Ontario Agriculture

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February 2015 Blog Posts (13)

Day 10: Back to school

Day 10 started with boarding the bus for an hour trip to an Ag School in Venado Tuerto (One Eyed Deer).  The name of the school was Escuela Agricola and it was a private school with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 established in 1968. The school sits on…

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Added by AALP on February 28, 2015 at 12:30pm — No Comments

Day 9: Farm tours and good eats!

Today we headed northwest out of Buenos Aires to the Area of Pergamino... and it wasn’t long before the land opened up into soybean, corn, cattle and horses. It’s safe to say this was a welcome sight for all of us!

Our first stop was at a machinery shed in Cabana El Desafio. This mid-sized farm consists of 1000 ha of soybean, corn, wheat and specialty green peas and…

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Added by AALP on February 26, 2015 at 3:08am — No Comments

Day 8: Arriving in Argentina

On Sunday we ended our time in Chile and Argentina welcomed us. It was also the time to say goodbye to our new Atlantic friends and our wonderful guide Andres and driver Horatio. 

On our way to the airport Kenny Graham, one of our new Atlantic friends, gave a wonderful farewell by commenting about what he learned about each AALPer. It was an extremely thoughtful send…

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Added by AALP on February 24, 2015 at 8:42am — No Comments

Day 7: Making memories (and wine!) at Montgras Estate

We started the day with the anticipation of our last stop of the day - wine tasting at Montgras Estates! Alas we had a few stops before getting to the winery. 

Our first stop was with a visit with a small vegetable and fruit producer. Luis Carrasco Saldana is a forward-thinking farmer who took the initiative three years ago to…

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Added by AALP on February 22, 2015 at 7:06am — No Comments

Day 6: Agricultural tours and a rare rain

Our class started the day with a goal - to make it through six stops and return at the end of the day with all the windows on the bus!

After a short drive…

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Added by AALP on February 21, 2015 at 10:50am — No Comments

Day 5: Getting a taste of the Chilean fruit & vegetable basket

Today's International Study Tour got off to an early start with a visit to Lo Valledor Wholesale Market in Santiago.  Similar to the Ontario Food Terminal, Lo Valledor trades about 90% of the fruits and vegetables in Chile, with daily transactions totalling over $5 million US dollars. The most unique product that is sold is dried seaweed.

We then travelled to the…

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Added by AALP on February 21, 2015 at 10:22am — No Comments

Research event highlights ongoing dairy research

A recent dairy research event at the University of Guelph provided research updates to Dairy Farmers of Ontario board members and staff, as well as local dairy producers and industry partners.

“It is highly important and rewarding to share research results with the end users, such as dairy producers and dairy advisors,” says Dr. Todd Duffield, a professor in the Population Medicine Department at the Ontario Veterinary College. “If our dairy research results are to be adopted…

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Added by Ontario Veterinary College on February 19, 2015 at 4:55am — No Comments

Day 4: A Chilean Education

We started off day four of our International Study Tour learning about the Chilean economy at Scotiabank.  Chile has the fifth largest economy in Latin America and has seen significant growth in their economy over the last 30 years.  The Canadian Dollar and the Chilean Peso react to the world economy in a similar fashion; when one appreciates the other tends to appreciate as…

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Added by AALP on February 18, 2015 at 11:35am — No Comments

Day 3: Visit to the Canadian Embassy and more

Our morning began with a great breakfast at the hotel followed by a speaker from ASOEX which is the Chilean Association of Fruit Exports. As a not for profit organization, they facilitate the export process, stimulate research and innovation and encourage industry training by defending the sectors interests, managing agreements, administration of inspection…

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Added by AALP on February 18, 2015 at 11:21am — No Comments

Day 2: Casablanca Valley in Chile



Today we began our adventure with a visit to a Chilean dairy farm in the Casa Blanca Valley. The farm is home to a 1200 head milking cow herd and the farmer is working to grow the herd to 1800. The farm owner is a retired professor of plant physiology and now manages about 200 employees. 40 of these employees work full-time at the dairy, milking 23 hours…

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Added by AALP on February 17, 2015 at 4:33am — No Comments

Day 1: We made it!

AALP Class 15 and our friends from the Atlantic Agricultural Leadership Program secured the farms at home, wrapped up last minute projects, said goodbye to loved ones and battled vicious winter weather to descend on Terminal 1, excited - and maybe a little nervous - to kick off our grand adventure.

