Ontario’s Dairy Herd Apprenticeship Program is creating a virtual option, which should allow more people to take the Ridgetown-based program.
The apprenticeship program gives students practical knowledge that can immediately be put to work on dairy farms.
The program is based at the Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph, and that location in southern Ontario has been a barrier to some taking the program.
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Why it matters: Potential dairy workers weren’t taking the program if they lived too far away from Ridgetown, so a virtual option will provide access to skilled labour for more dairy farmers.
The Ontario government announced $300,000 in funding on Aug. 9 in Ridgetown to fund the virtual sessions along with an in-person training period. Monte McNaughton, Ontario’s minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development made the announcement. He said the program is part of the provincial government’s work to support skilled workers.
Dairy Farmers of Ontario is also a partner in the program.
The apprenticeship program has become valuable to dairy farmers as it gives people either with or without a dairy background, precise training in the day-to-day operation of a dairy farm.
“Someone who couldn’t take the program, can now take the program,” says Brett Shepherd, director of the Ridgetown Campus. “We know it’s been a barrier up in eastern Ontario to spend a week on campus here in Chatham-Kent.”
McKenna Morrison of Forest, ON says that she has learned how to breed cattle through the program and that is now part of her duties four days of the week at Van Engelen Dairy Farms near Thedford. She also cares for calves at the farm, which milks about 360 cows.
Murray Sherk, chair of the board of Dairy Farmers of Ontario, says he has hired a graduate of the dairy herd apprenticeship program and they are now helping out managing his herd. He says that the program will allow farmers and others interested in working on dairy farms from Eastern Ontario to make use of the program. There was hesitation for people to travel to Ridgetown for training.
People in northern and eastern Ontario will now be able to take the program, which will continue to include practical time working on dairy farms.
Sheppard says the program is still working to define how much in class and virtual time will be needed under the program, but he says in-person programming is important as it allows students to network with people in the dairy industry.
The Ridgetown campus has an old dairy barn, which is not technologically up to date, and therefore hampers its ability to attract dairy students to its regular program. Some Ontario dairy farmers have gone to western Canada where practical dairy programs have newer facilities. Sheppard says improving the dairy facility is a key question for his team at Ridgetown and they are working with industry partners to find an answer. Ridgetown has partnered with the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program to do some visioning on that facility and is working with them to create a plan to update the facilities.
Sherk says that the Dairy Farmers of Ontario will be supportive of any work done to improve the facilities in Ridgetown and that a committee is working on the project.
