“Faces of Farming” calendar unveiled

Oct. 28, 2013, Guelph, ON – The ninth edition of an award winning calendar showcasing the photos and stories of 13 Ontario farmers and farm families was unveiled at a gala in Milton. The “Faces of Farming” calendar, featuring this year’s theme of Real Farmers with Real Heart, is produced annually to introduce the public to a few of Ontario’s passionate and hardworking farmers. The calendar is produced by Farm & Food Care Ontario.

With this year’s calendar, the stories of 114 Ontario farm families have now been featured within the calendar’s pages since it was first produced. The stories of all calendar participants since the project’s inception are now featured in a new website at www.facesoffarming.ca.

All of the calendar’s models are real, working farmers and hail from all parts of the province – from Windsor to the Ottawa Valley to Rainy River District in northern Ontario. As the calendar shows, there’s no such thing as a typical farmer. Their farms are as diverse as the individuals. They produce a variety of crops and livestock from strawberries, corn and soybeans to poultry, beef, milk, mink and pigs.

The artistic, black and white photos, taken by Kitchener photographer Terry Scott White, are compelling and appealing, as are the farmers’ stories which include:

• Sarah Brien and Erin McLean who are turning to blogs and YouTube to talk about their sheep and berry farms;
• Harry Eisses who has been egg farming since he was 15 – and his grandson Colton who started helping at the age of 4;
• Dana and Adam Thatcher – winners of Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmer competition;
• Dairy farmer Kevin MacLean who invited his whole community to a Christmas party with his cows last year;
• Pig farmer Scott Richmond who, with other Ontario farmers, is donating pork to provincial food banks;
• Sisters Jennifer and Heather Peart who bought their first farm when they were only 20 and 18 years of age;
• And many more.

Again this year, a QR code found on each calendar page allows viewers to scan the bar codes from their mobile devices to “meet” the farmers. Each of the codes provides a direct link to short YouTube interviews with each participant. A complete list of the participants can be found below.
 
The calendar is sponsored by many Ontario agribusinesses and commodity groups.
 
Complimentary copies of the calendar will be mailed as Christmas presents from Ontario’s farmers to politicians, grocery stores, butcher shops and media.

Copies of the calendar are available through the Farm & Food Care office in Guelph, by using the online order form at www.farmfoodcare.org or by calling 519-837-1326. A list of retailers is also available on the Farm & Food Care website.
 
The winners are:

January – Erin McLean of Lakefield (Peterborough County) and Sarah Brien of Ridgetown (Chatham-Kent)
Sponsored by Farmers Feed Cities

February – Jim, Kirk, Jamie, Steve and Curtis Rankin of St. Marys (Perth County)
Sponsored by the Canada Mink Breeders and Ontario Fur Breeders’ Association

March – Cheryl, Ainsley and Evelyn Garniss of Wingham (Huron County)
Sponsored by DeKalb Seeds

April – Harry Eisses and Colton Wohlgemuth of Innisfil (Simcoe County)
Sponsored by Egg Farmers of Ontario

May – Adam and Dana Thatcher of Rockwood (Wellington County)
Sponsored by RBC Royal Bank

June – Kevin MacLean of Napanee (Lennox and Addington)
Sponsored by Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited

July – Rochelle Deslippe of Amherstburg (Essex County)
Sponsored by Turkey Farmers of Ontario and Maple Leaf Foods

August – John Kapteyn of Phelpston (Simcoe County)
Sponsored by the Ontario Broiler Chicken Hatching Egg Producers Association

September – Kim Jo Bliss of Emo (Rainy River)
Sponsored by Beef Farmers of Ontario and Canada Beef Inc.

October and cover – Darcy Smith of Pembroke (Renfrew County)
Sponsored by Grain Farmers of Ontario

November – Jennifer and Heather Peart of Hagersville (Haldimand County)
Sponsored by AdFarm

December – Scott Richmond of Plattsville (Oxford County)
Sponsored by Elanco Animal Health and the Ontario Association of Food Banks
 
January, 2015 – Bill, Susan, Rita, Rudy, Florence, Will and Bridget Heeman of London (Middlesex County)
Sponsored by the Farm & Food Care Foundation