Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

What Was The Ontario Agriculture Top News Story Of The Year? Any suggestions?

In 2010 What Ontario Agriculture Top News Story was the biggest and most impactful in the province?

 

Here are some of my thoughts?

 

Tremendous Financial Challenges Faced By the Pork and Beef Producers in Ontario.

 

Excellent Crop Production Year in Ontario - Yields and Strong Prices.

 

The New Role and Restructuring of Ontario Pork.

 

Ontario Land Prices Continue to Increase.

 

 

 

These are some of my thoughts looking back, what other topics do you have?

 

Thanks and Happy New Year,

 

Joe Dales

Farms.com

joe.dales@farms.com

877 438-5729 x5013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Views: 766

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Twynstra on January 4, 2011 at 6:18am

I would suggest that one of the most interesting stories of 2010 was how many Ontario producers continued to shun basic  and fundamental business principles.  Examples include wilfully selling into local markets that were clearly uncompetitive to our major trading and global competitors, buying or renting land at P/E ratios that are well north of "bubble" territory, and continuing to operate as if they can borrow their way to prosperity judging by the latest StatsCan reports.  Will be of further interest to see how all sectors of the industry react when we return to below COP returns within the next 12 - 18 months as many pundits are suggesting.

Just my 2cents.

Permalink Reply by John Schwartzentruber on January 4, 2011 at 12:50pm
Government interventions have historically had a way of insulating producers from the realities of market forces that conflict with personal choices. So your thoughts are interesting, Steve, but no new story here! Remember the infamous Farm Debt Review Board of the 80's?
Permalink Reply by Joann on January 4, 2011 at 3:11pm

Albert Einstein is quoted to saying "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".

 

Then by all means, I would suggest you are both righ. 

 

Our government has managed to further erode farmers' rights in Ontario but have not released our obligations to the public.   ......in other words..... our provincial government is incapable of solving our agricultural problems as they are the very people that lead us to this point.

 

Woe is us.

 

John Schwartzentruber said:

Government interventions have historically had a way of insulating producers from the realities of market forces that conflict with personal choices. So your thoughts are interesting, Steve, but no new story here! Remember the infamous Farm Debt Review Board of the 80's?
Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on January 6, 2011 at 3:22am

Hi Steve, John and Joann

Good thoughts...what does the future hold...what should we do....

 

One of my New Year's Resolution is to keep improving our business fundamentals and not make too many expensive mistakes....

 

I like to follow something that I heard a keynote speaker say called the Ant Philosophy.

 

Think Winter, All Summer   (Prepare when times are good)

and

Think Summer, All Winter   (Be Optimist when times are tough)

 

Take care and see you soon,

 

Joe Dales

 

Permalink Reply by Joann on January 6, 2011 at 10:51am

I lean towards Dr. Spencer Johnson's thoughts in "Who Moved my Cheese".

 

and I truly believe the farmers' cheese is about to be moved in a big way in Ontario.

 

take care

 

joann

 

OntAG Admin said:

Hi Steve, John and Joann

Good thoughts...what does the future hold...what should we do....

 

One of my New Year's Resolution is to keep improving our business fundamentals and not make too many expensive mistakes....

 

I like to follow something that I heard a keynote speaker say called the Ant Philosophy.

 

Think Winter, All Summer   (Prepare when times are good)

and

Think Summer, All Winter   (Be Optimist when times are tough)

 

Take care and see you soon,

 

Joe Dales

 

Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on January 6, 2011 at 4:11pm
I think the story could be the large swings in commodity prices....in June the experts were warning about $2.50/bu corn and now they are talking about $7 corn...Crazy markets is my vote.
Permalink Reply by John Beardsley on January 7, 2011 at 9:33am
i agree with you joe that crop price and yeild is the story. never have we been in the news more and because food prices never came down after the wheat spike in 2007-2008 we don't have all the noise about ethanol being bad for society.Never in my life in agriculture have i seen good yeilds and good prices in all main commodities of corn soys canola and wheat. pork buy out program allowed many to get out with dignity and equity intact. and teeth in not being able to refill barns for three years will allow even the pork industry to recover
Permalink Reply by Joe Dales on January 7, 2011 at 10:56am

Thanks John,

I heard the crops did well up there.

What kind of yields on corn and soy?

Talk to you soon.

Joe

Permalink Reply by bert on January 9, 2011 at 5:00am

You must have memorized all 180 sayings

 

Joann said:

Albert Einstein is quoted to saying "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".

 

Then by all means, I would suggest you are both righ. 

