New Resources and Upcoming Events

Table of Contents

1. New nutrient management course calendar
2. New Resources now available online
3. Upcoming Events

New nutrient management course calendar is now posted online

You can access them www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/nm/cert/courses.htm.

New Resources now available online

Barn Fires: An increasing problem for Ontario farmers

Over the past five years, barn fires and fires in large farm structures have become an increasing concern. The evolution towards large-scale farm operations has further heightened the need to address the problem of barn fires and fires in large farm structures. In response, OMAFRA formed a Technical Advisory Committee on Farm Fires to address the fire safety risks to farm workers and emergency responders. The purpose of the committee is to reduce the potential for life and/or property loss by identifying best practices in the industry and potential changes to regulations.

Visit www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/barn_fire.htm to learn more.

On-farm biodiesel production: looking at all the options to help you decide if it’s right for you.

With the rising cost of petroleum-based diesel and heating fuel, there is a growing interest in determining if on-farm biodiesel production could be a feasible and economic farm-grown replacement for this farm input. This document provides background information on biodiesel and outlines many factors to consider when determining whether producing biodiesel on-farm for farm use would be a practical and economic option for your situation. Recommendations for further reading and study are also provided to assist you in evaluating the safety and fuel quality aspects of small-scale biodiesel production.

Visit www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/engineer/facts/biodiesel.htm to learn more.

New Biogas Blog

Communicating information and news can be a challenge. And the way people get information is evolving with the help of the internet. Blogs are useful for sharing your own info, but also for collecting and sharing other people’s too. The Ministry started a biogas blog to bring our existing and new information to our biogas community. This is a pilot to learn how popular a blog is for our stakeholders to get news and industry developments and how we can improve our communications. The biogas blog will post information roughly weekly.

Upcoming Events

• Green Living Show—April 24 –26, 2009