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
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
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
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
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
Ontario’s minimum wage is set to climb to $15 per hour by 2019 and that could have a significant impact on agriculture in the province. Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Keith Currie says labour intensive sectors such as horticulture and greenhouse operations will likely suffer the greatest impact from the Liberal government’s announcement this week… Read More
We know that housing prices – regardless of whether you buy or rent — are out of sight, especially in Canada’s major cities, and in particular, Toronto, where housing prices have jumped more than 30 per cent in one year. As part of what’s called the Fair Housing Plan, announced Thursday, April 20, Ontario Premier… Read More
Glen Murray is not the favourite son of Ontario’s farming industry. The Ontario Minister of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has made few friends in the Ontario farm sector with his push to restrict use of neonicotinoid seed treatments, dismiss sound science, and impose the will of his urban-dominated government on the province’s farmers. That’s the… Read More
How will the Ontario government’s $7 billion Climate Change Action Plan affect the province’s agriculture industry? Based on the details released this week in the Globe and Mail, the big jolt would likely come in the form of a phase-out of natural gas in the province. Farm leaders have lobbied hard for the gasification of… Read More
Late last month, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture elected members of its new board — including Don McCabe, who farms in Lambton county, as the new president. Shortly after the annual meeting, Real Agriculture’s editor, Lyndsey Smith, caught up with McCabe to talk about opportunities and challenges facing the Ontario farmers as we move into… Read More