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35 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,M ay 30,2019 theifp.ca WHO DOES IT? Look for the RIGHTbusiness for the JOBWHO DOES IT?Professional Directory Deadline for Thursday's edition is Monday by 4pm THREE EASY WAYS TO SHOP. Floor and Home The One Store For Your Perfect Floor 26 Guelph St., Downtown Georgetown www.carpetone.ca http://carpetonegeorgetown.goldbook.ca 905-877-9896 CarPet, harDWooD, rUGs & tiLe 905-877-8990 VISIT OUR SHOWROOM! 118 Guelph St. (at Maple) ~ info@asghomecomfort.com SALES, SERVICE & INSTALLATION air, heatinG&FirePLaCe To advertise in this directory contact Kelli Kosonic 905-234-1018 or email kkosonic@theifp.ca bathroom renovations Cell: 416-989-7809 Dave LoDuca QUALITY BATHROOM RENOVATIONS C C T I L EE RAM I Gold 2018 Halton Hills CONTRACTOR - 7 years! Thanks for your support! Local farmers are changing the way they do things, to ensure the agri- cultural industry is sus- tainable for years to come. Innovations in the field were the topic of the eve- ning at the recent Halton Region Agricultural Forum held at Milton's Country Heritage Park. The annual event drew a few dozen area residents and farmers, who heard from industry experts on agriculture research and technology that's helping reduce carbon emissions and protect the environ- ment. Korb Whale, who runs a seventh-generation dairy farm near Alma, is leading the pack in greenhouse gas reduction, with his anaero- bic digester operation. The equipment takes manure and off-farm food waste, processes it through a shredder and then ferments it, creating methane to pow- er a natural gas engine, which, in turn, powers a generator, producing elec- tricity and heat. The byproduct from the process can also be used as a fertilizer for the fields, he noted. "Some people view ma- nure as waste, but I've trained my children that when they smell manure, that's the smell of money," he said. "Not only is it great fertilizer, but now we can make electricity from it, too." Whale's operation pro- cesses 9,000 tons of off-farm waste annually and produc- es six megawatts of electric- ity for the grid per day, along with half of the farm's power. Jake Debruyn, a new- technology integration en- gineer at the Ontario Minis- try of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said Halton's large land base lends itself to establishing anaerobic digester operations locally. For example, he said food waste being shipped out of Toronto for process- ing could easily be brought to a larger-scale digester in Halton via Highway 401, with its proximity to the city making it an attractive option. The digester could also be fuelled by biomass crops, which are grown specifical- ly for use in energy produc- tion. "There's a lot of land here that could be used for biomass crops," said De- bruyn, pointing to agricul- tural land slated for devel- opment where building hasn't commenced yet, as an example. Ontario Biomass Pro- ducers Co-operative presi- dent Jamie Fisher spoke about the market for switchgrass as an environ- mentally friendly biomass crop. The tall grass offers sev- eral important environ- mental benefits, he said. Its massive root system cap- tures carbon in the ground, and its low pesticide and fertilizer requirements make it excellent for en- hancing drinking-water quality. Switchgrass also has high potential to offset greenhouse gases when used as livestock bedding - its biggest commercial mar- ket - and then as a feedstock to produce biogas, he add- ed. "It has tremendous envi- ronmental benefits that are exciting because we need to be sustainable," he said. "That word 'sustainable' does matter." On the topic of sustaina- bility, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies president Ty- ler Whale highlighted the use of genetics in agricul- ture. Case in point is the ge- netically modified Innate potato, which he said doesn't brown or oxidize, re- sulting in 400 million kilo- grams of potatoes being saved from waste in Canada every year. "The specificity with which you can alter genet- ics now is incredible," he said. "Frankly, if you're not embracing genetics, you're not embracing a sustain- able future." NEWS FARMING INNOVATIONS FOCUS OF HALTON AGRICULTURAL FORUM ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY CROPS, TURNING MANURE INTO ENERGY DISCUSSED AT EVENT MELANIE HENNESSEY mhennessey@ metroland.com Innovations like using animal manure to generate electricity were among the topics of the evening at the Halton Agricultural Forum. Torstar file photo