For the first time, the Great Canadian Farm Tour travelled north of the Arctic Circle, where we visited the Inuvik Community Greenhouse. This greenhouse allows the northern community to grow fresh, local produce year-round.  

Kenny Stewart, manager of the hydroponic unit, gave us a tour of the unique facility and taught us about how they can grow fresh produce throughout the cold Arctic winter.

“In my first year, I can’t tell you how many mistakes I made trying to grow these plants and learn about all the caveats of being in a greenhouse, in a hydroponics unit,” said Kenny to students across Canada, “but six years later, with enough effort and help, I’m now managing the hydroponics unit.”

“Never doubt yourself. If you make a mistake, you’re learning,” added Kenny as he wrapped up the tour,  

Here are some highlights from the tour:

• Most Northern Apple Trees: The greenhouse features apple trees that are the farthest north in Canada and North America, thriving despite the frigid temperatures. During the cold months, the apple trees are wrapped with blankets.
• Community Collaboration: The repurposing of the old hockey arena into a greenhouse was driven by local leadership and volunteers. Volunteers, including local high school students, pitch in to help with planting, watering, and harvesting, making it a true community effort.
• Fire Department Support: In early spring, when water lines freeze, the local fire department brings in their trucks to refill the greenhouse’s water barrels, keeping the plants hydrated.
• Winter Veggies: The hydroponic system grows up to 2,400 plants at once, ensuring fresh greens like lettuce and herbs even in extreme winter conditions with only one hour of daylight.

The Inuvik Community Greenhouse is more than just a place to grow food. It serves as a gathering space for the entire community, acting as a hub for local yoga classes and events, and there’s even a café that provides space for people to relax. The greenhouse is a vital resource for local families and businesses in Inuvik, NWT.

Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C), a national leader in youth agricultural education, plays a crucial role in fostering agricultural literacy across the country. Through engaging programs and initiatives like Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month (CALM) and thinkAG, AITC-C, alongside ten provincial members, help young Canadians explore the diverse career opportunities in agriculture and agri-food. With a strong focus on sustainability and innovation, AITC-C empowers students to understand agriculture’s pivotal role in society, the environment, and the economy.

As an advocate for youth education, AITC-C actively participates in initiatives that advance its mission. A key example is its involvement in the Tri-National Agriculture Youth Council Working Group, which reflects with AITC-C’s commitment to empowering young voices in agriculture. By integrating Canadian perspectives into North American discussions, AITC-C is helping to ensure that youth voices are heard, bridging knowledge gaps and building resilient, sustainable rural communities.

The youth council, under the guidance of the North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN), aims to empower young voices across Canada, the US, and Mexico in shaping the future of the agriculture and agri-food industry.

The idea for the youth council took root at the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS) meeting in Denver, where Kalysha Hanrahan, thinkAG manager for AITC-C, and other agriculture professionals from across North America gathered to empower rural communities by promoting innovation, skill development, and information sharing.

Although the conference included discussions on youth inclusion, Hanrahan and her peers felt there was a need for deeper integration of youth perspectives in these critical conversations.

Recognizing the need for a platform where youth could genuinely engage, they set out to create the youth council—a dedicated space for young voices in agriculture.

“I'm no stranger to hearing that [agriculture is] a difficult industry to come into and find your place in when you're a younger person, so I think groups like this help ease youth into that. It creates a safe space to enter into agriculture,” says Hanrahan.

The Great Canadian Farm Tour got into the festive spirit today by visiting a Christmas tree farm in Prince Edward Island!

Bryce Drummond, who co-owns and operates Drummond’s Christmas Tree Farm, showed us where and how they grow Balsam firs for the holiday season.

