The Essex County Federation of Agriculture (ECFA), with the supporting lead of, and in collaboration with CFTV34, has been able to secure a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs to produce 13 episodes for a program called "The Real Dirt on Agriculture".

 

This grant initiative requires local sponsorship and financial support from Essex County corporations and businesses to produce this
programing.

 

In this regard, we have commissioned CFTV34 to produce these 13 episodes and ask for your generous support to accomplish this project. The OMAFRA grant will match up to $100,000 with the balance of the funds being raised from sponsorship. For example, if sponsorship funding can only be raised for 5 episodes, than OMAFRA funding will not be available to produce the remaining 8 episodes.

 

"The Real Dirt on Agriculture" will be a new innovative show based around agriculture in Essex County. It will be written to support the Buy Local, the Grown Right Here and the Ontario Fresh initiatives. Starting from the tiniest of seeds to the largest of animals, we will bring to life what really goes on behind the scenes in this industry as farmers feed the country with food products that are second to none, grown and raised locally here in Essex County.

 

This program will educate consumers on buying local - going the extra mile to find the best grown, ripened and ready to eat food products that money can buy. It will be used as a teaching aid; it will educate children and adults as well as to where their food comes from, the process of how it's grown, when it's in season and how important it is for them to eat the fresh foods .

 

. "The Real Dirt on Agriculture" will be available for viewing on CFTV34 over the air and cable 100, also in DVD format, on demand on the CFTV34 website with links from various websites such as the ECFA, OFVGA,ECAG, WEEDC, Tourism Ontario, school boards and municipalities. It will be structured to go viral and plans are to syndicate the series.

 

"The Real Dirt on Agriculture" is a 30 minute television program which consists of21 minutes of programming, allowing for 9 minutes of commercial content. Each episode will aim to highlight a particular farming operation and related agri-industries. Available sponsorship packages are listed below along with the episodes that will be produced.

 

A company can pick the episode or episodes where they wish to have their commercials viewed. The company's name will be connected with that program no matter where it is viewed or how often. It will be permanently embedded in the program. A sponsorship of a production means that a commercial will be produced by CFTV34 included in the cost of the sponsorship purchased. If companies already have their own commercials, they will be used. When the program becomes syndicated, the commercial will remain within the program. Sponsors will receive a copy of the program with the commercial embedded within it and can be used as the sponsor wishes.

 

The Essex County Federation of Agriculture and CFTV34 are looking forward to partnering with your company in the production of this exciting and informative programming "The Real Dirt on Agriculture." For further information, please contact us at the numbers listed in the sponsorship agreement.