Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Farm Org. Funding.

Today's Ontario Farmer had an interesting letter which proposed calculating the funding for farm organizations on a per acre basis. The intent, I suppose, would be to spread the cost according to potential benefit.

The acreage could easily be calculated from the existing Agricorp files.

Views: 78

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dale Ketcheson on December 1, 2009 at 1:15pm
Maybe... if all acres were created equal and all farms were dependent on acreage. They aren't. Should an acre under glass in a greenhouse be counted the same as $800 rough pasture? Should 20,000 broilers on a 5 acre lot be counted the same as a 5 acre pick your own?

Haven't seen it yet, probably won't until the weekend so I'm just guessing on the content of the letter.
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on December 2, 2009 at 2:33pm
You are correct Dale - close enough anyway.
Another question would be - what about the farmers who do not own or crop any land at all? The ones who rent barns to feed cattle or milk livestock? There are so many different types of arrangements for a farm operation today it would not make sense to set the fee based solely on acreage or livestock units because of "assumed benefit".
The arguement a few years ago was: If Large Farmer pays $320 per year and little farmer pays $80 per year - does that mean the Large Farmer gets 4 votes for every vote the little farmer gets? The General Farm Organizations are suppose to represent their members. The membership includes all landowners and farmers who have a Gross Revenue from Farming operations in excess of $7,000 per year ("gross" not "net"). Each member is entitled to one vote.
Permalink Reply by Joann on December 16, 2009 at 4:45pm
the bigger question is.... do we need the present farm organizations? or are they completely stale-dated in today's environment?

if the present farm organizations were disbanded, will farmers be served better or worse?

if one looks around, i believe one will see that there are some very big farm operations that are more effective and efficient as individual lobbyist. ... farm operations are getting bigger and fewer.

is there a new farm lobby-organization on the horizon that will effectively meet the needs of the next generation of farm operations?

Wayne Black said:
You are correct Dale - close enough anyway.
Another question would be - what about the farmers who do not own or crop any land at all? The ones who rent barns to feed cattle or milk livestock? There are so many different types of arrangements for a farm operation today it would not make sense to set the fee based solely on acreage or livestock units because of "assumed benefit".
The arguement a few years ago was: If Large Farmer pays $320 per year and little farmer pays $80 per year - does that mean the Large Farmer gets 4 votes for every vote the little farmer gets? The General Farm Organizations are suppose to represent their members. The membership includes all landowners and farmers who have a Gross Revenue from Farming operations in excess of $7,000 per year ("gross" not "net"). Each member is entitled to one vote.
Permalink Reply by Avia Eek on December 17, 2009 at 5:16am
I have more of a statement to make, since I haven't read the paper yet--will get to that later. Generally, though as far as farm organizations are concerned, a good question would be how does the Farmer benefit from them. I know the Holland Marsh Farmers are, and continue to fight the peaker plant being built in the Holland Marsh, but I don't know that any OFA representative has stepped in and added their voice to this issue which will affect all the people in Ontario. Not to mention the precedent this is setting for prime agricultural land versus the need for energy. Our own local organization, the Holland Marsh Growers' Association is fighting this, but it seems we're on our own! The only benefit I see, right now, with OFA is cheaper taxes.
Permalink Reply by Ken McCormack on January 31, 2010 at 3:47pm
This idea has a lot of merit, particularly for the new Grain Farmers of Ontario. Since most of their members grow corn, wheat and soybeans in rotation on approximately the same acreage it would be a stable funding for them independent of yields and specific crops.

The only real breakdown is for those who grow crops for 'own use'. They would end up paying on acres they plan to feed to livestock. It can be said they still benefit from improvements in the crops, but it would be a harder sell.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Shic Global Disease Monitoring Report Renewed By Board

Since December 2017, more than 80 Global Swine Disease Monitoring Reports have been developed by a team at the University of Minnesota, now led by Dr. Maria Sol Perez Aguirreburualde. Funded by the Swine Health Information Center as part of its mission to identify emerging disease threats, the monthly reports are published in the SHIC newsletter and serve as a frequently accessed resource for the swine industry on the SHIC website. Reports are built with near real-time global surveillance of swine diseases for their content and rely on a network of global collaborators to expand and verify regional information. With renewal, the GSDMR will continue and expand in 2024 with a new online dashboard to display the global distribution of priority swine diseases in near real-time. The GSDMR uses a continually updated procedure of screening to identify and score swine disease related events that may represent a risk for the US swine industry and reports those results on a monthly basis. Both

4 Tips to Improve Sow Longevity Through Employee Training

Sow mortality continues to be a growing problem for U.S. swine producers. With already thin margins on sow farms, the ability to raise a gilt into a healthy third-parity sow is necessary to recoup the costs of her development. “Over the last handful of years, sow mortality has been excessive, but in 2023, it was particularly bad,” says Adam Gutierrez, senior account manager with Pharmgate Animal Health.  The latest MetaFarms reports show sow death loss in 2023 was at an all-time high at 15.3%. That’s up 1% from a year ago – a trend that continues to move in the wrong direction.  The trickiest part of sow mortality is that many factors contribute to it. Thankfully, through employee training, it’s easier to identify early illness and lameness. “Animal husbandry needs to be the No. 1 focus,” Brad Edkberg, business analyst at MetaFarms said in Sow Death Loss Reaches All-Time High in 2023: What Can Producers Do Now? “I think that's probably one of the lowest hanging fruits to improve so

New study highlights sustainability of Ontario fruits and vegetables

A new study shows that over the last two decades, Ontario’s fruit and vegetable growers have been widely adopting a range of practices that support sustainable local food production.

Ag in the House: April 15 – 19

Farmers are asked to fill pantries, but Bill C-234 prevents them from doing so, one Conservative MP told the House

Squeal on Pigs Manitoba Confident Feral Pigs will be Eliminated from Manitoba’s Landscape

The Coordinator of Squeal on Pigs Manitoba is confident the province's feral pig population will ultimately be eliminated.

© 2024   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service