Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association

Newsletter #281 September 2012 Volume 27, Number 8

Fresh Facts

Inside this issue:

Membership News 2

Hulshof Farm Market

3

Innovation Awards are meant to Inspire

4

Direct to Consumer Sales

6

Waddell Apples 7

Upcoming Events 8

Providing knowledge and leadership to grow the farm fresh experience.

President’s Message… September is finally here and we all know what that means: Back to School. Funny how those three words can mean such different things depending upon who you are and where you are in life. Funny too, how some students get giddy about back-to-school while others dread the annual return to class with such conviction. Parents too. I know some parents who are more than a little excited to "get back to normal." Sound familiar? It's been more than a few seasons since I went back-to-school in September but I still feel it around this time of year. It always starts around the last week in August, this feeling that the long days of summer are coming to an end - that change is coming - that it is somehow time to get serious again. One thing I'm serious about doing this September is securing my spot for OFFMA's An-nual November Bus Tour. This year, OFFMA is heading to the Illinois/Indiana/Michigan area for a few days to check out what's new in direct farm marketing in Illinois. I've had the scoop on where we'll be going for a couple of weeks now (I know people) and I'm really excited for you to see this newsletter's insert detailing most of the stops on our tour. This year's trip looks fantastic - but the truth is, these trips always are. We always return home full to the brim with new ideas and new ways of looking at old ideas. Best of all is getting the opportunity to visit with OFFMA friends on the bus and at mealtimes (and at cocktail time...). If you've never been on one of these trips, I really hope that this is the year you will decide to change that. Decide quickly though - the Bus Tour always sells out early so call Cathy soon. A few weeks ago, we had the really great pleasure of visiting and touring Watson Farms at our Annual Summer Pot Luck. Paul and Tami Watson showed us all over their beautiful and busy farm. They had a lot of questions from our group about their neighbours (a subdivision on one side, and a Wal-Mart across the street!) and we really appreciated their candour and their positivity. Huge thanks to Paul and Tami for such a great afternoon. As an added bonus, this year's event also featured our first ever Farmer Olympics - special thanks to Geri and Ken Rounds for organizing. If you missed it, you just may have missed my very last sack race. Ever. To all the folks who made it out this year: thanks for coming...and most importantly, thanks for the great food! Have a super September - Jesse Lauzon OFFMA President

Bus Tour Supplement included with this newsletter. Check it out, don’t miss out on this opportunity.

2012 OFFMA Tour

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

Page 2 Fresh Facts

New Members Welcome to these new members. Thanks for coming on board. Make sure you get out are participate. Christian Cooke Cookes Farm Omemee 705-799-2746 Clay Eborall Eborall Farms Beamsville 905-988-0348

Twitter Anyone? If you are on Twitter, make sure the OFFMA office knows about it. We want to following all OFFMA members on Twitter so we can help get the word out about activities on your farm. Send us an e-mail or better yet send us a tweet.

Classifieds WANTED: Supplier for wagon canopies. The canopy on our people wagon needs to be replaced. If you have suggestions, pls call Arwa at Mapleton’s 519-638-1115 FOR SALE -Small-sized straw bales (24x12x8 inches) available for $1.75 each. Contact Kevin Shantz, Shantzholm Pumpkins 519-634-5252 for more info. WANTED: Looking for 300-400 lbs of elder-berries for wine. Contact Bob and Dyann Birtch, Birtch Farms and Estate Winery, at 519-469-3040. WANTED: Foodland has had a request for tomatillos and elderberries. If you grow them, pls let the OFFMA office know and we will pass along your contact info. WANTED: On-Farm Markets looking to sell fresh milk within 100 km of St. Jacobs. OFFMA member, Eby Manor is a Guernsey dairy farm located in Waterloo County. They have their milk processed and bottled in one litre glass bottles by Hewitt's Dairy. Currently Eby Manor has 2% milk, but they are working on other dairy products as well. If interested, contact Jim Eby at info@ebymanor.ca

McKay –Salmon Wedding Things were hopping at Willowtree Farm on August 18th. Marlene and Rod McKay’s son, Alex , got married to Kelty. Congratulations to the whole family. This is one step closer to Marlene’s dream of having grandchildren to spoil. Keep asking for pics but haven’t seen any yet to share with the membership.

Thanks for sharing this picture with us. They are Ellie and Garnet, twins born to Nathan and Darlene on March 25. Ruth and John Downey now have a dozen grandchildren to keep them fit and busy. Congrats to all.

