Durham Agricultural Society - DAS

04/28/2025

This Friday is our Family Fun Night!
These are the pricings for our Concessions!
Don't Forget to join us at the Durham Community Centre Friday, May 2nd, doors at 6:00pm, roller skating starts at 6:30 and BINGO (18+) starts at at 7:00pm

04/27/2025

Hello. My Name is Skylar.

I am a feed salesman, auctioneer, sheep farmer, and I do livestock dealing, and I'm a municipal livestock evaluator as well. I am from south Bruce County.
I got into livestock dealing as a kid when my grandfather would take me out of school to go out to Keady Market on Tuesdays to start buying small animals, I would then sell them, reinvest my money and buy more. I started my own small flock of sheep in high school and was fortunate enough to buy our farm as a first generation farmer in 2021, we now have 60 head of sheep. I take care of them before and after my day job as a feed salesman.
My dad and grandfather took me to every kind of farm sale in Grey/Bruce/Huron counties and I became very interested in auctioneering. I was very lucky to have my auctioneering schooling paid for in 2015, and I started up my own auction company. We ran a small pet sale for a few years and did a couple estate sales, as well as working alongside other auctioneers.
I started as a feed salesman in 2017, my job is to help decide what proper nutrition would be best for the farmers' animals in their operation.

For my work, I like that I get the chance to help people, and I like that I can involve my careers with livestock and agriculture.

The harder part of my job is helping people to decide what is going to be the decision to benefit them, whether it's deciding if it's time to sell the farm or realizing that the hay that was grown was not great quality. The real hard part of all these careers is relying/working with the weather. Selling an auction in a cold rainstorm is not fun, and delivering and unloading bags of feed in the hot weather can be testing. We also have to rely on Mother Nature to provide proper conditions for putting a crop in and for harvesting.

The traits that apply to my jobs are enjoying livestock, physical activity, and being able to communicate with people clearly.

Live Stock Farmer - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-farmer -on
Auctioneer, Livestock Dealer, Feed Salesman, and Livestock Evaluator are not cataloged in the Think-Ag System as of (April 14th, 2025)

Related Jobs:
Feedlot Manager - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/feedlot-manager -on
Live Stock Groomer and Technician - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-groomer-technician -on
Crop Farmer - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/crop-farmer -on
Veterinarian Technologist - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/veterinarian-technologist -on

04/25/2025

Just 1 more week until our Family Fun Night on Friday, May 2nd!!
EXCITING NEWS!! Youth 12 and under are now going to be $2 for admission!

From 6:30-10:30 please join us for All Ages Roller Skating!!!
Admission is $8 (13+) and $2 (12 and under) with skate rentals available for $3.50!

Concessions will be available for purchase, check out our page to see our concession list!
Just as a reminder this is a CASH ONLY event!
We hope to see you out there!!

04/23/2025

Thank you to Susan Moffat, REALTOR, one of our Precision Sponsors of our 2025 Durham Fall Fair!

04/22/2025

Happy Earth Day!
Today is a day that we focus on learning new ways to keep our Earth healthy.
Without a healthy Earth we cannot live.
There are many things that you can do at home to help out!

04/21/2025

My name is Mel!
I am a freelancer, and I wear many hats in Ontario agriculture. I manage two farm organizations for agri-contractors, do research and communication projects, and I also write for and edit a local farm magazine!
It was a strange path to get here. I travelled the world and worked overseas for several years before coming back to the University of Guelph to study sociology. For my thesis, I studied my own farming community, local farm organizations and the farm media, which got me on a path of leadership for several farm organizations and connections with freelance research contracts over the years. When the editor of a local farm magazine asked me to write, I jumped at the opportunity. After writing for the magazine for ten years, I got the opportunity to be the editor!
I love connecting with people in agriculture, learning about them and sharing their stories with our readers. Because agriculture is so vast, from chicken farming to drainage, from environmental issues to global markets, the job is challenging and has me constantly learning new parts of the industry to make connections and write about them. As well, monthly deadlines and the ever-changing industry concerns mean I always need to stay on my toes!
The best traits for agriculture are flexibility to adapt to changing weather and technology, and as an editor the ability to meet deadlines is also important.

