🐄 Our Site Visit To the Ontario Beef Research CentrE & Grey-Dufferin Community Pasture!

Last week, the interns were invited by the Beef Farmers of Ontario to visit the Ontario Beef Research Centre and the Grey-Dufferin Community Pasture for an incredible site visit. The Beef Farmers of Ontario are one of OLIP’s generous partners who not only support the programme, but also take the time to teach interns about their industry.  

Our first stop was at the Ontario Beef Research Centre, where we learned how the BFO advocates for its 19,000 members at the federal and provincial levels of governemnt. We also learned about the BFO’s research initiatives. BFO researchers investiagte all kinds of topics relevant to beef farmers, such as envrionmental sustainability, animal health, economic sustainability, forage and feed systems, food safety, and market research.  

We then drove an hour to the Grey-Dufferin Community Pasture, where we met the pasture’s manager, Mike Swidersky. The interns then hopped on Mike’s tractor to find a spot where cattle were grazing. Once there, Mike taught us about the community pasture and the need to protect existing grasslands. Not only are these grasslands used for grazing, but they are also home to various wild species that depend on such habitats.  

A huge thank you goes to Thomas Brandstetter, Evan Chaffe, and Aynur Izzetin from the BFO for arranging this fascianating site visit. We also want to give special thanks to Mike Swidersky for taking us on an informative tour around the pasture. You were all so generous with your time, giving us all kinds of information about beef farmer’s contributions to the Ontario economy, food supply, and efforts to enhance sustainability in agriculture.  

OLIP is incredibly fortunate to have the BFO as a partner. On behalf of all the interns, thank you so very much for your ongoing support.