 

Our government has managed to further erode farmers' rights in Ontario but have not released our obligations to the public.   ......in other words..... our provincial government is incapable of solving our agricultural problems as they are the very people that lead us to this point.

 

Woe is us.

 

John Schwartzentruber said:

Government interventions have historically had a way of insulating producers from the realities of market forces that conflict with personal choices. So your thoughts are interesting, Steve, but no new story here! Remember the infamous Farm Debt Review Board of the 80's?
Permalink Reply by Joann on January 9, 2011 at 11:11am

No.

 

I just happen to like people such as Einstein and especially Hawking.

 

 

 

bert said:

You must have memorized all 180 sayings

 

Joann said:

Albert Einstein is quoted to saying "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".

 

Then by all means, I would suggest you are both righ. 

 

Our government has managed to further erode farmers' rights in Ontario but have not released our obligations to the public.   ......in other words..... our provincial government is incapable of solving our agricultural problems as they are the very people that lead us to this point.

 

Woe is us.

 

John Schwartzentruber said:

Government interventions have historically had a way of insulating producers from the realities of market forces that conflict with personal choices. So your thoughts are interesting, Steve, but no new story here! Remember the infamous Farm Debt Review Board of the 80's?
Permalink Reply by Bristow on January 10, 2011 at 1:41pm
I would say Carbon tax mark two, this time by the proviencal means, as a poss to fedral acts.  The rock spiders are planning it already. 
Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on January 15, 2011 at 3:09am

Steve, I think the wild land prices and rents will be the story in 2011 with these crop prices and everyone tripping over themselves to get a bigger piece of the gold rush...

 

 

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

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

Maizex Seeds Breaks Ground on $8.8 Million State-of-the-Art Seed Corn Facility in Blenheim

Maizex Seeds has announced an $8.8 million investment in a new seed corn processing and packaging facility at its Blenheim, Ontario.

Pulse Market Insight #288

Crop Prospects for 2026 This seems to be the time of year when there’s a flood of reports looking back at the past year or gazing ahead to the new year. While looking backward allows a person to gauge their grain marketing performance, hindsight generally doesn’t provide much help for making decisions about the upcoming year. In fact, every marketing year is different. Making next year’s decisions based on last year’s successes or failures can be counterproductive. After all, acreage will shift and while there are always hopes for big yields, the odds of record output happening again in 2026 are very unlikely. In addition, global trade will also change (hopefully for the better) and affect next year’s market prospects. This is also the time of year when we start thinking about farmers’ planting decisions for next spring. There are many factors going into those decisions, especially crop rotation considerations, but prices and profitability are also important. Typically, we use basic

Tariffs, policy changes and a record crop: APAS reflects on 2025

The President of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) described 2025 as a busy one with no shortage of challenges and some good news sprinkled in. Bill Prybylski did a year-end interview with Ryan Young, host of SaskAgToday and Ag News Director of 620 CKRM. You can find the full interview on SaskAgToday.com under the unfiltered section.   Prybylski said tariffs from the United States, China, and India - three of Canada's major trading partners - was the number one issue for APAS in terms of resources used to understand the impact on farmers and lobbying efforts.   Currently, China has tariffs on Canadian canola oil, seed, meal, yellow peas, seafood and pork. The U.S. currently has tariffs on Canadian lumber, upholstered wood products, and any product non-compliant with the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). India has an import duty on yellow peas from all countries, including Canada. Canada has counter-tariffs on American steel, aluminium, and aut

Year-End Ag and Energy Markets Face Broad Commodity Pressure

Weekly market data for late 2025 shows year-end liquidation and global supply gluts pressuring soybeans, wheat, and crude oil, while gold reaches record highs.

China might start importing corn and wheat

What happens with the wheat market going forward largely depends on China, says an analyst. Canadian farmers harvested a record 40 million tonnes of wheat in 2025, including 29.3 million tonnes of spring wheat. The good news is that exports have been surpassing last year’s record pace so far in 2025-26. Chuck Penner, analyst with LeftField Commodity Research, thinks exports could hit a record 24 million tonnes, although it is still early days. The problem with this year’s wheat market is that there was record production by the top seven exporters. Minneapolis wheat futures have been relatively flat despite the global glut of the commodity, indicating that something is going on with the demand side of the ledger. Penner said China has not been getting enough attention. There are reports of significant quality losses with China’s corn and spring wheat crops. China’s farmers just finished harvest, and corn and wheat prices are already starting to rebound, suggesting that domestic s

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service