Since agriculture is an essential industry, students were able to continue with their stages, although some had to change their original locations, due to travel restrictions related to the pandemic. Twenty-seven first year FMT students completed their Agricultural Internship course in summer 2020.
Justin Lauzon, Ferme Val-Bisson
Justin Lauzon spent his summer working full-time at Ferme Val-Bisson in Saint-Polycarpe, QC in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area. The owners are Jean Bissonnette and Elyse Gendron. They milk between 65 and 70 Holsteins with a milking robot in a tie-stall barn, with 100 kg of quota, and have some cash crop production.
鈥淎n advantage of working here is that they are leaders in the dairy production in terms of genomics and of milk production,鈥� said Lauzon. 鈥淚 got to take on more responsibilities in the barn with the cows鈥 also got better at handling the animals.鈥�
Lauzon was responsible for feeding the cows, milking, cleaning the barn, some maintenance and fieldwork, and a variety of jobs around the farm.
In his mid-stage report, when asked to describe how he had changed since starting the internship, Lauzon stated 鈥淚 became more confident at what I was doing鈥 work much more smoothly on the tractors and I can do a lot more precision work. Considering the role that tractors play in agriculture, this is surely going to help me.鈥�
鈥淥verall I would say that I had a rewarding experience, as I can see that I am making a difference. I keep the cows healthy and they give lots of milk. I clean and grease the equipment I use, and I got better at doing my tasks,鈥� he added.
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Originally published in the August 2020 issue of the Quebec Farmers Association Advocate newspaper.