Page 3 Newsletter #281

One of our big purchases this year was a cash register for the on-farm market. The market had always been Jim’s dad’s, Frank Hulshof’s, domain, but un-fortunately he passed away in 2010. The market was his passion and he was a whiz with numbers so there was no need for a cash register. We now have students helping us out at the market and they sometimes get flus-tered when there is a line up and may miss something or miscalculate a pur-chase. Usually not a big deal but it starts to add up if it is happening even a few times a week during our busy grow-ing season—hence the register arrived a few weeks ago. There are so many benefits to having it at the market: Safer place for your cash We look more professional and more serious about our business. Customers can see and feel this as well. Better records, because we set up the register to record the sales of different categories. It is easy at the end of the day to see what was actually sold. Better records will help during our plan-ning process when we are trying to de-cide how much of what we should be growing.

We can also now track the number of sales each day and calculate the average sale per customer. All very valuable information. On the con side, we have less flexi-bility in serving several customers at once. We also have more paperwork to deal with, but that is far out-weighed by the pros we have experi-enced. Our next objective is to get a debit system set up to better serve our customers since many people have very little cash on them these days. Although we have a smaller-sized market, we are trying to keep up with all the technological changes con-stantly coming at us.

From the Field—Hulshof Farm Market Owned by Jim and Elayne Hulshof Article written by Cathy Bartolic as told to her by Elayne Hulshof.

Innovative Ideas A little low on the number of ap-ples you have available this year for pickin’? Why not offer Yoga classes instead. Spirit Tree Cidery is doing just that.

Not sure which heirloom tomatoes (or any other varieties of vegeta-bles) your customers prefer. May-be they aren’t sure either...how about giving them a choice. Let them fill their own quarts with whatever they would like to try.

Page 4 Fresh Facts

The Premier's Award for Agri-Food In-novation Excellence recognizes the success of our rural communities, farms and food processing sectors. Their innovations improve existing products, create jobs and drive eco-nomic growth. They also provide inspi-ration for other agricultural businesses. This year, the program recognized 50 regional award recipients across On-tario. From these regional recipients, six are OFFMA members. Congratula-tions to these winners. It is always nice to be recognized for the hard work you do day in and day out. Following is a short summary of why these farms re-ceived the Innovation Award. Have a peek, be inspired and consider apply-ing next year. Every farm has some-thing innovative and original they are doing. Andrews Scenic Acres Inc.

Innovation has been the phi-losophy of this farm since 1980 when Lauraine and Bert Andrews began their adven-ture. First, there is the 100-acre Pick Your Own berry farm that has everything from blueberries to raspberries to black currants. Then, there is the fruit winery that produces award-winning amber, black raspberry and black currant wines, and recently added home-produced grape wines to the shelves. An on-farm market sells not only berries but also root vegetables and cut flowers fresh from the fields. And to top it off, there

are numerous cost and energy-saving production innovations including an underground winter storage area for dahlia bulbs. Jakeman’s Maple Products If you like maple syrup and ice wine,

Innovation Awards are meant to inspire

this product is sure to tap into your taste buds. Maple Ice Wine Syrup is made on a family farm that has been producing 100 per cent pure and natural maple syrup since 1876. The non-alcoholic ice wine is the most recent invention that finds a new way to market the liquid gold that flows from the farm's maple trees. The product has been fea-tured in national maga-zines and made the top five listing of best new sweets at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco. This sweet innovation is now making its way into speciality shops through-out Canada and the U.S. Nicholyn Farms The Van Casterens looked at the tra-ditional pizza and hot dog fundraising lunches at their local school and thought "We can do better than that." They now offer daily nutritious and tasty local food lunches that are healthier for the kids. A pilot that ran for 20 weeks at one school has now expand-ed to serve five schools in the area, as well as staff at the local Ministry of Natural Resources and Public Health Unit offices. On average, the Van Casterens prepare 600 lunches week-ly for these clients. The family expand-ed its own vegetable crop by five acres, and draws from the production of several other farmers in the area.

