As part of Ontario’s reopening plan, farms and agriculture businesses with one employee or more are required to have COVID-19 safety protocols in place. Dean Anderson, strategic advisor, agricultural initiatives with Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Prevention Services (WSPS), says that many farms, ag businesses, and processors are not aware of the change. But, all it… Read More
With the latest federal election behind us, it’s time to dig in to the task at hand: lobbying this new government. This week, federal, provincial, and territorial ministers are gathering to discuss business risk management, and the next ag policy framework. We also got the Conservative’s shadow cabinet. To break this all down, host Kelvin… Read More
The Lake Erie Agriculture Demonstrating Sustainability (LEADS) initiative is entering its final intake, beginning November 2, 2021. LEADS cost-share projects must be completed by September 30, 2022. The program, funded through the federal-provincial Canadian Agricultural Partnership, supports cost-share projects that improve soil health and reduce the risk of nutrient losses on farms while improving water quality in… Read More
Ontario will offer a maximum benefit of $220 per head of cattle for drought-stricken regions of the province through the newly-named Canada-Ontario Transported Feed AgriRecovery Initiative. The initiative is now accepting applications until November 1, 2021 and will provide emergency support to “producers who are incurring extraordinary costs to feed livestock due to drought conditions in… Read More
Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister David Marit has rolled out details of the province’s AgriRecovery response, now referred to as the 2021 Canada-Saskatchewan Drought Response Initiative. Producers can submit applications for coverage beginning on September 1, 2021. The initiative will consist of two payments totalling up to $200/head for cattle, with adjustments based on animal unit equivalents for… Read More
Lisa Thompson, MPP representing the Ontario riding of Huron-Bruce, recently stepped up to lead the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. In Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet, Thompson has held two other cabinet posts, including Minister of Education. She says that even though she is only now moving into the agriculture post, agriculture and… Read More
Ontario is moving ahead with changes to the AgriStability program for farmers in the province, regardless of the federal government’s support or the agreement of other provinces. Last November, the federal government proposed removing the Reference Margin Limit (RML) and increasing the compensation rate from 70 per cent to 80 per cent. Because of how the… Read More
The meeting of the Federal-Provincial-Territorial ag leaders ended without a full agreement on what Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Marie-Claude Bibeau proposed back in November, 2020. At that time, Bibeau offered to remove the reference margin limit and increase the coverage level from 70 per cent to 80 per cent. The cost structure of… Read More
The federal minister of agriculture says it’s been over 100 days since proposed funding and changes to AgriStability were announced, but she has not received a clear indication from any of the three Prairie Provinces on whether or not they will sign on. In a press conference Wednesday morning, Agriculture and Agri-Food minister Marie-Claude Bibeau… Read More
Alberta Wheat Commission (AWC) has announced that its FarmCash Advance Payments Program, previously only available in Alberta, will now be available to producers in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, beginning March 15, 2021. FarmCash has provided Alberta producers of over 50 ag commodities — including major crops, livestock, and honey — with another option to… Read More
When it comes to choosing employees for your operation, it’s not as easy as many would think. There are many factors to consider: do you hire full time? Do you hire seasonal? How many people do you keep on board? And then comes the trickiest of them all — how does one determine who is… Read More
Ontario meat processors and farmers have the opportunity to apply for funding under two new program intakes of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The Meat Processors Capacity Improvement Initiative is an up to $4 million program that will provide up to $150,000 per project for improvements to product handling and processing equipment. It will also cover… Read More
The federal government has announced further updates on how the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) will work, including the option for businesses to open a business account in order to qualify. Announced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic economic shutdown, CEBA is an interest-free $40,000 operating loan. If you repay 75 percent of the… Read More
The Manitoba and federal governments have hammered out the details of the province’s cattle set-aside program funding delivered through AgriRecovery. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic economic shutdown and temporary processing plant closures, the federal government announced in early May that it would providing up to $50 million for livestock set-aside programs. Normally, a… Read More
The Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) board of directors has announced that Darryl Kay will sit as the new chief executive officer, effective immediately. Previously, Kay held the role of chief financial and innovation officer and has been with AFSC for almost 10 years. He also served as interim CEO in 2017 — during which… Read More