Young Farmers: Provide Input to the Federal Government....

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.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Roadrunner on December 5, 2009 at 11:20am

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

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

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

Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention Names Douglas Darling as President

Douglas Darling, a Niagara-based fruit grower with Sunnydale Farms, has been appointed President of the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Convention, strengthening leadership ahead of the 2027 event.

Straight Hail Insurance 2026

For crop producers, there are few things as devastating as a hailstorm. Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) provides Straight Hail Insurance so you can secure peace of mind in knowing your assets are protected from one of Mother Nature’s most damaging elements. This program: provides protection for spot-loss damage to crops caused by hail, accidental fire and fire caused by lightning Insurance comes into effect at noon on the day following the date of application. What’s new in 2026 For cocktail crops insurable under Straight Hail Insurance, mixed grain is now eligible as a primary crop. This means that cocktail crops with two cereal crops making up the majority of the plant stand, minimum 35 per cent or greater, will now be eligible for insurance.

CAAIN Receives up to $6.25M from AAFC

The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is pleased to announce it has been selected by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) to receive up to $6.25 million in funding. This investment, delivered through the Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) – Research and Innovation Stream, establishes CAAIN as a key accelerator in driving the development of sustainable agricultural solutions. “CAAIN backs technologies that solve real, urgent challenges for Canada’s agri-food sector” said CAAIN CEO, Darrell Petras, P.Ag. “With AAFC’s support, we are launching a dedicated program designed to bridge the gap between innovation and adoption. By providing data-driven validation, we ensure that new tools not only increase productivity and profitability but also provide a measurable path toward a lower-carbon future for Canadian producers.” CAAIN’s upcoming Clean Agtech Validation and Integration Program will help Canadian SMEs and producers move clean agricultural technologie

RDAR Strengthens On-Farm Climate Action Fund Delivery in Alberta to Maximize Producer Participation

Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), one of Alberta’s delivery agents for the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF), is introducing four operational improvements to the OFCAF programme for 2026–2027. The changes are intended to ensure that OFCAF funding reaches producers who are ready to complete the adoption of beneficial management practices (BMPs) on their farms and ranches, and to provide a clear, predictable, and fair process for applicants. For producers: To ensure funding is used efficiently and reaches active projects, the following requirements apply. To be eligible for 2026–2027, projects must be at least $10,000; you must indicate acceptance online within 14 days of project approval, provide a project start date, and submit your reimbursement claim within 60 days of the project completion or your final vendor invoice date. The 2026–2027 OFCAF intake, which opened on April 9, 2026, has attracted exceptional interest from producers. As at the date of this release, RDAR

Water well monitoring made simple

“A Water Well Monitoring Parameters Technical Guideline was developed recently by the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), a collaboration among the Government of Alberta, the Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) and the agricultural industry. It provides guidance on monitoring water wells used for domestic or livestock purposes located near confined feeding operations or manure facilities that require monitoring. The guideline outlines water well monitoring parameters, sampling methods, frequency and how to interpret the results,” says Vince Murray, AOPA engineer with the Alberta government and co-chair of TAG. In Alberta, annual water well sampling is recommended for anyone with a household or farm water well. The NRCB, as the regulator, can make monitoring of these types of wells a requirement at confined feeding operations or manure storage facilities. The frequency of testing will be determined by the NRCB depending on the situation and interpretation of the results. Monitorin

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service