Page 5 Newsletter #281

Puddicombe Cider Company

Farming and innovation have been part of the Puddicombe family for eight generations. They grow a variety of fruit on their Winona farm and operate their own winery. While studying agri-culture at the University of Guelph, one of the family's younger members dis-covered a British cider made from fer-mented pears. He found it too sweet for his taste, but liked the idea that it was made with pears, which also grow on the family farm. Working with the company's winemaker, they undertook months of research, trials, and sam-plings to come up with the perfect bal-ance and taste for their pear cider. Others are benefiting from the fruits of their labour too. Last year, the compa-ny bought 78,000 kg of pears from lo-cal producers who would otherwise not have a market for their fruit. Southbrook Vineyards Wine pomace is what you call spent grape skins and seeds left over after crushing. In the past, vineyards paid waste companies to dis-pose of the pomace, but Southbrook Vineyards has found a novel use for it. Recognizing that dried and crushed red grape skins contain very

high levels of antioxidants; they col-lect pomace from Ontario's organic vineyards and process it to produce a functional food product called "Bioflavia." Health Canada has ap-proved it for use as a naturopathic product and it's now one of the high-est antioxidant powders available on the market. Bioflavia powder can be added to drinks, sauces and baking - and has been featured on the Cana-dian television show, Dragon's Den. This pomace-based product packs a nutritional punch. VG Meats Two heads are far better than one in the case of this producer/food pro-cessor duo. Combining the skill and ex-pertise of a producer and processor has meant getting the tenderest and tastiest meat products to customers and a better return for each partner. Cattle production and beef pro-cessing have been fine-tuned to meet specific retail-er and con-

sumer ex-pectations, such as adopting whole herd vaccination protocols and collecting metrics to ensure efficient production methods. Fur-ther, the partners have shared the lessons they've learned with many others during farm and plant tours. Their efforts have garnered both the Meat Industry Achievement Award and an On-tario's Finest Meat Competition Platinum Award.

Ted McMeekin, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Cory Van Groningen from VG Meats

Page 6 Fresh Facts

Direct to Consumer Sales Reach One Billion in 2011 Submitted by Carl Fletcher, OMAFRA Strategic Business Planning Lead. For more program infor-mation go to www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/about/growingforward/busdev.htm

In 2011 OFFMA reported provincial direct on-farm sales totalled $313 Million. Farmers’ Markets Ontario reported $700 Million sales at farmers’ markets across the province during the same year. They combine for a total of over One Billion Dollars of annual direct to the consumer sales. Wow!

Now appreciating that the following comparison is not apples to apples, if we take these direct to consumer sales, which include all kinds of produce and products, and place them in “OMAFRA’s Top Commodities in terms of Market Receipts, 2011” they would stand in sixth place.

Item 2011 Ontario Farm Market Receipts in Millions

Dairy products 1,895

Corn 1,338

Vegetables (including greenhouse) 1,272

Soybeans 1,077

Cattle and calves 1,028

On Farm Markets and Farmers Market Sales combined 1,013

Hogs 902

Poultry 891

Floriculture and nursery 784

Eggs 301

Wheat 315

Fruit 203

Potatoes 103

Dry Beans 70

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/stats/agriculture_summary.htm#commodities

Direct to consumer sales continue to grow as a marketing channel choice for On-tario Farmers.

Page 7 Newsletter #281

Waddell Apples—it’s More Than a Business, It’s a Passion By Gary Johnson

long-time loyal cus-tomers. Waddell Apples is conveniently situated on Highway 15 just north of Kingston and offers pick-your-own, ready-picked apples, as well as added value prod-ucts such as pies, tarts, dried slices, and apple ribbon in their rustic log cabin apple store. (They re-located a log cabin from the Lake Simcoe area which is unique to the King-ston area as most older buildings are made from limestone.) They also welcome day-care and school groups for tours of the or-chard to learn about growing apples as well as visiting the pumpkin patch. All of their value added products are made by themselves in their certified kitchen us-ing their own apples. They are constantly on the look out for something unique they can offer. Traditional Colonial Apple Butter is produced by slowly cooking applesauce to the point where the sugar caramelizes, turning the apple butter to its distinctive deep brown colour. Apple Butter makes a tasty spread on its or own or as a condi-ment with cheese, ham, poultry or pork roast. They also make Beurre de Pomme, a light-coloured Apple butter produced in the traditional Quebec style, with real butter and maple syrup -- the delicate flavour and smooth velvet texture make a gourmet spread on toast, fresh rolls or scones! Try their Spiced Pumpkin Butter, and enjoy that special 'pumpkin pie flavour' on your break-fast toast for an extra special treat! Both Charlie and Marita are actively en-gaged in ongoing business planning and improvements. They look for ways to com-bine their farming experience with new ide-as and improvements using customer feed-back and industry resources such as Ontar-io Farm Fresh and of course lots of commit-ment and hard work. www.waddellapples.com

