All Blog Posts

The size of the world population is among the most significant changes for the future. There are many challenges, as the media tell us on a daily basis, but there are opportunities. The first and the main of these opportunities is the population increase itself. In the coming four decades, there will be two billion more people to feed. Never before, has humanity seen such a demand increase. This means that farmers and food suppliers do not have to worry about a lack of market opportunities.…

By Nathan Stevens

March 9, 2012

 

Animal welfare is a growing concern for farmers and society. In particular, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) is a topic of growing importance to farmers in Ontario. While there is no doubt that animal welfare issues are a serious concern and must be dealt with properly, the approach in Ontario when it comes to farming needs to…

The "slow" pace of winter months has been keeping me exceedingly busy lately.  Between getting paper work in order for tax time, learning and repairing my new to me grain header, general repairs and maintenance I must find time to work a full time job.  With todays warm weather it was like torture to read the odd tweet about other farmers using the good weather to get equipment ready.  To make maters worse, the plant lost its computer network today, so it was a bit slow at times, those times…

In this webinar from the Alberta Canola Producers Commission (@AlbertaCanola) , Rick Taillieu (@ricktlu) discusses why and how farmers are now using twitter as an important part of their business. This webinar…

By Paul Bootsma

March 2, 2012

 

Our society recognizes that education is an important factor in achieving success in our increasingly complex global economy. The next generation will need more knowledge in order to improve the economy both locally and abroad. The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario agrees with this assessment and has initiated a new program in support of education in…

I'm very excited at the response to the OMAFRA/University of Guelph survey on social media and smartphone use in Ontario agriculture. If you haven't participated, would you take a few minutes this week to answer it?  It can be found at http://www.ipsosresearch.com/omafra/.  We are looking for participation from all parts of Ontario agriculture -- and not just from smartphone or social media users.  If you don't use those…

Its never nice to hear of someone facing problems, but its useful to take advantage of the opportunity to avoid them yourself.  My opinion of OMAFRA is greatly tainted, but I am open minded enough to realize most problems could have been avoided.  

At issue is the loss of the farm tax rebate which holds municipal tax rates to, well, basically the equivalent of where they alway were.  Without the rebate, taxes quadruple.  As it stands today, my issue is only with the 2012 tax year.  So…

By Nathan Stevens

February 24, 2012



The long awaited Drummond Report was released last week. The weighty report calls for a serious change in direction in this province. If implemented, all Ontarians will be impacted, including agriculture and rural Ontario.



The report points out that Ontario is not in a crisis... yet. There are a lot of good things that are being done, but we aren’t facing the reality of being a province in…

It has been a very busy couple of weeks.  Making headway on rebuilding my grain header, want to get that out of the way so I can start on the tractors and tillage equipment.  So although I was beginning to feel like I was making progress, in steps OMAFRA.  My farm doesn't qualify for the farm tax rate.  In the past, my father had recieved an exemption from the FBR system for religious reasons.  Having taken the decision to join the system rather than appose/avoid it, i opened up a can of…

Farm Show Rises Above the Rest with Agricultural Technology, Education and Entertainment

By Western Fair

Spring is only a snowflake away, or is it?  With a more than mild winter, many have been thinking about getting an early start this spring on everything from the backyard to the back forty. Last year’s Farm Show at Western Fair District battled a blizzard and organizers of the 74^th edition are hoping the weather gods are good to them this year…

Thanks to the insistence of my wife, this past week was spent in the luxury of a Caribbean resort in Jamaica.  But credit to a day long excursion to an inland coffee plantation I returned home with more than a tan.  In our high quality of life society it is sometimes easy to overlook that we are the worlds wealthy and the vast majority of people in this world can only dream of the lifestyles Canada's lowest paid get to live.  The farmers I saw didn't get the option to own their land, or even…

by Terry Daynard   www.tdaynard.com

Differences of opinion are always valuable, especially when supported by thorough and objective analysis. This is what one would expect of the George Morris Centre (GMC) which bills itself as Canada’s independent agri-food think tank. The centre has released a series of reports on fuel ethanol in recent years, all highly negative, and all much weightier in opinion than analysis. Unfortunately…

by Owen Roberts, Urban Cowboy 

Agriculture has long wondered how to get the public and other decision makers to pay attention to it — to see it is different, new and exciting.

Well, here’s one approach that as of late has been endorsed a million times: Go back to your roots.

Last week, London-based Farms.com announced that an unassuming video put together last summer by one of its interns, Mackenna Roth, has…

John Clement

February 3, 2012

 

Farm business management groups have been used across Canada over the past few decades but there appears to be a renewed push to broaden their appeal. Although these groups can vary widely from sector-to-sector, most feature a small group of farmers working with a facilitator to compare individual production and financial records against those of peers. In the process, the aim is to grow and develop the management skills of all participants in the…

The weekend was very productive, the work on the new combine is ahead of schedule, finished up a bit of preventative maintenance on some equipment.  All in an attempt to put off the paperwork.  Some things just can't be put off too long without dire consequences.  

Last year I purchased my home farm, or more properly put, I took ownership of a big mortgage.  With the transfer of land, however, MPAC, the municipal property assessment corp, requires new proof that my 100 acres is in…

By Nathan Stevens

January 27, 2012

 

The burden of over-regulation is wearing thin for many farmers in Ontario. Red tape is being sighted as a key constraint for small and medium businesses across Canada. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has made this issue one of their key issues, and published its annual report card on red tape in Canada earlier this month.

 

Perhaps…