Journalist - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/journalist -on

Related Jobs:
Public Relations Consultant - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/public-relations-consultant -on

If you are interested in submitting your career bio, please email [email protected] and we will set you up a bio! If you see your career, but took a different path, send us an email, we would love to highlight the different ways you can arrive at a career in Ag!

04/20/2025

The Durham Agricultural Society wishes you and yours a Happy Easter!
Enjoy your long weekend!

04/18/2025

Don't forget about our Family Fun Night!

Join us on Friday, May 2nd, 2025 at the Durham Community Centre for a fun night of roller skating (for all ages) and BINGO (for our 18+ crowd).
As with all of our events this is CASH ONLY

Roller skating is from 6:30pm-10:30pm, admission is $8 with skate rentals for $3.50. Roller skating is for all ages!

BINGO doors open at 6:00pm with games starting at 7:00pm. Each booklet is $20 and gets you 10 games (of 3 cards each) and each Jackpot Card is $10. Jackpot is $1000 on 52 with a $500 consolation prize after 52 .
BINGO is an 18+ Event held in the auditorium of the arena. License # M875323

Concessions will be available for purchase, the list is now out, check out our post from last Monday! We are excited to see you there!

04/16/2025

Thank you to Viking-Cives Ltd, one of our Precision Sponsors of our 2025 Durham Fall Fair!

04/14/2025

We are excited to announce our concession list for our Family Fun Night on May 2nd!
This is the pricing and options available for purchase at the event!
For more information about our Family Fun Night, Check out our previous posts!

04/13/2025

My name is Cory.
I am a cash crop and beef farmer, and equipment operator. Of course with the job as a farmer, you’re also a vet, mechanic, electrician, plumber, meteorologist, etc.

I am a 7th generation farmer and have had the passion to farm since I was a kid. I learned hands-on with my dad and grandpa. I got into construction work in 2006 and eventually started my own construction company in 2010.

It’s hard to explain what I love about the job, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do and I don’t know anything else.

The hard parts of the job are all the unknown challenges every day - weather, sickness, commodity prices, equipment thefts, and more.

The main thing is having the drive to show up every day and face each challenge as it comes.
Traits that can make this easier are enjoying being outdoors, creativity with solutions (being able to MacGyver), ability to do physical labour, and being able to handle the gross parts of the job.

Live Stock Farmer - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-farmer -on
Agricultural Equipment Technician - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/agricultural-equipment-technician -on
Crop Farmer - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/crop-farmer -on

Related Jobs:
Feedlot Manager - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/feedlot-manager -on
Live Stock Groomer and Technition - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-groomer-technician -on
Veterinarian Technologist - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/veterinarian-technologist -on
Heavy Duty Mechanic - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/heavy-duty-mechanic -on
Welder - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/welder -on

If you are interested in submitting your career bio, please email [email protected] and we will set you up a bio! If you see your career, but took a different path, send us an email, we would love to highlight the different ways you can arrive at a career in Ag!

04/11/2025

As you may have noticed on our page, our Sunday posts are now all about Agriculture and Ag-Adjacent careers!
We are still looking for community members to talk to about your Ag/Ag-Adjacent careers. The goal is to write a short profile on;

What your job is/does.
How you ended up at your job/the path you took to get there.
What you love about the job.
What is hard about the job.
And what traits you can have that may make the job easier.

We would also like (if possible) to show the face behind the job, especially if you are able to provide a picture of you at work. (Please try to keep logo's out of the photos!)
Please keep in mind this is not meant to advertise businesses, ONLY to show the different local Agricultural and Ag-Adjacent Careers. Of course after it has been posted on our Facebook your business is more than welcome to share it!!

If you are interested in helping us with this project, please send us an email to [email protected], and we can sort out all the details from there! If you're looking for an example of a post, checkout our previous ones!

