Heather Laidlaw
Heather and her family run a mixed farm in the Greenbelt, near Brampton. They have an apple orchard, offering pick your own and ready-picked apples. They also grow field crops and raise chickens. The Laidlaws have recently completed the Environmental Farm Plan.
Jamie Aalbers
Jamie breeds miniature roses in Barrie. He also works for Flowers Canada and has done extensive work on making greenhouses more environmentally friendly. In many Ontario greenhouses excess irrigation water is now recirculated back to a central holding tank for use in the next irrigation cycle. This results in very substantial water use reductions in flower growing and improved protection of Ontario's water sources.
Kristin Ego MacPhail
Kristen and her family grow fruit, field crops, and nursery plants on their family farm near Barrie. She has an Environmental Farm Plan.
Leo Guilbeault
Leo grows field crops in Essex County. He is currently the chairman of Ontario Soybean Growers and is bilingual.
Lloyd Crowe
Lloyd and his family grow field crops near Picton. He has been involved in the Environmental Farm Plan program for many years.
Max Kaiser
Max and his father Eric work in partnership on their farm, growing crops and raising laying hens near Napanee. They are proud of being among the first farmers to complete an Environmental Farm Plan over 15 years ago. Max and Eric were featured in the Ontario Farm Animal Council�s 2007 Faces of Farming calendar.
Murray Porteous
Murray Porteous farms in partnership with his family in Norfolk County. His family has been growing fruit in the area for five generations and they currently grow tree fruit and asparagus. Murray received his degree in Agricultural Business from the University of Guelph and was named Ontario's Outstanding Young Farmer in 1998. Murray has adopted innovative integrated pest management techniques on his farm.
Barbara and Tom Parker
Tom and Barb Parker operate a 6th generation family farm in the Greenbelt near Milton. They have recently completed their second Environmental Farm Plan. They are proud of the many improvements they have made to their farm, including planting trees, buffer strips along the creeks, and constructing a new manure storage.
Diane Peckitt
Diane and Tom Peckitt live in Huron County and have been active farmers their entire lives. They have always been concerned about the environment and completed an Environmental Farm Plan several years ago. Recently they fenced their cattle out of their river and planted 10,000 trees to ensure a healthy ecosystem along the banks of both the Seven Mile River and the Maitland River where they have farms. They have seen a resurgence of fish in both rivers, not to mention an abundance of turtles, snakes and frogs. They are happy to do out part to keep our rivers and streams healthy for future generations to enjoy" said Diane.
Larry and Judy Chanda
Greg Hannam
Greg Hannam farms with his family near Guelph where they grow field crops. They use conservation tillage on their farm, which sequesters soil carbon, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and protects the soil from erosion and compaction. As a field crop farmer, Greg knows the importance of crop rotation to keep soils healthy and to keep crop pests under control.
Dave Marshall
Dave and Loralee Marshall operate Meri Acres Farm as the fifth generation of Marshall's. The farm will celebrate 150 years of ownership in 2007 . They feel strongly about ensuring the continuity of ownership and improving the farm environment for future generations. The farm produces sweet corn for processing as well as a variety of grain and oilseed crops to complement the broiler chicken operation. They have completed their 2nd environmental farm plan in 2006 and completed numerous projects ( tree planting wildlife habitat creation and manure management). They feel nutrient management is important to gain full benefit of the manure produced in the broiler barn.
Quentin Martin
Quentin and his family grow field crops and seed crops at their farm near Waterloo. He is an enthusiastic supporter of the use of cover crops and new technologies that may reduce the environmental impact of food production.
Rodney Wright
Steven and Sandra Eastep
Steven and Sandra Eastep farm in Wellington County, where they raise hogs and chickens and grow field crops. The Easteps have always had a great respect for the environment. They have established wind breaks on the farm, constructed a series of erosion control structures, drilled a new well, installed double-wall fuel tanks, constructed a dry manure barn for poultry litter and a liquid tank for swine manure. They completed their first environmental farm plan in 1994, plus two nutrient management plans and a second environmental farm plan to date. All the standards set out for the On Farm Food Safety Assurance Programs have been met to comply with the Pork and Poultry Boards. The Easteps received the Countryside Canada Stewardship Recognition Award in March, 2003.