Depending where apple growers were lo-cated in the province and the degree of frost that was experienced this spring, some growers did lose most of their apple crop. On some farms, however, where either the frost was lighter or blossom de-velopment was later or due to air move-ment efforts or smudge pots, the growers have partial crops. On a recent visit to Waddell Apples Or-chard & Bakery north of Kingston, Charlie Waddell showed Cathy and I the spotti-ness of the frost and how it impacted his crop. One tree was full of apples, and the one beside it was totally bare of any fruit. The night of the heavy frost, Charlie drove a tractor with a spray unit up and down his orchard rows trying to keep the air moving. He had limited success as he estimates he has somewhere between 50-60% of a crop. Waddell Apples is owned and operated by Charlie and Marita Waddell since 2003 and joined Ontario Farm Fresh in 2006. Both have family backgrounds in growing apples, and both are passionate about their business. This is a second career for both of them. Charlie manages the or-chard, equipment and the harvest lifecy-cle, while Marita looks after the farm bak-ery, marketing, public relations, and record keeping. Marita also holds down a full time IT Management position at a local firm. Their main orchard is made up of 1200 trees on 5 acres. The trees range in age from 3 to 40 years, and there are even 6 big old McIntosh trees that were planted in the 1940’s! In 2009, they purchased more farmland to expand their orchard. They planted 250 young trees in 2011 and 400

more in 2012. With over 12 varieties of ap-ple and several more coming, they have lots to offer the con-sumer. Charlie and Marita are proud of the heritage varie-ties they grow that keep bring-ing back their

Charlie and Marita Waddell started Waddell Apples as a second career for both of them.

Display case in the rustic log cabin apple store.

Upcoming Events Sept. 11-13 Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, Woodstock, ON Visit www.outdoorfarmshow.com for more information Oct. 3-4 Canadian Greenhouse Conference, Scotiabank Convention Centre, Niagara Falls, ON Visit www.canadiangreenhouseconference.com for additional info Nov. 2-11 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, Exhibition Place, Toronto, ON Watch for details at www.royalfair.org Nov. 4—8 OFFMA’s Annual Bus Tour, Chicago Region, details included with this newsletter. Act quickly if you are interested in joining us. Call Cathy at 905-841-9278. Dec. 4-6 Great Lakes Expo, Grand Rapids, Michigan, www.glexpo.com

Page 8 Fresh Facts

Ontario Farm Fresh Cathy Bartolic, Executive Director 2002 Vandorf Rd. Aurora, ON L4G 7B9 Phone: 905-841-9278 Fax: 905-726-3369 E-mail: info@ontariofarmfresh.com www.ontariofarmfresh.com

2012-13 OFFMA Board of Directors Jesse Lauzon, President Springridge Farm Brian Hugli, Vice President HugIi’s Blueberry Ranch Amy Strom, Past President Strom’s Farm Cara Epp, Associate Member Cara Epp Marketing Leslie Forsythe, Forsythe Family Farms Jay Howell, Brantview Apples & Cider Hollis English, Murphy’s Farmstead Colleen Pingle, Pingle’s Farm Market Geri Rounds, Rounds Ranch Steve Smith, Smith’s Apples Carl Fletcher, OMAFRA (Acting Advisor to the Board)

NEW WORKPLACE POSTER In 2010, the Minister of Labour appointed an Expert Advisory Panel to review Ontario’s occupational health and safety system. The Panel included represent-atives of organized labour, employers, and the academic community. Through-out 2010, the Panel consulted extensively with stakeholders across the prov-ince to identify structural and operational improvements to the occupational health and safety system, which includes the prevention of workplace injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, and the enforcement of occupational health and safety legislation. The Panel advised the Ministry of Labour (MOL) to "create a health and safety poster that explains the key rights and responsibilities of the workplace parties, including how to obtain additional health and safety information and how to con-tact a Ministry of Labour inspector. It should be mandatory to post this in the workplace." Employers can now obtain this free new workplace poster in English, French and 15 other languages. Visit http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/posterinfo.php. Employers are required to post the Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHSA) and any explanatory material prepared by the MOL, which includes this poster. However, the MOL wants to ensure that employers have sufficient time to be-come aware of the new requirement to post the poster. Inspectors will begin enforcing this requirement effective October 1, 2012.

The last word…………. The last word this month is a BIG thank you to the Watsons for opening their on-farm market, their farm and their machinery shop to OFFMA members. The tour was wonderful—it gave the rest of us an idea of what you have to deal with when homes are literally a few feet away from your fields. Your attitude and comments regarding the near proximi-ty of WalMart and Loblaws were enlightening and inspiring. Your gingergolds were fabulous. Everyone on the tour was very appreciative of your hospitality—THANK YOU.