The Rural Voice, 1979-09, Page 19Agricultural Schools in Ontario:
Academics and the Farmer
Whether you've grown up on a farm,
whether you've farmed for years, or
whether you'd like to take advantage of the
lifestyle farming offers, academic training
can't hurt.
It would probably help. Canada's De-
partment of Manpower and Immigration
expects that technological changes will
bring keen competition for jobs in agricul-
ture.
In Ontario there is no lack of opportun-
ities for the farmer or future farmer,
whether he or she would like to study on
campus or at home with the help of the
postman.
Modern farming requires expertise in
many fields - finance, management. mech-
anics and conservation. Straying from the
land, agribusiness opens up a host of
farm -related work - research, education,
engineering. feed storage and selling,
machinery - the list goes on.
All across this country, institutions of
hi•'',er learning cater to the importance of
ag,,culture: degrees from the University of
British Columbia, the University of Alberta
the University of Saskatchewan, the Uni-
versity of Manitoba, the University of
Guelph, Macdonald College of McGill
University in Quebec, and Laval University
in Quebec. Nova Scotia offers a two -yea;
course at the Truro Agricultural College.
In Ontario, we have seven centres:
Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph.
Fanshawe's off -shoots in Simcoe and
Woodstock, and the four colleges run by
the Department of Agriculture and Food -
Ridgetown, Centralia, Kemptville, and
New Liskeard.
Aside from the obvious difference be-
tween Guelph and the other six - the fact
that Guelph offers degrees and the others
offer diplomas- the main difference is the
location of the schools, and subsequently,
the reflection of the type of farming in the
area on the programs.
The three closest, Guelph, Ridgetown
and Centralia, claim the highest attend-
ance from students and farmers in the
Huron, Perth and Bruce counties. Because
they serve this area, the curriculum
mirrors agriculture in this part of Ontario.
Fanshawe's two-year diploma course in
Simcoe attracts a small but extremely
spirited group, largely from the local area.
"We claim to have the only tobacco course
within our program in Canada," says
Harry Barrett, co-ordinator at the Norfolk
School of Agriculture.
"Because we primarily draw from the
local area, our program is practical and
related to the area," he says.
"It's a comprehensive course that our
students get," says Mr. Barrett, "The
students are learning things that are
happening on their farms or that are going
to happen that their dads don't know about
yet."
In the last 10 years, he says, there has
been an increase in vegetable crops -
carrots, beets, cabbages - so they have a
specialized section in the second year
teaching fruits and vegetables.
Norfolk has six local staff and instructors
from farms as well. "That really brings our
whole program to life, these people talk
from first-hand experience."
Three females were graduated from the
program last year. "They shamed the boys
into getting to work, frankly," says Mr.
Barrett.
The students have a farm available to
them. In the second year, they are told they
just inherited the farm. Then they must
draw up a five-year plan, including what
they will be making in that time, how they
will build toward that figure, and how they
will pay off their loan. At the end, they
show it to their local banker. They come
back shaking their heads and saying "I
didn't know bankers knew so much about
agriculture," says Mr. Barrett.
The college was originally an old office
over Woolworth's . he says, so to cheer
everybody up they started their own
yearbook, and have published their elev-
enth.
"There's nothing like a bunch of farm
kids if they get wound up the right way,"
he says.
They just moved to a new campus, with
150 Manpower re-training students on the
same grounds. Through Manpower, the
first farm equipment mechanic course in
Ontario has been started. Farm equipment
dealers within a 30 mile radius say they can
employ up to 200 graduates, says Mr.
Barrett.
"If 1 sound enthusiastic, 1 am," he says.
At Woodstock, Fanshawe's Oxford
campus, there is more emphasis placed on
grain and forage and livestock than at
Simcoe.
Centralia College has been operating for
12 years. In addition to the agriculture
course, they offer two in home economics
and one in animal health.
Centralia reflects the large livestock
population in the area. says Don Cameron,
Learning your livelihood
"I think it was a good experience to go to
college rather than just stay at home,"
says Larry Plaetzer of R.R.1 Auburn.
Although he grew up on a farm and is
farming now, Larry was graduated from
Centralia's two-year diploma course in
1977.
He has found it useful. "I could talk
better with my education," he says. When
planning to build a silo, he was able to
apply his college knowledge to the choice
of types.
He learned about crops and soil testing
and animal husbandry -- things he says he
cou'dn't have learned so well on the farm.
He learned how to live with people and how
to get along, he says. One of the most
important results of college is knowing
where to go for answers to the questions
that come up on the farm -- where to find
references.
Larry runs a mixed farm with his father,
and has feeder beef and hogs.
He stresses that it's a good idea to take
some time off between high school and
college. You need the break, he says. In
high school, you pay attention in order to
get marks; in college, you should pay
attention because you will be making your
livelihood from what you learn. By taking a
year off to work, perhaps on the farm, you
run into questions• that you will want to
ask at college.
And the two years later pay off. "It's not
much time to take when you have the
opportunity," says Larry.
THE RURAL VOICEISEPTEMBER 1979 PG. 17