February 1, 2021, four seed industry groups amalgamated to form Seeds Canada with the vision to become the leading voice of the Canadian seed sector, helping members succeed and grow in Canada, and around the world. RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney was recently joined by Seeds Canada’s Barry Senft, executive director, and Ellen Sparry, the group’s inaugural… Read More
Tag: Barry Senft
On this Wednesday edition of RealAg Radio, guest host Kelvin Heppner has a stellar line-up of guests. You’ll hear from: Erin Gowriluk of Grain Growers of Canada, discussing the federal government’s grain dryer program and the launch of consultations on the next ag policy framework; Barry Senft, new executive director and president of Seeds Canada,… Read More
Longtime CEO of the Grain Farmers of Ontario Barry Senft has accepted the position of executive director of Seeds Canada. Senft will join Seeds Canada June 1. “We look forward to welcoming Barry to our organization. His national experience in the grain sector, understanding of agriculture issues and extensive experience in strategic development and leadership will be an asset,”… Read More
Eight days later, the CN Rail strike is over. RealAg Radio host, Shaun Haney takes a little credit for the agreement reached between the two parties as he planned today’s show all-around diving in deeper to how the CN strike is impacting producers across Canada. Tuesday’s show still surrounds the strike, but more so on what… Read More
In just a few days, Ontario’s corn harvest ground to a halt. Not because of Mother Nature’s wrath this time, but because of an abrupt end of the supply of propane that fuels dryers to dry the corn to a safe level. Barry Senft, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario, says that the rail strike… Read More
When the corn, soybean, and wheat growers of Ontario chose to join forces over a decade ago, they named a Westerner, Barry Senft, as their CEO. Since then, Senft has led the newly-formed Grain Farmers of Ontario through collaboration, the addition of two other commodity groups, restrictive regulations, and a big push for public outreach…. Read More
Having served as CEO for Grain Farmers of Ontario for more than 10 years, Barry Senft has announced it’s time to step down from the role. Senft will end his time as CEO in April of 2020. Senft took leadership of Grain Farmers of Ontario in 2009 just before the organization launched as an amalgamation… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) has requested financial support for its members from the government due to trade disruption between North America and China. The U.S. trade battle with China has created a concerning scenario for Canadian prices and market access. Last week, the United States unveiled plans to provide U.S. growers with financial support… Read More
The Grain Farmers of Ontario are creating a tool to forecast the risk of high concentrations of deoxynivalenol (DON) in corn crops. The project is being funded by the governments of Canada and Ontario through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. The tool will be designed to help farmers make early, informed decisions about corn crop risks… Read More
The Ontario and federal governments have announced steps to help farmers experiencing revenue loss because of high levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) in their corn crops. While the largest portion of Ontario’s corn crop remains unaffected, the government partners say this support will help ease the impact for effected farmers. It will also assist the entire grain… Read More
While corn yields are quite good across much of Ontario, the level of DON — a mycotoxin produced by gibberella infection — in some of the tonnage coming off fields is just too high to easily market the grain. There’s been much frustration over testing procedures at the elevator, questions on crop insurance, and conflicting… Read More
“Brutal” is just one word being used to describe some of the corn coming off in Ontario. While yields are good, a perfect storm of disease-inducing conditions at and following pollination has left a chunk of the 2018 corn crop riddled with myctoxins, most notably vomitoxin. “There is still lots of good corn in Ontario,”… Read More
The future of any neonicotinoid product being registered for use in Canada is very uncertain, as Health Canada is currently proposing a ban or near ban on all uses of clothianidin, thiamethoxam, and imidacloprid. That said, Ontario’s main farmer organization, Grain Farmers of Ontario, is calling for its province to scrap its provincial restrictios of neonics, and… Read More
Whether the government brings forward small business tax change legislation, the U.S. closes the border to Canadian cattle, or a bill (i.e. C-49) ends up locked in the Senate and going nowhere fast, our industry associations and member-based organizations lobby for change on behalf of farmers. According to Wikipedia, lobbying is defined as: the act of attempting… Read More
The demand side of the Ontario corn balance sheet is poised to grow with the provincial government proposing to double its ethanol mandate for gasoline from five percent to 10 percent by 2020. “We currently have the five percent mandate in place and it takes at least about a third of the corn production in… Read More