For the second consecutive year, Thunder Bay, Ont. dairy farmer Peggy Brekveld will lead the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the province’s largest general farm organization. Brekveld was elected president by OFA’s board of directors after the conclusion of the organization’s annual general meeting on Monday, Nov. 22. Mark Reusser and Drew Spoelstra were re-elected as… Read More
The governments of Canada and Ontario are funding two new multi-year mental health initiatives, specialized to support the agriculture sector. More than $7 million dollars through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership will go towards The Guardians Network, a new program modelled after the Farmer Wellness Program, pioneered by mental health specialist Deborah Vanberkel. The program will… Read More
Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) have both made contributions to the Hay West 2021 initiative to help cover shipping costs to send hay to drought-stricken farmers in the Prairie provinces. The 2021 Hay West initiative, organized by Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), is moving hay from eastern Canada to the… Read More
Bill C-208, which would amend the Income Tax Act for the transfers of small businesses, family farms, or fishing corporations, passed its third reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday, May 12, sending it to the Senate for approval. The private member’s bill, introduced by Manitoba Conservative MP Larry Maguire, would make it more affordable… Read More
The Ontario government is providing $10 million to allow more farmers and agri-food operators to purchase personal protective equipment (PPE), enhance cleaning and disinfection measures, and redesign workstations to better protect workers. Under the new Enhanced Agri-Food Workplace Protection Program (EAWPP), farms and agri-food businesses that hire three or more employees will be eligible for… Read More
Peggy Brekveld has been elected as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)’s 32nd president, and third female president in the organization’s history. Brekveld will also hold the position of OFA’s director-at-large. Brekveld, of Thunder Bay, Ont., operates a dairy farm with her husband and five children, milking around 75 cows. The new president didn’t originally… Read More
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s board of directors has elected Thunder Bay, Ont., dairy farmer Peggy Brekveld as its new president. Brekveld takes over from Keith Currie who has led the general farm organization for the past four years. For the first time in OFA history, the president and executive committee was elected by the… Read More
Ontario Premier Doug Food offered a sincere thank you to the province’s farmers for helping maintain Ontarians’ confidence in their food supply during COVID-19. “You’ve all pulled your weight and then some during this crisis and I appreciate that,” said Ford during his opening remarks as he helped kick off the virtual 2020 Ontario Federation… Read More
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