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Agriculture Roundup for Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Aug 23, 2023 | 4:25 PM

A new educational program for Ontario schools will focus on agriculture.

The campaign from Grain farmers of Ontario will focus on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs for Grade 3 classrooms.

Good in Every Grain’s Ontario Farming STEMterprise is a teaching resource based on Ontario grain farming in coordination with the Ontario elementary school curriculum.

Grain Farmers of Ontario Communications Manager Victoria Berry said it brings agriculture into the classroom in a fun and exciting way for students and teachers.

“We know how much work is being done to help Ontario’s children grow and learn. We also recognize that teaching agriculture can be daunting if you are not a farmer or working in the industry,” Barry said. “STEMterprise is a great program for aligning agricultural knowledge and experiences with the current teaching curriculum.

Lesson plans use several skill sets as they lead students through growing grain seeds in their classroom, conducting a market survey of existing granola bars, creating their own nutritious granola bars to meet consumer, or other students, needs, marketing, designing sustainable packaging and selling their product at a “farm store.”

The program is offered at no cost to Ontario teachers.

A leader in furthering the environmental and economic sustainability of forage-based beef cattle production systems has been awarded the 2023 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation.

Dr. Kim Ominski is a researcher, professor, and acting department head at the University of Manitoba in the Department of Animal Science. Ruminant nutrition has been the centre of her research, but she has expanded this base to examine implications for the environment, human health, and the broader sustainability of the Canadian beef industry.

One of Dr. Ominski’s research contributions includes co-leading an environmental footprint assessment of the Canadian beef industry. It demonstrated significant reductions in the industry’s carbon footprint over the past three decades, as well as improved water use efficiency and reduced ammonia emissions per kilogram of beef produced.

Nominations for the 2024 award are now open and must be submitted by May 1, 2024.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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