Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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: 171

Replies to This Discussion

Here are the needs I think most young farmers have that if a program could help address them, we would see more young farmers...

1. Access to capital - hard to get started in such a capital intensive industry.
2. Training and support - access to others to help solve problems.
3. Revenue - Market price stability - it is difficult to build equity when profitability is so difficult...

Is there anything else that would help?

RSS

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

Farm Credit Canada Releases 2026 Hog Outlook

Farm Credit Canada is forecasting a profitable year for the pork sector, similar to last year.

Ag in the House: Feb. 2 – 6

An MP wanted answers about a proposed rail line and how it could affect farmers

Making Soybeans Great Again! And A Fools Gold?

Markets moved sharply during the week of February 2 to 6 as soybeans rallied on trade news while energy, livestock and equities strengthened and metals and cryptocurrencies weakened.

Food Freedom Day 2026 - What Canada’s Grocery Costs Really Tell Us

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says Canadians reached Food Freedom Day on February 8, 2026 the point at which the average household has earned enough income to pay for a full year of groceries.

USDA Official Calls California’s Prop 12 a Threat to a Unified U.S. Pork Market

A senior USDA official has renewed strong criticism of California’s Proposition 12, calling the state’s animal housing and product sale standards a form of domestic trade protectionism that could disrupt the national pork market and raise costs for producers and consumers. At a recent agriculture policy event, the deputy secretary of agriculture described laws like Prop 12 as creating de-facto trade barriers within the United States. Under the complaint, when a single state sets production standards that apply not just to products sold from within the state but to all products entering its borders, it can place producers in other regions at a competitive disadvantage. Prop 12, first approved by California voters in 2018, sets minimum space requirements for certain livestock and prohibits the sale of pork and other animal products in California that do not meet those standards. Because California represents a large share of U.S. pork consumption but only a small share of production, t

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service