Canada's Agriculture Day from Hensall Co-op in Hensall Ontario!

Canada's Agriculture Day 2021 - Beekeeping

Happy Canada's Agriculture Day from The MacQuarrie Family in here Niagara! It is a bee-autiful day

Beef Farm Tour with Jordan and Cam

Join Jordan and Cam from Manitoulin Island as they tour their beef farm!

Trout Farm Tour - Cedar Crest Trout Farms

Join sister-brother duo Arlen and RJ, owners of Cedar Crest Trout Farms, as they take a tour of their trout farm!

Dairy Cow Farm Tour - Browndale Farms

Join Ashley from Browndale Farms as she gives us a tour in celebration of Local Food Week!

Farm Safety

Meet Rob from Green Tractors as we talk farm equipment and farm safety as part of Ontario Federation of Agriculture's 2020 Farm Safety Campaign.

University of Guelph - Honey Bee Research Centre

Join us as we learn about honey bees at the University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre!

Soil Health Tour

Join our tour of the University of Guelph Soil Health Interpretive Centre to learn all about soil health! For more information about soil health, visit https://soilsatguelph.ca/

Local Food Week Greenhouse Tour

Thanks to Mike from DC Farms for touring us around his greenhouse! Mike grows eggplants and tomatoes. Learn more about Mike's farm by visiting https://www.ogvgconnect.com/grower-profiles/dc-farms