Organic Farming Certificate program meets growing demand for farmer training

Author: Katie Rabinowicz

Posted: February 1, 2010

Categories: News from Sustain Ontario

More and more urbanites want to become farmers and they are looking for training that will fast track their entry into agriculture.  Everdale Farm is launching an innovative training program called the Organic Farming Certificate (OFC) program.

Hillsburgh, Ontario, Canada  January 27, 2010 – Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre announced today that it will be launching Ontario’s first Organic Farming Certificate (OFC) program in April 2010. Â The OFC is based on a program offered at the University of California at Santa Cruz and will help Ontario to meet a growing demand for locally grown organic produce.

Everdale is a farm-based learning centre located one hour northwest of Toronto near Hillsburgh, Ontario.  Everdale has been breaking ground in farmer training since 2000, when they partnered with Agriculture Canada to create an on-farm internship program.  That internship program was one of the first of its kind in Ontario.  It provided hands-on farm experience to young people interested acquiring skills in organic farming.

More than 50 interns graduated from Everdale’s farm internship program and about half are now farming on their own.  Other farms have been inspired by the success of the internship model.  In 2000, Everdale was one of only a handful of Ontario farms offering internships.  Today there are about 100 active internship farms across the province and most of them belong to CRAFT Ontario, a farmer-training organization co-founded by Everdale.

With the upcoming launch of the new OFC program Everdale is once again raising the bar for farmer training standards in Ontario. Â The OFC is a hybrid program that combines the hands-on rigour of a practical farm internship with the curriculum-based focus of a college or university course.

Gavin Dandy, Everdale’s Farm Programs Director, believes that the OFC fills a void in the current slate of training offered by agricultural schools and farms in Ontario.  “The OFC is designed to train farmers of tomorrow,” says Dandy.

“As a society we are entering into uncharted territory with respect to farming and farmer training.  For the first time in recorded history the vast majority of tomorrow’s farmers will have to come from non-farming backgrounds.  In other words, city folks will have to become farmers.  There simply aren’t enough ‘farm kids’ out there to meet the demand.”

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) statistics show that consumer demand for organic produce continues to outpace the supply.  In a paper on Key Industry Trends released in November 2008 AAFC states that “Canada’s organic industry is estimated to be worth $1 billion with annual retail sales growth of 20%.  Fuelled by consumer demand for more natural, minimally-processed and pesticide-free food in North America, the Canadian organic sector has seen dramatic growth in recent years with consumer demand currently outpacing domestic production.”

According to Dandy, there are plenty of urbanites who see opportunity in organic farming.  “We get dozens of emails and phones calls every month from people who are looking information and training.  They want to become organic farmers.  Every one of them is interested in the kind of ‘relationship farming’ that Everdale farm is practicing.  They don’t want to get into commodity markets and that sort of model.  They want to start farms that are based on supporting viable eco-systems and cultivating direct-market relationships with customers.”

Brendan Johnson, Everdale’s Executive Director, believes that the OFC program will help a wide range of people to get started in organic farming.  “The OFC is a complete package.  Whether we’re talking about career changers coming from the city, conventional farmers looking for a viable farm plan, or young people in their twenties looking to make a difference…  the OFC will fast track those people into farming careers.  There’s nothing like the OFC in Ontario.  We’re proud to be offering this new program at a time when it is really needed.”

The OFC is a 32-week program that teaches the practical skills and concepts necessary for the sound management of a small-scale organic farm. The OFC training schedule includes 600 hours of curriculum-based learning such as field trips, lectures/seminars, a personal field plot project completed by each OFC intern, field walks, and technical field demonstrations.  It also includes 900 hours of in-field training and farm experience on Everdale’s organic farm.

The units of study in the OFC curriculum are:

-         Organic Farming and Gardening Skills and Practices

-         Managing Soil Fertility

-         Garden and Field Tillage and Cultivation

-         Propagating Crops from Seed and Greenhouse Management

-         Transplanting and Direct Seeding

-         Irrigation: Principles and Practices

-         Selecting and Using Cover Crops

-         Making and Using Compost

-         Managing Arthropod Pests and Plant Pathogens

-         Managing Weeds

-         Soil Science

-         Social and Environmental Issues in Agriculture

For additional news and information regarding the OFC please contact:

Gavin Dandy, Director of Farm Programming

Everdale Organic Farm & Learning Centre

gavin@everdale.org

519-855-4859 x104

www.everdale.org