Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Event Details

Forage Focus 2019

Time: December 5, 2019 from 10am to 3pm
Location: Stratford Rotary Complex - Hall 1
Street: 353 McCarthy Road
City/Town: Stratford
Website or Map: http://www.ontarioforagecounc…
Phone: 877-892-8663
Event Type: conference
Organized By: Ontario Forage Council
Latest Activity: Oct 22, 2019

Export to Outlook or iCal (.ics)

Event Description

Online registration for all locations: https://events.eventzilla.net/e/forage-focus-2019-2138758373 or call 1-877-892-8663

The Ontario Forage Council is proud to announce our upcoming annual Forage Focus Conference 2019.  Again, this year this conference will be held in Stratford, at the Stratford Rotary Complex on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

Forage Focus will be live streamed to a number of remote locations in the northern and eastern parts of the province including Cochrane, Emo, Earlton, Verner, Lindsay, and Embrun. Those interested in hosting a remote location can find details on the OFC website: http://www.ontarioforagecouncil.com/programs/forage-focus, or contact Patricia at 877-892-8663.

The program begins with registration and trade show, from 9 - 10 am, and speakers until 3:00pm.  Presentations are CEU accredited.  The cost of this years’ conference is $50 and includes conference proceedings and a hot lunch.

The keynote speaker at Forage Focus 2019 will be Joe Lawrence.  Joe serves as Dairy Forage Systems Specialist with the Cornell PRO-DAIRY team. He has been involved in the northeast dairy industry his entire life, growing up on a farm in Northern NY and working as an Extension Educator and private sector Crop Advisor prior to his current role. His work has a strong focus on a whole farm approach to forage management.

Additional speakers will include; Christine O’Reilly and Alex Barrie from OMAFRA, an award-winning forage producer (TBA), and more!

Books of 10 tickets are available to treat customers, or staff.  Registration deadline is December 3, 2019.  Registrations will be accepted at the door but may not include the hot lunch.  Registration is available by phone, or mail.  Visa and Mastercard accepted by phone.  Please make cheques payable to the Ontario Forage Council.

Tradeshow and sponsorship opportunities are still available for both days of this conference.  Spaces will fill quickly, so don’t hesitate.  Forage Focus is an excellent opportunity to advertise your business to your target audience! 

For more information on sponsorship/tradeshow opportunities, visit www.ontarioforagecouncil.com/programs/forage-focus

Confirmed Remote Locations (more to be announced): 

North

Green Tractors - 271429 Poupore Rd, Earlton, ON

Upstairs in the MNRF building, 2 Hwy 11 South, Cochrane, ON

Sudbury East, Nipissing West Soil & Crop Improvement Association, Verner, ON

6444 Highway 11 West, Emo, ON

East

Emburn Co-op, 926 Notre-Dame St., Embrun, ON

Lindsay OMAFRA Office, 322 Kent St., Lindsay, ON

Comment Wall

Comment

RSVP for Forage Focus 2019 to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Attending (1)

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

Steady Ontario Planting Progress

Ontario producers continued to make steady planting progress over the past week, although intermittent rainfall and uneven field conditions are still creating a patchwork of advancement across the province. Corn planting reached 86% complete as of Wednesday, according to Grain Farmers of Ontario’s weekly field observations report on Thursday. That is up from 74% a week earlier. Progress varies widely by region, with some areas wrapping up seeding while others remain delayed due to rainfall differences, heavier soils, and lingering wet field conditions. Corn development remains in its early stages, ranging from emergence to the two-leaf stage, but warm temperatures forecast this week are expected to support rapid crop growth. As planting windows narrow, some producers are beginning to shift intended corn acres into soybeans, the report said. Soybean planting also accelerated during the week, reaching 61% complete compared to 39% previously. However, heavy-clay regions remain behin

Canadian Farm Debt Rises in 2025, but at Slower Pace

Canadian farm debt continued to increase in 2025, although at a slower pace. A Statistics Canada farm income report released earlier this week pegged total nationwide farm debt at the end of last year at $179.1 billion. That is still a 7.5% increase from the previous year but well down from the 14.1% increase in debt that farmers took on in 2024 compared to 2023. Meanwhile, StatsCan data shows farm interest expenses reached $9.19 billion in 2025, up $90.99 million from $9.1 billion in 2024, representing a modest year-over-year increase of about 1%. The increase in 2025 interest expenses followed a much steeper jump in 2024, when annual farm interest expenses surged by roughly $2.02 billion to $9.1 billion — an increase of 28.6%. That sharp rise in 2024 interest expenses reflected the impact of higher interest rates across the economy, which significantly increased borrowing costs for producers at a time when many farms were already facing elevated expenses for inputs, machinery,

Chicago Close: Weaker into Weekend as Crude Falls

Losses in crude oil weighed on crop futures Friday, as easing geopolitical tensions and improving crop prospects combined to pressured into the weekend. Wheat led the declines as traders removed weather and geopolitical risk premium from the market. Benchmark Chicago wheat fell for the sixth time in seven sessions amid improving weather conditions across key production regions. Losses in crude oil, due to growing expectations the U.S. and Iran could move closer to a peace agreement, added to the downside. July Chicago dropped 13 ½ cents to $6.10 ½, and July Kansas City dropped 15 ½ cents to $6.49 ¾. July Hard Red Spring tumbled 36 ½ cents to $6.72 ¼, and July Minneapolis lost 13 ½ cents to $6.63 ¾. Corn futures also moved lower as traders reduced risk exposure ahead of the weekend. Export demand offered limited support, with USDA reporting 1.015 million tonnes of old-crop export sales for 2025-26, near the lower end of expectations and down sharply from the previous week. However,

At Olds College Smart Farm, everything is new

If you take Alberta’s Highway 2 south from Edmonton toward Calgary, the landscape is pure prairie. The highway bisects fields that unfold endlessly toward a horizon that most evenings is a pastel blend of mauve and sherbet orange. There’s little else along this stretch of rural paradise, save for rest stops and the occasional lonely highway casino, their parking lots full of F-150s. Driving this route between Alberta’s major cities can become so routine that the only way to tell you’re actually moving is to count the passing farms that dot the landscape. One of those farms is distinctly not like the others. Just 45 minutes shy of Red Deer, in Olds, Alta., sits the Olds College Smart Farm. The 3,300 acres on which this part of a century-old post-secondary institution sits look like most other farms in the area. The fields rotate with the seasons between green, canola yellow, and gold. Its herd of purebred Red Angus cattle and flocks of sheep graze leisurely in the feedlot. But l

Lamb 'too costly' for some Muslims in Manitoba ahead of Eid al-Adha celebrations

A halal grocery store owner in Winnipeg says the rising cost of lamb has made it difficult for some Muslims to buy the animal or meat ahead of Eid al-Adha on Wednesday. The Festival of Sacrifice is an Islamic holiday that celebrates the prophet Ibrahim's obedience and loyalty to Allah, reminding Muslims of community and to practise gratitude and selflessness. On this day, it's traditional to have a lamb slaughtered — a practice known as Qurbani — and share its meat with family, friends and those in need. Khaldoun Majani said the price of lamb has nearly doubled to $28.50 per kilogram at his store since he started running Alsham Food Market in Winnipeg more than a decade ago. A lot of people want to buy lamb for Eid al-Adha, "but at the same time, they feel like it's out of budget," he said. "That makes it [a] little bit hard for some people." The Manitoba Islamic Association expects some community members, especially newcomers, to find alternatives to slaughtering a lamb themselv

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service