What could Canadian agriculture achieve if it had 123,000 new skilled workers over the next decade? According to RBC Royal Bank, all that new labour would help the sector realize its tremendous economic potential and could contribute an additional $11 billion to Canada’s GDP by 2030, making agriculture more productive than auto manufacturing and aerospace… Read More
Tag: Ontario Federation of Agriculture
This week, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture elected Keith Currie to a fourth term as leader of the general farm organization. Currie has a reputation for building relationships inside and outside the organization and helping change the culture of the farm lobby group. But there’s more work to do. In this interview with RealAgriculture’s Bernard… Read More
Incumbent Keith Currie has been re-elected as president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, currently holding its annual general meeting at Hamilton, Ont. Currie received the nod after an election with challenger and current vice-president of OFA, Peggy Brekveld. Currie has served three, one-year terms as president. In his acceptance speech, Currie said, “You would… Read More
Following the retirement of Neil Currie come the end of August, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has announced its new general manager. Cathy Lennon will take over, bringing a “plethora of experience.” “OFA is grateful to the long-term leadership of retiring general manager Neil Currie,” says Keith Currie, OFA president. “He had led our… Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture and its members are calling on farmers and allies to contact their government representative over the increase in animal rights activists’ activities and the lack of prosecution of charges. There has been a marked increase in activist activity on farms and roadsides in Ontario over the past few months. At… Read More
The Thames River Phosphorus Reduction Collaborative (PRC) collaboration, led by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, is set to evaluate technologies that remove phosphorus which could end up in Lake Erie from agricultural water run-off and drainage water. The project is being made possible through funding from the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). The project will establish a… Read More
Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Keith Currie is hoping 2019 will be a prosperous year for farmers in the province. Earlier this week, the Colingwood, Ont., farmer was acclaimed to his third term as leader of the farm lobby organization. A big part of Currie’s success over past year has been his leadership in drafting… Read More
Ontario’s agriculture minister is asking the province’s corn growers who have high vomitoxin levels in their crop to focus efforts on harvesting their good corn first. Late last week, Minister Ernie Hardeman called together industry stakeholders to look for solutions and creative ideas to help manage escalating mycotoxin levels in the crop that has turned harvest… Read More
The news Ontario’s new government, led by Premier Doug Ford, has announced its plan to expand natural gas access to families and businesses throughout rural and Northern Ontario. Speaking at the 2018 International Plowing Match & Rural Expo this week, Premier Food says he plans to introduce legislation to develop a new natural gas program. If passed,… Read More
Our lives and businesses all depend on not just decent cell service, but also useful Internet speeds. It’s not just our homes and farms that need real Internet — the businesses and services farmers and ranchers depend on require high-speed Internet to stay competitive and relevant, too. Those who live and work in rural areas… Read More
With the Ontario election campaign in full swing, the drive to arm rural-friendly politicians with substance for strategic policies and talking points has received a huge global boost. The international Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has issued a report called Rural 3.0. – A Framework for Rural Development, saying rural regions will play… Read More
Rural Ontario has long been seething at provincial Liberals for a list of problems it lays at their feet. Now, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has added a new villain to the list of those it says should show more love for rural Ontario: that is, urbanites. Prior to the provincial budget being announced,… Read More
While the deficit amount as a percentage of GDP is small, the real number is large. Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government unveiled its 2018 budget which includes a $6.7 billion deficit, with planned deficits for the next six years. Rolling out $20.3 billion in new spending over three years, this pre-election budget is focused on health… Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is building support for its vision of Ontario agriculture and food and it’s banking on a new partnership with other key stakeholders to make politicians take notice. With a provincial election campaign just over three months away, OFA travelled to Queen’s Park last week to ask politicians to spread… Read More
For decades, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has provided pointed advice to provincial politicians seeking to win power in the country’s most populous province. Typically, the provincial farm organization could be counted on to lobby for infrastructure investment and renewed commitment to support stronger risk management and cutting red tape. Those issues are still priorities,… Read More