Farmscape for June 12, 2007  (Episode 2508)

An estimated 80 thousand to 100 thousand people are expected to experience life on the farm first hand as part of the Red River Exhibition's annual "Touch the Farm" display.

The 2007 Red River Exhibition kicks off Friday in Winnipeg.

As part of the exhibition's family land area, the Manitoba Farm Animal Council, in partnership with the various livestock commodity organizations, will host Touch the Farm.

MFAC Executive Director Shanyn Silinski says the display allows the public to experience farming first hand by talking directly to producers.

Clip-Shanyn Silinski-Manitoba Farm Animal Council

We'll have milking demonstrations from the dairy farmers, we're going to be having a cow calf pair from Manitoba cattle producers.

We also have the sow and her piglets from Manitoba Pork Council.

We have some hatching chicks from chicken and of course egg is going to be there with their selection of brown and white eared birds.

The really nice thing is that people will be able to get up close and personal in a controlled environment to really experience a little bite of the farm or a little taste of how things work on the farm, how you take care of your animals and what's involved with milking or taking care of a sow and those types of things.

It's a really good way for people to get some hands on experience and to talk to producers who are actually, these are their animals, this is a part of their livelihood.

You're talking to them about something that they really passionately believe in, something that's not just a way of making a living but it's a lifestyle choice and find out how that lifestyle choice is seen as being positive for their families and experience a little bit of how their day goes, talk to them about what early mornings or late nights can mean and just really get a feel for what's going on so next time they're driving in the country and they drive by a barn or they see animals in the field they can relate back to their experience in the barn at the Red River Ex and say, oh yea, there's a connection I understand that a little bit better.

The Red River Exhibition runs for ten days from June 15th to June 24th.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council