Barn fires and cross country trips made headlines this year
By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com
With 2017 only days away, it’s time to reflect on the past 12 months and take a look at some of the headlines that dominated agriculture in 2016.
Here are five of the top stories from Ontario on Farms.com from 2016.
1)Barn Fires
On the evening of Jan. 4, 2016, a barn at Classy Lane Stables in Puslinch, Ont., burned to the ground, claiming the lives of more than 40 racehorses.
Little did we know this would be the beginning of an unfortunate throughout the year. To date, Farms.com has covered more than 20 barn fires in the province. The latest one happened early on Dec. 22 when a fire tore through a barn at Giffen Farm Equipment in Minesing.
Read about some of the fires here:
Barn fire near Monck causes multimillion dollar damage (Nov. 15, 2016)
Fire hits dairy farm near Drayton (Sept. 19, 2016)
Barn fire near Ottawa claims dairy cows (July 28, 2016)
100 cows lost in Tecumseh barn fire (Apr. 19, 2016)
Latest Ontario barn fire claims lives of 45 cattle (Mar. 30, 2016)
2,000 pigs killed in Parkhill barn fire (Jan 19, 2016)
2)Farmers’ Almanac
Whenever the Farmers’ Almanac releases its seasonal forecasts, it’s an opportunity for farmers to consider what may be in store for them in the upcoming planting and harvesting seasons.
This year, the almanac said winter in Ontario and some surrounding areas would be “exceptionally cold.”
Read the full story here:
Farmers’ Almanac releases 2016-17 winter forecast
3)Ontario rules of the road for farm equipment
With an increased presence of farm equipment on roads during the fall, Farms.com tested farmers’ knowledge of Ontario’s road rules when it comes to farm equipment.
Take the quiz here:
How well do you know the rules of the road for farm equipment in Ontario?
And after you’ve done that, get the answers here:
Answering questions about farm equipment on Ontario roads
Ontario farm family travels across Canada on a tractor
A feel- good story in 2016: a father-daughter duo from Plantagenet purchased a tractor online without knowing its condition. Urs Koch and his daughter, Claudine, traveled from Kelowna, British Columbia back to the family farm over the span of 17 days on the newly purchased 1957 F4L514 Deutz tractor.
Read the full story here and hear Claudine’s thoughts on the cross-country trip.
Ontario farm family travels across Canada on a tractor
2)Ontario producers start their own weather network
Wanstead Farmers Co-operative CO. Ltd. and other partners worked together to create the AG Grower Daily Dashboard, a tool that can provide farmers with measurements including rain, humidity and wind.
In May it was announced that a provincial grant of more than $500,000 would allow farmers to use the service free of charge for the first year.
Read the full story here:
Ontario farmers start a weather network of their own