Update, June 29: The Senate adjourned until September 21 on Tuesday, leaving Bill C-206 on the Order Paper. It would die there if a federal election is called this summer. The private member’s bill that would remove the federal carbon tax from natural gas and propane used on farms still has a last-minute chance at… Read More
Many Ontario farmers would have heard about Yield Enhancement Networks (YEN) for the first time about two years ago at the Southwest Agricultural Conference. ADAS, an independent provider of agricultural and environmental consultancy services in the U.K., formed the first YEN back in 2012, with the goal of setting up collaboration between industry partners, agronomists, and… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario has launched a 10-part video series aimed at researchers, post-secondary educators, policy makers, and students to gain better foundational knowledge of grain farming in Ontario. The Ontario Grain Farming 101 video series, available on YouTube, covers a wide range of topics including farm business management, technology used by farmers, sustainability initiatives… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) will contribute $200,000 to the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus for its new Crop Research and Innovation Centre. The Crop Research and Innovation Centre will be a key resource for future research innovations in crop production, management, sustainability, and more, says GFO. “Our farmer-members have always recognized the importance of… Read More
A cross-border initiative between the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), Michigan State University, Michigan Wheat Program, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and the University of Guelph will see the creation of a Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) for wheat growers. Announced June 9, the Great Lakes YEN is part… Read More
Good in Every Grain, the public-facing educational campaign from Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), is rolling out a new multi-year, multi-stage campaign to connect Ontarians through food stories. What’s Your Food Story aims to use food in “celebration, tradition, shared experience, healing, and more” to connect everyone in Ontario regardless of age and culture, GFO says…. Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) and Bioenterprise, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to work together to advance Ontario innovation in the agri-food industry. The MOU means the organizations will collaborate on information sharing, finding solutions to critical grain industry problems, and impact assessment and viability analysis of new innovations,… Read More
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the federal government’s right to impose a price on carbon on provinces in a decision announced Thursday morning. The decision passed in a 6-3 ruling. The “price of pollution” is set to increase to $170/tonne by 2030. Agriculture producer groups and politicians opposed to the federal carbon taxation policy… Read More
Everyone has a different motivation to get involved in agricultural policy — sometimes family is an influence, other times it’s the drive to advocate on behalf of a certain commodity. Essex, Ont., farmer Brendan Byrne was elected at the beginning of February to the position of chair for Grain Farmers of Ontario. Before being appointed,… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario has elected its new board chair. Brendan Byrne is the director for District 1 (Essex) and has served on the board since 2015. He farms with his father and family in Essex County. GFO represents Ontario‘s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers. “I’m honoured to be elected the next Chair… Read More
Farmers are getting vocal about the Responsible Grain code of practice, whether it’s in support or dissent. Up until now, those voices have primarily been western Canadian in origin, but the code potentially impacts Ontario and points east, too. Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), recently joined Shaun Haney to help us… Read More
Any optimism over the updated Clean Fuel Standard, set to be revealed Friday, December 18, has been over-shadowed by last week’s environmental plan that includes an upward incline in carbon taxes to 2023. Markus Haerle, chair of the Grain Farmers of Ontario, has many positive things to say about the opportunity for diverting corn into… Read More
Several farm industry groups are voicing their displeasure of the government’s announcement last week to ramp up the carbon tax over the next 10 years. The Grain Farmers of Ontario say they are “infuriated” by the plan and call it a “continued campaign to tax food production for Canadians.” Previously, the federal government had denied… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario has announced it will no longer offer its wheat pool and forward contract marketing programs after the current crop year. The Grain Farmers of Ontario Wheat Pool and Forward Contract programs were created by the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board when there was a single desk marketing system and fewer ways… Read More
The Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) have been joined by two other eastern Canadian grain groups, to put further public pressure on the federal government to make adjustments to the AgriStability business risk management program. The three grain groups have launched an online and radio campaign claiming that Canadian grain farmers are going out of… Read More