Connie Tabbert
Editor
Seven young farmers from different countries have been touring Renfrew County for almost two weeks. They have toured a variety of farms and spent time at several tourist attractions, along with meeting many people along the way.
They will end their stay with a trip down the Ottawa River as they try whitewater rafting on Saturday. They depart for the Kawartha Lakes area on Sunday.
These seven farmers are members of Junior Farmers in their own countries. In Renfrew County, there is also a Junior Farmer organization. President Marissa Mulligan noted the organization is coming back to life after it was disbanded many years ago. Junior Farmers is anyone between the ages of 15 and 30.
“You don’t have to be a farmer,” Ms. Mulligan said.
The organization helps out in the community as well as at various community events as well as participates in an exchange program.
The seven junior farmers who are here until Sunday are Libby Stewart from Scotland, Martina Egan from Ireland, Maria Mueller from Switzerland, Martina Rieberer from Austria, Karl Hockenhull from England, Harry Thompson from Northern Ireland and Owan Woolley from Australia. They arrived in Ontario at the end of May and will depart in October. They will spend time in various parts of the province, although Renfrew County is as far north as they will go.
“It’s been really cool,” Martina Egan said. “We’ve toured around a lot. Some weeks were busy, some were quiet.
“The people here are different. The accent is quite different up here compared to the south,” she noted.
Martina Rieberer from Austira has found it most difficult with all the different accents.
“The first two weeks were hard,” she said. “I’ve been here almost eight weeks and it’s getting better.”
They are finding the farm tours interesting, even though they live on farms.
“The farms are so large here,” Libby said.
The majority of the farms in Ireland and Scotland are about 100 acres, she noted.
There are also more dairy farms and a lot of cash crops grown here, Martina said.
Martina Egan was also excited to drive an articulated tractor.
“We don’t have double-axle tractors back home,” she said.
Martina Rieberer is surprised at the distances between the farms, towns and cities, the size of the farms and how diverse farms can be.
Having three cuts of hay is also different, noted Libby.
“We get one cut of hay because it rains all the time,” she explained.
The farmers had opportunity to try their hand at baling small squares.
“It’s very hot work,” said Owan.
It didn’t help the baler kept breaking down, they noted.
They also don’t like the mosquitoes, which seemed to find them no matter where they went.
Karl noted there are more cash crops here, such as corn and soybeans, which they don’t get to see in England.
They were surprised to see the ground worked for different crops.
At the local sales barn, they were surprised how busy it was and how the farmers purchased more than one or two animals.
They have enjoyed seeing the Parliament buildings and the changing of the guard, visiting a milking water buffalo farm (in Perth) and Niagara Falls.
While six of the seven will return home, Owan is hopeful of landing a job, preferably on a dairy farm, so he can remain in Canada.
The farmers have been staying at three different farms while in the area – the Mulligans, Hamiltons and Coles.
“It was like having two more sisters,” said Marissa. “There were six girls and one bathroom,” she added with a laugh. “It was a lot of fun.”
There were many questions asked and a lot of information exchanged. She said what we take for granted in farming seemed strange to them. It was interesting explaining our farming practices to someone not familiar with them, she said.
There was also opportunity to for the visitors to share their farming practices as well as their language. While they all spoke English, Marissa said there are different words for different things depending on the country you come from.
Scott Hamilton said it was like having a new perspective on your own county. He enjoyed just sitting and talking with the visitors, not only learning about how they farm, but their lives in general.
“It was like having a second family,” he said.
There are currently 10 members with the Renfrew County Junior Farmers and Marissa is hopeful of seeing that number grow.
“It’s an opportunity to meet new people and learn different things,” she said, such as how to be involved in team work and how to be a leader.
They are also the liaison for the farmers who choose to participate in having their farm recognized for 50, 100 and 150 years in the same family, Marissa said.
As for the exchange program, she said none of the local participants have participated because you have to be in the program for at least years, and this one is less than two years old. When asked if she would participate, she’s not to sure about that.
“I’m a homebody,” she said with a laugh.
For anyone wanting more information on the junior program, contact Marissa through email, [email protected] or visit the Ontario Junior web site.
