Young farmer Lauren’s memories of amazing adventures in Canada

Lauren McRoberts, a member of Bleary YFC, was selected to represent Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster on a nine-week Rural Youth programme.

The 24-year-old graduate scientist said the experience had exceeded all her expectations - and had given her an incredible insight into Canadian farming, culture and lifestyle.

Speaking to the Chronicle, Lauren said: “Over the course of the nine weeks, I travelled to Ontario where I stayed in eight different counties, hosted by members from the Junior Farmers of Ontario.

“These places included Niagara, Durham, Renfrew, Carleton, Oxford, Heron Perth, Essex Kent and Middlesex.

“The trip involved a wide variety of Canadian farm tours including the following: Dairy farms with high yielding Holstein cows, averaging herds size from 100 to 1,000 with a quota system, leaving dairy farming a much more sustainable business as there were no milk imports ongoing.

“Buffalo dairy farming which has an extremely high butterfat milk compared to the standard dairy animal. This farm produces the milk for its own farm shop and sells it to produce cheese from the buffalo milk.

“Milking goat farms were extremely impressive, the farm milked 1,000 goats twice a day in a rotary parlour, producing milk solely for cheese.

“Sheep farming was not a massive enterprise in the areas we were in, but a good source of income to a few farmers with herds of up to 300.

“We visited a particular beef farm with 10,000 acres and approximately 12,000 head of cattle in one unit - the scale of this farm was something I had never seen before.”

Lauren added that an “exciting” and “totally different” aspect of life and farming was experienced when she visited the Amish community.

“Their farming was extensively done with horse-drawn farm utilities. They are massive land owners in an area known as Heron Perth, and they put all their profits into buying land for their own community.

“I was extremely impressed with these people, their simple way of farming and close community had to be seen to be believed. It’s something I will never forget.”

She added: “We also toured around fruit and vegetable farms and vineyards producing their own wine.

“There were lots of tours of grain elevators, which were producing and storing grain for farmers for exporting and also within the Canadian area.

“We also visited farm businesses that use different environmental sustainability techniques to improve their impact on the environment. This included waste management sites which recycled a lot of their waste products to benefit the environment.”

There was time for some non-farming activities too, as Lauren explained: “We enjoyed beach days in Ontario at the Great Lakes, sports games including Canadian football, baseball and rugby, and Canada Day in Ottawa to celebrate Canada’s independence.

“A lot of the hosts I stayed with had their own farms, so I helped with a lot of farm work or as the Canadians like to say ‘chores’.

“This mainly consisted of milking Jersey cows, feeding calves, feeding sheep (even lamas!), helping with the broiler chickens and feeding goats.

“I also learnt about environmental sustainability methods within businesses such as waste management facilities.”

Speaking about some of the highlights of her trip, Lauren revealed: “I loved seeing Niagara Falls for the first time - it was unbelievable!

“I also really enjoyed the nights hitting the fields in the trucks and doing some ‘skeet shooting’ (clay pigeon shooting).

“The tour to the buffalo dairy farm was another number one for me, as it was something I never even thought about before, they were the most interesting animals I’ve ever seen.”

Summing up her Canadian adventures, the Bleary YFC member said it was the “trip of a lifetime”.

“I’m so grateful to be a part of young farmers, and to have had this opportunity to experience the culture and lifestyle of a Canadian country household.

“Canada lived up to my expectations, and more! The people are exactly like us, super friendly, welcoming and generous. They were so down to earth and I will forever be grateful for all they did for me.

“I have already had two friends over from Canada and I don’t think it’s going to stop there! One of them actually is originally from Northern Ireland, a local family called the Morrisons, who kindly had us over for lunch and a great farm tour when in Canada.

“Not only did I make friends for life with the junior farmer hosts in Canada, but also with the other young farmers from Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. We’ve already planned our reunion!”

Lauren added: “I’ve returned home with memories of the nicest people, their unique culture, alternative farming methods, beautiful landscape, delicious food – and their quirky catchphrases!”