Here are some fun facts we learned during the tour:

• A Waiting Game: Growing a Christmas tree takes an average of 8 to 12 years! Most trees are about seven and a half feet tall when they’re sold during the holiday season. Drummond’s Christmas Tree Farm plants about 1,000 trees a year!
• Lots of Hard Work: Farming Christmas trees is very labour-intensive. They plant the seedlings, shear the trees, apply fertilizer and mow between the rows by hand. The only machine used on their farm is a chainsaw for cutting down the trees!
• Environmental Benefits: Real Christmas trees are more environmentally friendly than artificial Christmas trees. Used Christmas trees can be taken to farms for goats to eat (they can be used as a natural dewormer for goats and sheep!), used as windbreaks around PEI or composted. Did you know one acre of Christmas trees produces enough oxygen for 18 people? Drummond’s Christmas Tree Farm has 12 acres of Balsam firs, that’s enough oxygen for 216 people!
• No Bears in PEI: The biggest pest on the farm is ants. They can kill a Christmas tree within a year!

We had so much fun learning about Christmas tree farming with students from across Canada! If you missed the tour, catch the recording here: WATCH THE TOUR

The next stop of the Great Canadian Farm Tour Season 4 is on Wednesday, November 20 at noon ET. We are visiting the most northern commercial greenhouse in North America in the Northwest Territories! You can register for that tour here: REGISTER FOR THE TOUR

Thank you to Farm Credit Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for supporting the Great Canadian Farm Tour!  

The Great Canadian Farm Tour Season 4 made its sixth stop today at a robotic dairy farm in Quebec!

Yvonne Becker, owner of Halte de la Montagne and a nutritionist, shared insight into dairy farming, cow care and milk production.

Here are some fun facts from the tour:

• Milk-Producing Robots: At Halte de la Montagne, cows are milked by robots that use lasers to find and gently milk each cow. The cows even get a treat for visiting the machine, and the robot knows if it’s the right time to milk them based on data from their electric collars!
• 40 Litres a Day: Each cow on Yvonne’s farm produces an average of 40 litres of milk daily. That’s almost 40 points of milk per cow!
• Naming Tradition: Every cow at Halte de la Montagne gets a name that starts with the same letter as its mother’s name. For example, if the mother is named Beyonce, her calf might be called Barbie! This tradition helps track family lines in a fun, personal way.

We had so much fun learning about robotic dairy farming with students from across Canada! If you missed the tour, catch the recording here: WATCH THE TOUR

The next stop of the Great Canadian Farm Tour Season 4 is on Tuesday, November 12 at 12:30 p.m. ET. We are visiting a Christmas tree farm on PEI! You can register for that tour here: REGISTER FOR THE TOUR

Thank you to Farm Credit Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for supporting the Great Canadian Farm Tour!  

The second half of Season 4 of the Great Canadian Farm Tour launched today with a visit to Winter’s Turkey Farm in Alberta!

Lyle Weigum showed us around his operation, sharing his expertise with students across Canada. Winter’s Turkeys specializes in raising free range and whole grain-fed turkeys primarily for the Thanksgiving and Christmas festive season.

Here’s a summary of some of the things we learned today:

• Free Range: Free range means the turkeys have access to a yard where they can roam outdoors whenever they like. Lyle says they give the turkeys items to keep them entertained, such as hay bales to climb on, and their yard is fenced to protect them from predators.
• Turkeys Don’t Have Teeth:  Without teeth, turkeys can’t chew their food. To help them digest, they’re fed grit (crushed up rocks), which goes into a muscle that grinds their food. Fun Fact: the turkeys at Winter’s Turkeys consume about three truckloads of grit every year!
• Unique Features: The red fleshy part above a turkey’s nose is called a “snood,” while the flap under its chin is called a “caruncle.” Both hens and Toms (male turkeys) have them, but they’re more pronounced in males.  

We had so much fun learning about turkeys! If you missed the tour, catch the recording here: WATCH THE TOUR 

Join us for the next stop of the Great Canadian Farm Tour on Wednesday, November 6 at 1 p.m. ET when we visit a robotic dairy farm in Quebec! You can register for that tour here: REGISTER FOR THE TOUR 

Thank you to Farm Credit Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for supporting the Great Canadian Farm Tour!