Celebrating Lambton County businesses for their ideas, energy and commitment is something that Libro Credit Union and the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce take seriously.

You should take it seriously too! Our businesses are the driving force behind growth and prosperity in our community.

Nominate an outstanding business in one of 15 categories. Anyone can nominate any business in Lambton County. DO IT NOW online or drop into any Libro Credit Union in Lambton County and fill out a ballot.

Click here for more information on rules and criteria

From the OFA website:

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is aware of media reports on Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) Dianne Saxe's comments on the coloured fuel tax exemption. OFA has discussed this issue with the Environmental Commissioner and will be hosting her on a farm tour in February to demonstrate the complexities and the opportunities for Ontario agriculture.

The following information is from the Ontario Ministry of Finance.

Agriculture’s use of coloured fuel is estimated to be 3% of total use.

Click here to read the full article.

Blog from Francesca Weeks, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario

Farmers are under huge pressure to change their practices to please the consumer. Activist groups like PETA and NON GMO projects distribute advertisements and undercover videos to get their message across.  They have tainted the perspective of what farming is really like, leading to misunderstandings of daily practices on the farm. In this series of two commentaries I will discuss how farmers can get their own message out to urban consumers about the care they take in the work they do.

I recently attended FarmSmart at the University of Guelph where they had amazing speakers that inspired, motivated and equipped farmers to be successful at what they love to do best. Two of the speakers focused on reaching out to urban consumers; Temple Gandin, an American professor of animal science at Colorado State University and Jennifer Christie a Dealer Marketing Consultant & Industry Relations at John Deere. They both challenged farmers to start important conversations with their neighbouring urban communities.

Click here to read the full article.

Read part two of this blog here.

This is a reminder about the upcoming Registration night on Friday, February 5th from 7-9pm at the Wyoming Fair building in the Ambassador Room. The registration fee is $45 this night only. After the fee goes up to $80.

Clubs being offered include:

Alvinston Life Skills
Brooke-Alvinston Beef
North Lambton Beef
Forest Dairy
Petrolia Life Skills - Batter Up! (March/April)
Petrolia Life Skills - Cake Decorating (May/June)
Petrolia Life Skills - Ti a Gift (November)
Brigden Pizza Club
Brgiden Life Skills - Sewing
Brigden Life Skills - Knitting
Brigden Woodworking
Brigden Sheep
Brigden Bunny Trail (accepting Cloverbud)
Farm Business Club
Brigden Beef

The Lambton County Pork Producers met at crabby Joes in Petrolia for their 2015 AGM. We had a good turnout, with producers, industry partners and Ontario Pork in attendance.  Teresa Van Raay, Amy Cronin and Bill Wymenga gave an update on the industry locally, provincially and abroad. John Van Eneglen spoke on “Emerging On-Farm Research Data and Technology”.

The group enjoyed a good meal, some excellent socializing, and left with new and updated information. Moving into 2016, the LCPP hopes to have a greater presence with Lambton County consumers and Producers. Look for us at key events across Lambton County, and for our new website (soon to be up and running!).

In the meantime, the Ontario Pork AGM is fast approaching. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 22 and Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at the Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre. 
REGISTRATION
You MUST Pre-Register before Friday, March 18, 2016
Please register using one of the following methods:
•         Online:             www.ontariopork.on.ca
•         Fax:                  519-829-1769
•         Mail:                 655 Southgate Drive, Guelph, ON N1G 5G6
•         Email:              kim.coyle@ontariopork.on.ca

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a Real Dirt on Farming Speakers’ Bureau Training workshop for farmers and agribusiness staff on March 9 at the Brooke-Alvinston-Inwood Community Complex in Alvinston.

The workshop is designed to help farmers and agribusiness staff tell their stories – what they do and why they do it – to non-farming audiences. To date, we’ve run almost 20 of these workshops across Ontario for about 700 participants. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants telling us how much more comfortable they are talking about their farms and businesses after taking the course.

Space is limited to the first 25 participants. We’d ask for your help in forwarding this throughout your respective commodity groups and distribution lists. The cost is $50 for the day’s workshop and includes lunch and all workshop materials. More information about the workshop is available in the attached PDF.

Spots may be reserved through the following link:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/real-dirt-on-farming-speakers-bureau-lambton-tickets-19642546385

Lambton Young Farmers have been meeting over the last few months, and have been working on ideas, speakers and tours for the upcoming year.

The next meeting will be February 16th, with Scotiabank doing a presentation on banking and lending to young farmers. All young farmers under 40 welcome
Text Sarah at 519-339-6228  or email info@lambtonfederation.ca for more info.