No matter how you slice it, Ontario’s Ford government took liberties with the rules when it decided to re-draw the boundaries of Toronto’s Greenbelt. (You can read the auditor general’s report about how many liberties, here). A staunch supporter of farmland preservation, Peggy Brekveld, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, says that there’s no doubt… Read More
Category: Farm Management
Urban sprawl is a real threat to farmland long-term in many areas of Canada and the U.S., but our attitude about developing farmland is littered with hypocrisy. As I see it, farmers are in the land business as much as the food production business and that is the reality we tend not to discuss openly…. Read More
A three-year pilot program will begin this September to help reduce the administrative burden of accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program. The Recognized Employer Program (REP) will first be made available to agricultural workers this September before a wider rollout in January 2024. The program will be available to those companies who regularly access… Read More
The Dairy Herdsperson Apprenticeship (DHA) program at the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus will be available through virtual delivery to reach more students interested in a professional herdsperson careers. In a partnership with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO), Ridgetown Campus will use $300,000 of government funding to develop virtual learning modules and increase program… Read More
Greg and Sara Stamp, of Stamp Seeds and Stamp Farms from Enchant Alta., were named Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2023 at an event held in conjunction with Olds College AgSmart Expo. Greg and Sara Stamp, along with Greg’s two brothers Nathan and Matthew and parents Richard and Marian, operate Stamp Seeds and Stamp Farms… Read More
Rail conductors, port workers, government staff, and even grocery store employees either are in the midst of a strike or have been on strike, sometimes more than once, in the last few years. Work stoppages are on the rise in several industries, but there’s more friction than just between employee and employer: disagreements and rifts… Read More
Many times on the Mind Your Farm Business podcast we focus on one issue or topic, as if challenges run independent of each other. On this episode, host Shaun Haney throws that all out the window, and attempts to cover a cloud of issues in farm management. There are many issues impacting the farmers and… Read More
The Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) welcomes Kyle Larkin as its new executive director. Larkin will assume the post from interim ED, Tyler Bjornson. Prior to joining the GGC, Larkin served as vice-president at Impact Public Affairs, a national public affairs firm. Prior to this, he held key positions in various offices on Parliament Hill,… Read More
Ontario farmers can access a piece of $68 million in funding through three new programs under the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative (OASI) Funded through the joint federal-provincial Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP), the initiative includes: Resilient Agricultural Landscape Program (RALP) — a $56.7 million, five-year program that will make funds available to eligible farmers to… Read More
If you picture someone born without arms and legs, chances are you go straight to thinking about the physical challenges. There’s no doubt that Chris Koch, a farmer from Nanton, Alta., has faced physical challenges, but that hasn’t stopped him from chasing his dreams and becoming a farmer. Koch says there have been times when… Read More
Many of you run family farm businesses filled with the opportunities, challenges and satisfaction that comes with it. As businesses transition from one generation to the next, the incoming generation is faced with many internal and external expectations to be like or even better than the last generation. This is true on the farm and… Read More
Dreams need deadlines or they remain just that — dreams. Put another way, a goal without a deadline is just a dream. What’s one way to turn a goal or dream into reality? Writing it down. We broached the subject of written goals in Episode 81 of the Mind Your Farm Business Podcast. In it,… Read More
Agriculture has long struggled to attract and retain enough people at nearly every stage of the industry; from general labour, to skilled operators, to farm management, and in the c-suite. In certain geographies, local job markets have made things even more difficult, as higher paying jobs pulled people away from the farm. But now, just… Read More
On Monday, Canada completed the first step towards adopting and implementing sustainability financial disclosure standards for many industries, including agriculture. The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) says it achieved quorum with the appointment of four new members, putting the board in “decision-making mode” now that the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) has released its initial… Read More
Ontario dairy farmer and producer group leader Peggy Brekveld has been acclaimed as chair of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC). Brekveld also serves as president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. She replaces Paul Glenn, representing the Canadian Young Farmers Forum, who completed his 2021 to 2023 term as of June 20, 2023…. Read More