If you’re not sure if your career qualifies as Agriculture or Ag-Adjacent, it probably does! Check out this website ( https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers -on ) that has Ag/Ag-Adjacent careers listed with some information about the job, and you are also able to search on this platform to find your career! If you don’t see yours on there (like me! I’m a baker 🧑‍🍳! ~ Sarah the Socials Coordinator) you might still be Ag-Adjacent, so send an email or leave a comment and we can figure it out.

We would absolutely LOVE to have a large diversity in this project, with jobs, gender, and ages, but all kept fairly local to Grey/Bruce/Wellington/Perth/Huron. Please don’t be afraid to reach out though!

Thank you all for your time and patience reading this.

04/09/2025

Our sponsors are a huge reason why we are able to run this fair.
Without them, we would wouldn't be where we are!

So please join us in thanking all of our wonderful sponsors during our Wednesday Spotlights!

Just a reminder, its not too late to get a sponsorship in! It may not get into the Fair Book, but you will find it all over the fair and on Facebook!!

04/07/2025

Last year we debuted the Junior Fair Book.
This year it is new and improved and ready for the hands of our youth!

Copies have been distributed to the oldest and only children at the schools in Durham and Mount Forest. If your family did not get one, then there are limited copies available at the Durham Library.
These books contain all the youth categories and youth activities at the fair, and the colouring contest and entry forms!

If you need a digital copy, please reach out by messaging or emailing [email protected]

04/06/2025

Hi, I am Jessica!

I am a farm lead hand/labourer in the poultry industry! I work out of Hanover and my job is to care for the breeding chickens and the baby chicks. I have always had a soft spot for farming and farm animals so having the opportunity to explore and expand my knowledge and skills was very exciting.

I got into the industry as I originally wanted a career change and the opportunity fell into my lap and I was offered my original position. To continue to grow in this industry it’s really all about your willingness to learn and to gain experience. You are also able to go to school to expand your horizons.
I started in the brooder breeding aspect of the industry (when you start raising the chicks, the first 3-4 weeks are brooding) you raise them starting at day olds. I now work in the table eggs aspect. Table eggs are what we eat, so instead of sending the eggs to the incubator, we send them to the distributor!

You work in very warm environments and you have to be very aware of your surroundings at all times so you don’t step on them! At any point you can have things break and you have to get these things fixed as safely and as fast as possible. As a worker you are in charge of all animal welfare and making sure bio-security is maintained [preventing diseases from going from one farm/barn to another]. You are also responsible for ensuring that the eggs are kept up to the industry standards for the hatching process.

The best thing about my job is I absolutely love getting to see both sides of the industry, the only one I haven’t been a part of is the meat birds, but they would be very similar. The meat birds would be shipped out every 12 weeks because meat birds grow quicker! Plus getting to see little baby chicks!

I would say the hardest part is finding the strength to do the daily tasks when you first start, it is a very labour intensive job depending on which section of the poultry industry you are a part of.

Traits that make the job easier are desire to learn, strong work ethic, and the ability to do physical labour.

Live Stock Farmer - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-farmer -on

Related Jobs:
Feedlot Manager - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/feedlot-manager -on
Live Stock Groomer and Technition - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/livestock-groomer-technician -on
Veterinarian Technologist - https://thinkag.ca/en-ca/explore-careers/career/veterinarian-technologist -on

If you are interested in submitting your career bio, please email [email protected] and we will set you up a bio! If you see your career, but took a different path, send us an email, we would love to highlight the different ways you can arrive at a career in Ag!

04/04/2025

We are excited to have the 50/50 draw back again this year!
If you are looking for tickets send us a message and we will put you in touch with a director!
YOU MUST BE 18+ TO PURCHASE TICKETS!

04/02/2025

04/02/2025

Don't forget to register for our Junior Gardeners Club!
The first weekly meeting starts THIS Sunday, but if you're unable to join for the first meeting, come on by for the second!
The meetings are all FREE, but you must be pre-registered. They happen on Sunday's from 9:30am-10:30 am at the Durham Community Centre (down the hill) at the pavilion behind the baseball diamond! These meetings run for 10 weeks, and will have monthly meetings in July and August!
Lists of what is required will be sent to parents before the meeting.
To register please contact Jennifer Hodge-Williamson
[email protected] (226-432-2112)