In January 2023, I was a speaker on a panel about the current state of Ontario agriculture at a technical conference for the Master Brewer’s Association of the Americas. The conference spotlights what is currently happening in the brewing industry, here in Ontario as well as across North America. I spoke on crop rotation, cover crops, precision agriculture, and brewer-farmer relations. I highlighted an example of brewer farmer relations that came from a valuable field trip I attended in SAFS-2350 Ecological Agriculture.
My background as a brewer played a part in my presentation, however all my agriculture and environmental science knowledge came from my experience at Trent. One of the other speakers declared, “Kevin did a great job explaining the nuances of agriculture here in Ontario, which is not easy!” I credit the SAFS course and the amazing professors here at the Trent School of Environment. - Kevin Drost