Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Horticulture Online Community

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Horticulture Online Community

This group is being set up for fruit and vegetable growers and stakeholders to discuss issues and share information.

Location: Ontario
Members: 15
Latest Activity: Nov 28, 2012

Discussion Forum

Peach Research

Here's a neat video on research OMAFRA and the University of Guelph is working on to help make the peach growing season a little longer.…Continue

Tags: research

Started by Andrew Campbell Oct 20, 2009.

Vineland Research: To deliver commercialization opportunities to the horticulture sector: Any Ideas for them?

I wondered what feedback people had on this announcement? Thanks, JoeGOVERNMENTS PARTNER TO BUILD NEW MARKETS FOR HORTICULTURE PRODUCERSAgCanada News ReleaseVINELAND, Ontario, October 16, 2009 –…Continue

Started by Joe Dales Oct 19, 2009.

Peaker Plant in the Holland Marsh & NIMBYism

An individual responded to something on Facebook with respect to the proposed peaker plant for the Holland Marsh and made a connection to NIMBYism. I responded politely to his ignorance, but then I…Continue

Started by Avia Eek Sep 12, 2009.

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Comment by Avia Eek on January 12, 2010 at 5:54am
Last night was a tremendous night for the Farmers of the Holland Marsh, and the citizens of King Township. We are fortunate to have so many astute individuals willing to take up this cause, and do battle with the Ontario government! As one Councillor put it "I never would have thought we would ever have to deal with the building of a power plant in the Holland Marsh"--yah, no kidding! A hydrological study has been done, independently, which does not favour the peaker plant builder's position, and this is very good. Now, as the Township Solicitor pointed out, if the provincial government really wants this project to move ahead--it will, but they can just as easily quash the entire project! The site for this facility is in a floodplain, which goes against the Provincial Policy Statement, and as well, is not "compatible" with the business of farming in this highly productive, specialty crop area. Apparently though, the Ministry of the Environment sees nothing wrong with building a 400MW natural gas-fired power plant, and claims there will be "no negligible affects to the area". I don't know how they have arrived at this particular conclusion, since they also didn't think anything other than the most basic environmental assessment was required (i.e. the same assessment that would be given to a small windmill project). This project flies in the face of so many "protected" area policies, and different pieces of legislation that anyone who is given just the tiniest bit of information about this area is flabbergasted that this was the chosen location! Anyway, our hope of hopes is that this project will be scrapped in its entirety, so that we Holland Marsh Farmers can get on with the business of feeding the people of Ontario!
Comment by Avia Eek on December 7, 2009 at 3:31am
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/12/05/12048366-sun.html This past Friday, December 4/09, Mike Schreiner, Leader of the Green Party of Ontario came to the Holland Marsh and stood with the Farmers opposing the building of the 393 MW peaker plant slated to be built here. It's puzzling you know, the transformer station that was built nearby had to be moved because IT did not conform with the Provincial Policy Statement, and other criteria put in place for this area (it was to be have built on this same parcel of land that the proponent has purchased). It is absolutely astounding that this facility, York Energy Centre was even allowed to get this far. They have no connection point, the property is part of a floodplain (which according to the PPS prohibits any development OR site alteration on a floodway), it's part of the Greenbelt, Protected Countryside, and many other pieces of legislation, so why are we still having to fight this project? Why isn't the government stepping in and protecting this Specialty Crop Area? This facility will not benefit this area at all!
Comment by Avia Eek on November 18, 2009 at 2:26am
So then, what is it that you do? Do you have a farm? What do you grow? Have you ever heard of Fusarium Dry Rot (carrots)? Glad to have you on board. I'm looking forward to more conversations with you.
Comment by THIRUCHELVAM THANARAJ on November 17, 2009 at 5:07pm
I am an academic in the field of horticulture and postharvest technology would like to join this group and share my knowledge and experineces.
Comment by Avia Eek on October 1, 2009 at 1:00am
It's nice to see the hollandmarshgold.com website up. It has lots of interesting information with respect to the Holland Marsh, on-going events, and amazing photos.
Comment by AgOntario on September 30, 2009 at 2:13pm
The HMGA News September 2009 http://www.hollandmarshgold.com/members
 

