Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Carol Mitchell - Appointed Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

We picked up the following information from the Ontario Government announcement and the OMAFRA website.


Carol Mitchell - Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Carol Mitchell joins Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Since 2003, Ontario has ensured that farms transferred within a family are exempted from land transfer taxes and has increased efforts to promote locally-grown food. Now, Minister Mitchell will continue the government's efforts to help our farmers build a thriving rural Ontario through our high-tech agriculture and food sectors.


Carol Mitchell was elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 and re-elected in 2007. She first served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture. Subsequently, she served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal. She was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in January 2010.

In her 12 years in municipal government, Carol was on Clinton council and was reeve of Central Huron. She was the first warden of Huron County to serve two terms in more than 100 years. Mitchell was the owner of clothing stores in Clinton and Bayfield. Born and raised in Clinton, she and her husband, Larry, have two children, Gabrielle and Jasmine.

Views: 469

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on January 19, 2010 at 3:47am
Does she have any direct experience in the agriculture sector other than being the Parl Assistant to Leona?
I hope she is a quick study and good Minister...we need it.
Permalink Reply by Tom Murray on January 19, 2010 at 3:55am
She can not possibly be any worse than Leona. Hopefully coming from Huron-Bruce she has a much better understanding of agriculture. We need someone to seriously step up to the plate and vigoursly support and defend agriculture in this province or the US and Quebec will continue to run us over.
Permalink Reply by Wayne Black on January 19, 2010 at 8:53am
Yeah she does. She has a great network of farmers that she routinely talks with being that Agriculture is now the number one industry in her riding. The economic impact of agriculture in 1/2 of her region (Huron) is in excess of $2.6 billion. She is well aware of the impact of agriculture. She also mentioned one day that the Huron-Bruce riding needed one more chicken farmer and she would have the most pig, dairy, chicken, and beef farmers of any other riding. She is aware of these numbers.
The Huron County fed of Ag routinely meets with her every few months on the local issues and neighbours of mine do not hesitate to call her office also.
She could be a great Minister but as long as we have the same bureaucrats behind her, same old - same old.

Roadrunner said:
Does she have any direct experience in the agriculture sector other than being the Parl Assistant to Leona?
I hope she is a quick study and good Minister...we need it.
Permalink Reply by rein minnema on January 19, 2010 at 1:13pm
congratulation Huron /Bruce
congratulation agriculture Ontario

Wayne Black said:
Yeah she does. She has a great network of farmers that she routinely talks with being that Agriculture is now the number one industry in her riding. The economic impact of agriculture in 1/2 of her region (Huron) is in excess of $2.6 billion. She is well aware of the impact of agriculture. She also mentioned one day that the Huron-Bruce riding needed one more chicken farmer and she would have the most pig, dairy, chicken, and beef farmers of any other riding. She is aware of these numbers.
The Huron County fed of Ag routinely meets with her every few months on the local issues and neighbours of mine do not hesitate to call her office also.
She could be a great Minister but as long as we have the same bureaucrats behind her, same old - same old.

Roadrunner said:
Does she have any direct experience in the agriculture sector other than being the Parl Assistant to Leona?
I hope she is a quick study and good Minister...we need it.
Permalink Reply by AgOntario on January 28, 2010 at 4:35am
What advice would you give the new ag minister? What would your priority be???

Check out responses to "What would you do if you were ag minister for a day?" at http://betterfarming.com/online-news/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-...
Permalink Reply by bert on March 21, 2010 at 11:20am
when mc ginty was opposition leader Pat hoy was agriculture critic but wgen liberals became govt party they bypassed hoy put in whats his name as minister then leona dom , hoy know agriculture and could have been good

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

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

$15.1M to Scale Whole-Cut Plant-Based Protein

A $15.1 million investment led by Protein Industries Canada will scale a breakthrough manufacturing platform for whole-cut protein alternatives, strengthening Canada’s food system and creating new value for Canadian-grown crops.

Syngenta Canada names Matt Legg as head of professional solutions

Syngenta Professional Solutions North America and Syngenta Canada have named Matt Legg as head of Syngenta Professional Solutions (SPS), Canada, effective June 1, 2026. In his new role, Legg will lead the Canadian SPS business and be responsible for driving strategy, customer success, and portfolio growth across the Canadian market. "Matt is a customer-focused, solutions-oriented leader with deep technical expertise and a genuine passion for the professional solutions industry," says Dave Ravel, Head, Professional Solutions, North America. "His ability to connect technical knowledge, market insight, and commercial priorities has consistently delivered meaningful value for our customers. Matt's strong industry background and proven leadership make him exceptionally well positioned to guide our Canadian SPS business into its next chapter." Legg brings more than 25 years of experience in the turf industry, including five years of dedicated SPS experience with Syngenta, to this leadershi

Ag Canada Bumps New-Crop Canola Ending Stocks Estimate Higher

Agriculture Canada has raised its 2026-27 canola ending stocks forecast from last month, although the outlook is still tight overall. In updated monthly supply-demand estimates released late Thursday afternoon, new-crop canola ending stocks were pegged at 1.319 million tonnes, up from the April estimate of 1.064 million but still well below the slightly downwardly revised 2025-26 ending stocks of 2.72 million. Even with this month’s increase, projected 2026-27 canola ending stocks would still be the lowest in 10 years, Ag Canada said. The higher new-crop canola ending stocks estimate is due to a 300,000-tonne reduction in this month’s export forecast, which falls to 7.5 million tonnes. The 2026-27 canola crush forecast of 13 million tonnes was left unchanged from April but remains a new record high. In its accompanying commentary, Ag Canada did note that seeding of the 2026 canola crop is off to a slow start in some parts of Western Canada due to cold and wet conditions, but i

Seeding progress made, despite mixed precipitation

Seeding is muddling along as 29 per cent of the provincial crop has been planted so far, according to the latest crop report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. While it's up from 16 per cent last week, it's really behind the five year average of 55 per cent and the ten year average of 52 per cent. Crop Extension Specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture Davidson Ugheoke says farmers in the south made the bulk of progress with the southwest at 55 per cent complete and the southeast at 41 per cent complete. The west-central region is at 30 per cent, the northwest 16 per cent, the east-central at 11 per cent and the northeast is still lagging behind at just three per cent complete. "A couple of my colleagues drove around the province, (and) you could see some action in some places, so by this time next week, I think we should have significant numbers up." said Ugheoke. A weather system last week brought strong winds and mixed precipitation through the province, with som

U.S. flour consumption continues long slump

Flour consumption continues its decades-long slide in the United States, according to a new report. Per capita wheat flour consumption fell to 126.6 pounds in 2025, continuing a trend that started around the turn of the century, according to the Wheat Sector at a Glance report produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. That is well below the 146.4 lb. of wheat flour consumed per person in 2000. That is not great news for Canadian farmers. The U.S. was Canada’s fourth largest wheat market from 2021-25 , accounting for an average of seven per cent of sales. Jane DeMarchi, president of the North American Miller’s Association, said there are several reasons why consumption has tumbled. It began with the widespread adoption of low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkin’s Diet. The rise of the gluten-free movement exacerbated the problem. There was a brief reprieve from the downward trend during COVID-19, when people started eating comfort food at home

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service