Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Canadian Government Looking For Input From Young Farmers...Comment Here.

Young Farmers - Lend Your Voice to the Future of Agriculture!

CFBMC News Release

Earlier this week, the Minister's office announced the honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn is seeking input from across Canada on the key challenges and issues facing young and future farmers.

CFBMC would like to give you, its partners, an opportunity to contribute your ideas.
- What should be done to assist new and upcoming producers?
- How can the federal government (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada) help new and young farmers start their business and capture more opportunities to grow and diversify their businesses?

Your suggestions, recommendations and comments will be compiled and incorporated into a briefing note, which we will present to Minister Blackburn on behalf of ourselves (CFBMC) and our partners.

Your responses can be emailed to info@cfbmc.com. Please include 'Blackburn' in the subject line.

We also encourage you to share your demographic information - Are you a...young/beginning farmer, established producer, consultant? What region of the country do you reside in?

The official Press Release regarding Blackburn's initiative is below.



MINISTER BLACKBURN TO DISCUSS ISSUES FACING YOUNG FARMERS


OTTAWA, Ontario, November 9, 2009 - Farmers, agriculture students and academics from across the country will get an opportunity to discuss the key challenges facing young farmers and the future of agriculture through roundtable discussions with Minister of National Revenue and Minister of State (Agriculture) Jean-Pierre Blackburn over the next few weeks.

"I believe Canada's young and future farmers have a unique perspective on the issues facing the agriculture industry," said Minister Blackburn. "These dialogues will be valuable in helping to bring their voices to the forefront and ensure their ideas are put into action."

The roundtables will focus on identifying key issues for young people who want to farm and on charting solutions that will help new and young farmers start their business, capture more opportunities to grow and diversify their businesses.

"We want to be sure that the programs we deliver hit the target for Canada's young farmers," said Minister Blackburn. "These roundtables will allow us to exchange with the experts themselves and ensure their ideas are given due importance in the elaboration of future policies."

This week and next, Minister Blackburn is holding roundtable meetings with farmers, agriculture students and academics in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia as part of an ongoing commitment to get input directly from farmers when developing agricultural policies.

Views: 488

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joe Dales on November 30, 2009 at 8:08am
Thanks everyone for participating and sharing some of your feedback.
I am going to forward this link on to the CFBMC team for them to review for their submission.

Please if you have some additional feedback for the Minister....post it up here for them to see.

Thanks,

Joe Dales

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

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

Crop Report for The Period June 16 to 22, 2026

Seeding in Saskatchewan is nearly finished with 99 per cent completed. Attention has shifted to in season activities, including haying operations, herbicide applications and monitoring for pests and diseases. Over the past week, most regions in the province received significant rainfall. While these rains were welcomed in some areas, excessive precipitation in others has led to saturated fields. Combined with periodic high winds, these conditions have delayed in-crop spraying operations in several regions. The Foam Lake area recorded the highest rainfall at 110 millimetres (mm), followed by Hillsborough with 77 mm. Both Elfros and Lacadena reported 68 mm of rainfall. Rainfall significantly increased topsoil moisture, with surplus conditions increasing in most areas. Cropland topsoil moisture is: 20 per cent surplus;   77 per cent adequate; and Three per cent short. Hayland topsoil moisture is: 15 per cent surplus; 77 per cent adequate;   Seven per cent short; and   One per cent v

BCRC and CCA Statement on Funding for Federal Scientists at University of Guelph

The Beef Cattle Research Council and Canadian Cattle Association are pleased with the recent announcement that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) will fund the salaries of Dr. Óscar López-Campos and Dr. Nuria Prieto at the University of Guelph for a two-year period. This funding will help reinvigorate the University’s meat science program, maintain ongoing industry research and provide valuable training opportunities for students and future beef researchers. This was one of the key requests made by the CCA and BCRC when the AAFC cuts were announced in late January, and we acknowledge the efforts made by the University, AAFC and Drs. López-Campos and Prieto to achieve this result.  Dr. Óscar López-Campos has led industry efforts to continuously improve beef carcass grading technology, as well as the recent harmonization of the Canadian and U.S. yield grades. He is also well-known and respected for engaging young producers with the importance of carcass merit through annual 4-H cl

Revolutionizing Canada’s food and fermentation sectors with new AI technology

Canada’s ability to create more value from its agricultural resources is taking a significant step forward. Today, Protein Industries Canada announced a new project with Crush Dynamics and Atomic47 Labs to develop a revolutionary AI-enabled fermentation platform that uses existing industrial sensors and advanced machine learning to continuously infer fermentation conditions, food safety indicators, energy performance and process health in real time. By transforming conventional fermentation from a manually managed process into an intelligent, autonomous system, the technology has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption, improve product consistency, increase production efficiency and unlock new value from agricultural byproducts, creating a new model for smart and sustainable food manufacturing. “With support from Protein Industries Canada, one of Canada’s global innovation clusters, Crush Dynamics and its partners will use AI-driven innovation to strengthen Canada’s

USRSB Hosts 2026 General Assembly, Driving Progress in Beef Sustainability Through Science & Stewardship

The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) convened for its 2026 General Assembly Meeting, bringing together stakeholders from across the beef value chain to advance the theme “Science & Stewardship: Driving Progress.” This year’s event welcomed members and non-members alike to Tampa, Florida, and highlighted the power of collaboration and innovation through engaging main stage sessions, interactive breakout discussions, and beef sustainability-focused tours. “More than 145 industry stakeholders joined us this year to explore critical topics ranging from food waste and supply chain innovation to grazingland conversion and water stewardship,” said Samantha Werth, PhD, executive director of the USRSB. “I am proud of the work our membership is pursuing to drive progress across all facets of the beef value chain.” In addition to robust discussions and networking opportunities, which included an evening rooftop reception and option between two pre-meeting Beef Industry Sustai

Family diversifies tricentennial dairy farm

Meet Robbie and Shannon Dygert, 13th-generation dairy farmers of Dygert Farms in Palatine Bridge, New York, an operation that has been in the family for more than 300 years. The original farmstead was deeded to the family in 1723 by the British royal family and has been run as a dairy ever since. Robbie and Shannon took over ownership of the farm in 2009 to steer it into the fourth century of operation. Robbie and Shannon started milking 50 cows in a tie stall barn. Since then, they have gradually expanded the operation to milking 250 cows, housed in two freestalls, and converted the old tiestall barn into a double-eight parallel milking parlor. Looking for ways to diversify the farm, the Dygerts established Dygert Farms Creamery in 2015 with the hope they would one day bottle and sell their own milk. In the early days of the creamery, Robbie and Shannon bought and distributed milk to local businesses and through home delivery, which also allowed them to build their customer base. Th

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service