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

The Most Wanted Wheat Seed Across the Prairies — AAC WALSH

PART ONE The sign was up before anyone knew who put it there. No name. No description. Just a dark silhouette nailed to the side of the grain elevator, paper already curling at the edges where the prairie wind worried it loose. MOST WANTED. That was all it said. In a town like this, that was enough. People here understood value. They understood timing. They noticed things that arrived quietly and stayed put. By midmorning, more than a few sets of eyes had found their way to the elevator wall, lingered longer than necessary, then moved on without comment. At the café, steam rose off coffee cups and hung in the air like unfinished sentences. “Yield and protein like that,” someone said eventually, not looking up, “oughta be outlawed.” It was meant as a joke. It didn’t land like one. No one asked who that was. Nobody needed to. The phrase carried weight all on its own, passing from table to table, slipping into conversations that paused just long enough to acknowledge it. By the

Canada-China Trade Agreement Boosts Outlook for Canola and Prairie Seed Sheds

Renewed exports may narrow the basis and reduce surplus stocks, but rebuilding grower confidence will take time. Tariffs and economic trends are often discussed in the abstract, but their consequences couldn’t be more concrete for Prairie seed sheds. In recent months, real-world examples have already reared their heads — such as canola multiplications in California facing counter-tariffs — forcing Canada’s seed sector to adapt to a trade environment that can change quickly, even when agreements are reached. The recent trade deal between Canada and China has brought some much-needed relief to the sector, particularly around market access and export movement. But for many farmers and seed companies, the agreement also underscores a hard truth: the impacts of trade disruptions don’t disappear overnight. It is little surprise that global trade ripples affect local decisions: fewer seed options, changing input costs, and constrained access to genetics. “Tariffs create uncertainty in an

Canada Gains Expanded Meat Access in Indonesia

Canada has secured a major expansion of market access for beef and pork exports to Indonesia, marking a significant milestone following the signing of the Canada–Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) last September. 

'Phone in one hand, beer in the other': High-tech automation is giving farmers more time

Anyone visiting Don Badour’s cow-calf operation in the last 18 months will have noticed his cattle sporting some spiffy orange bling around their necks. The bovine baubles aren’t just for looks, however. They’re part of a sophisticated virtual fencing system that helps the Lanark County farmer monitor and track his herd’s movement and wellbeing. Badour is quite pleased with the investment — and so are the cows. “I thought that the cows might be not too happy with them on, but we put them on, they gave their heads one or two shakes, and that's it,” Badour said during a panel discussion at the 2026 Northern Ontario Ag Conference, hosted by the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance in Sudbury Feb. 6-7. “They've come to realize they're there. So we haven't had any trouble with the cows rejecting them.”? ?Made by the New Zealand company Gallagher, the eShepherd neck bands weigh about eight pounds each and are powered by solar-charged batteries. They run on GPS and the system is ope

Trump EPA sued over reapproval of dicamba herbicide as farm and environmental groups warn of renewed crop damage

Farmers and environmental organizations have launched a new legal challenge against the Environmental Protection Agency, arguing its latest approval of the controversial herbicide dicamba ignores court rulings, scientific evidence and the interests of growers harmed by chemical drift. The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court by a coalition that includes the National Family Farm Coalition, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Center for Food Safety and Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network, challenges the EPA’s decision to re-register dicamba for use on genetically engineered soybeans and cotton. The decision marks the latest chapter in a years-long dispute over dicamba, a weedkiller widely used in U.S. agriculture but criticized for its tendency to volatilize and drift, damaging nearby crops, orchards and natural vegetation. “EPA’s re-registration of dicamba flies in the face of a decade of damning evidence, real world farming know-how and sound science, and, oh-by-the-way, t

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