The post congress tour of Atlantic Canada will bring you to the birthplace of our nation. The provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland make up Atlantic Canada and during the post congress tour, we will visit all of the provinces, except Newfoundland. For the post congress tour, we've woven cultural and agricultural tour stops together to give you a taste of our traditions and a look at some of our strongest farming sectors. We'll drink fruit wine, pick apples, go horseback riding, visit a potato farm, go lobster fishing, tour a cranberry bog, walk along the beaches, and more. For photos of this region, click here.
For further information:
JK Tours - Kari Bryenton - kari [at] jktoursinc.com
A story intensive look at some of Canada’s leading agri-food research.
Sunday, September 18, 2011:
Delegates will be shuttled from Niagara Falls Canada, back to Guelph Ontario.
A walking tour of the University of Guelph campus, including the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC). Our agricultural science research is ranked above all other universities in Canada for impact, and includes strengths such as breeding of soybeans, corn, and specialty crops, and livestock nutrition, particularly for dairy cattle, swine, poultry and horses.
Tour a Guelph-based brewery with world-class beer, and see the local food movement in action at a Guelph restaurant and pub. We’ll hear from the owner about his philosophies behind using local food and drink, and unwind with good friends.
Monday, September 19, 2011:
Breakfast at the hotel
Board a bus to the University of Guelph’s Arkell Research Station to meet The Enviropig,™ a genetically enhanced line of Yorkshire pigs with the capability of digesting plant phosphorus more efficiently than conventional Yorkshire pigs. This is an interactive presentation about the science and the regulatory challenges associated with genetic enhancements that could have tangible environmental benefit around the world. Delegates will have the opportunity to see the Enviropig for themselves when we tour the research facility. http://www.uoguelph.ca/enviropig/
You think you have a green thumb? University of Guelph researchers are working on growing plants in extreme conditions, including those found on Mars. The University of Guelph leads the research team investigating the contributions of plants to life support in space, and formed the Space and Advanced Life Support Agriculture (SALSA) program at the University of Guelph. This program currently represents Canada’s prime contribution to the International Space program objectives in Life Support.
See University of Guelph soybean varieties in action when we tour a local cash crop farm during harvest. Tour the fields, meet the farmers, and see a real cash crop farm in action at the height of harvest.
Evening events TBD
Tuesday September 20, 2011:
Breakfast at the hotel.
The University of Guelph has a long history of research that has led to the commercialization of new food products. Sample the foods that were “born in Guelph” and meet the researchers behind them and an exclusive meal hosted by some of Canada’s leading agri-food researchers.
Meet the brains behind the International Barcode of Life (iBOL) project, the world's largest biodiversity genomics project. Guelph’s Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) will be the scientific hub for iBOL. Researchers are quickly amassing barcodes or identifiers for a growing database of life forms, and developing new informatics tools and technologies. Once fully activated, it will involve more than 100 researchers from 26 countries. http://www.co1bank.uoguelph.ca/views/login.php
Meet the researchers and see the products behind Biocar, an initiative to improve the development and delivery capacity of biomaterials for the automotive industry. The project involves 16 scientists at Guelph and the universities of Toronto, Waterloo and Windsor. The project has already yielded some impressive car parts, including car seats and bumpers made with crops such as grain corn and wheat.
Join Guelph researchers in the dairy barn for a demonstration of the telemetric bolus, which gives farmers a computerized non-invasive look at what’s going on inside their animals. The bolus is a small plastic cylinder – about the size of a lipstick container – that records temperature readings inside an animal, making it easier for farmers to detect low-grade fevers. The research is expected to go a long way in helping to detect acidosis, which can affect yield.
Evening event TBD
Wednesday, September 21, 2011:
Breakfast at the hotel
Tour wraps up with transportation to Toronto’s Pearson airport
For further information:
Lisa McLean, Eastern Canada Farm Writers' Association - lisammclean [at] gmail.com
Post congress tours