While some caught fitful sleep and others binge…

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Added by AALP on February 17, 2015 at 4:33am — No Comments

And they're off! Class 15's International Study Tour is February 14 to March 1, 2015

Class 15 departs on February 15, 2015 for their International Study Tour themed “Political, Economic and Cultural Comparisons”. The class will be touring Chile and Argentina and will return on March 1, 2015.

Here are some of their destinations:

  • Chile
    • Excursion to vegetable and dairy farms Valparaiso and Pacific Coast
    • Tour of the city of Santiago and visit to the Canadian Embassy
    • Presentations from agricultural organizations including Fundacion…
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Added by AALP on February 12, 2015 at 6:05am — No Comments

Bees Matter Video.

Added by OntAG Admin on February 2, 2015 at 10:09am — No Comments

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

CCGA Selected a Manitoba Top Employer

Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) has been recognized as one of Manitoba’s Top Employers, a competition organized by the editors of Canada’s Top Employers, now celebrating 20 years of exceptional workplaces in the province. Earlier today, the results of the 2026 competition were announced online at Eluta.ca and in a special feature in the Winnipeg Free Press. “Being named one of Manitoba’s Top Employers for 2026 is a proud achievement for CCGA,” says Rick White, President & CEO at CCGA. “This honour reflects the dedication and passion of our amazing team and their commitment to our vision of Helping Farmers Succeed and advancing agriculture within the province and across the country.” To achieve recognition through Manitoba’s Top Employers, CCGA was assessed on eight criteria, including 1) workplace, 2) work atmosphere, 3) benefits, 4) vacation and time off, 5) employee communications, 6) performance management, 7) training and development, and 8) community involvement.

Farmers’ Markets Ontario names new executive director

Farmers’ Markets Ontario (FMO) has announced that Melanie Anderson, Ottawa, will assume the role of executive director, effective April 1, 2026. FMO is the only official provincially recognized organization representing more than180 farmers’ markets across the province.

Farmers again caught in geopolitical crossfire

A week ago, things were looking up for Prairie farmers. Canola prices were rising on news China would follow through on its promise to reduce its 75.9 per cent anti-dumping tariff on canola seed after Canada eased steep tariffs on imported EVs. Those canola tariffs have now dropped to 5.9 per cent, plus the nine per cent standard import tariff already in place. While not zero, tariffs of just under 15 per cent make it possible to restore trade flows and maintain China as Canada’s second-largest canola customer. As well, Canada’s prime minister was in India on another diplomatic defrosting mission with positive implications for agricultural exports. Any time the world’s largest exporter of pulse crops such as peas, lentils and chickpeas can make inroads into the world’s biggest market for those commodities, the sun shines a little brighter. While more sales to India weren’t on the agenda, the talks between Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi still shouted progress.

Pulse Market Insight #293

StatsCan Pulse Acreage Numbers (Mostly) Not Surprising The first official forecasts of 2026 seeded area were recently issued by StatsCan, with some “interesting” estimates for a few crops. For pulse crops though, most of the acreage numbers weren’t really out of line with expectations. It’s important to note that even though StatsCan’s estimates were issued in early March, they were based on a farmer survey that occurred between mid-December and mid-January. Since that survey, there have been sizable market developments that could influence acreage decisions. That said, crop rotations are largely fixed and a portion of the acreage was already decided back in December. But there is still room for some late tweaking around the margins. The most noteworthy event was the announcement by the Chinese government to scale back or eliminate import tariffs on canola seed, canola meal and peas, which injected more optimism into those markets. This development added some support for prices whic

Mustard Breakthrough Brings Yield Gains — But GM Concerns Echo Flax Triffid Crisis

Committee chair says a nearly 10% yield jump in mustard is encouraging for growers, but warns GM mustard contamination and federal research cuts could create long-term challenges for Prairie oilseeds. Big yield gains, high-stakes market risks and mounting concerns over federal research cuts dominated flax and mustard discussions at last week’s Prairie Grain Development Committee (PGDC) meetings in Banff, Alta. “We’re seeing a real leap forward in mustard,” said Ken Jackle, chair of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Oilseeds (PRCO), pointing to a new condiment mustard line expected to go forward this year. “It’s quite a yield bump. It’ll have quite a yield advantage over the existing checks.” How big a jump? Almost 10%, he said. For mustard growers, that kind of jump matters. Yield improvements in recent years have been steady, and Jackle credited Dr. Bifang Cheng’s breeding program at AAFC Saskatoon for keeping progress moving. “It’s good to see these increases in their yield

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