It's that big --more than $33 billion annually to Ontario's GDP and sustains more than 700,000 jobs from Ontario agriculture

RIDGETOWN - Ontario's agricultural industry is the single most important economic driver in the province today, says Ted McMeekin.

The newly appointed minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs told a large farm audience here Thursday the industry contributes more than $33 billion annually to Ontario's GDP and sustains more than 700,000 jobs.

McMeekin made his remarks during a brief appearance at the final day of the Southwest Agricultural Conference at Ridgetown campus of the University of Guelph.

He said the province's agri-food industry contributed significantly to the economic recovery during the last recession, and said it continues to lead the way.

"You, Ontario's field crop producers, are the experts in how to make the field crop sector and agri-food industry stronger,'' he said.

McMeekin told his 1,000-member audience he wants to hear from them on ways to improve the industry and the economy.

"We have the most diverse agricultural industry in Canada, producing more than 200 commodities and we have the largest food processing industry in Canada, with more than 3,000 food processing establishments," he said.

The speaker noted that consultations will begin next week on the recently-announced $25 million Southwest Economic Development Fund and urged farmers to participate.

McMeekin described his cabinet position as a "dream job,'' since he comes from an agricultural riding -- Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

He said wheat, corn and soybeans combined, have higher farm cash receipts than any other commodity in Ontario.

"That's significant because it means that when our field crop producers succeed, our agri-food industry prospers and the economy gets stronger,'' he said.

Keynote speaker Michele Payn-Knoper of Indiana emphasized the importance of social media in getting the agricultural message across to consumers.

She said more than 800 million people are on Facebook and 66% of them are beyond college age.

The professional speaker said 300 million people use Twitter today and more than 200 million tweets are sent daily.