The organizing Committee is delighted to announce that Dr. Roberta Bondar will deliver the conference’s keynote address at the banquet on March 3, 2010. Dr. Bondar has had many careers from scientist, physician, astronaut, photographer and author to entrepreneur. She is ideally suited to deliver the keynote address at the First North…
The backbone of many Canadian agriculture commodities is trade. It's what has allowed several sectors to expand and has given us our reputation as a global… Continue
THREE OUTSTANDING LEADERS SELECTED FOR INDUCTION INTO THE ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL HALL OF FAME
From the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame.
Milton. In its thirty-first year, the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame Association will induct three leaders into the Hall of Fame Gallery at Country Heritage Park in Milton on Sunday June 13, 2010. To qualify for this prestigious recognition, Inductees must have demonstrated visionary leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship in the… Continue
Added by Joe Dales on February 2, 2010 at 3:53am —
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Monday, January 18, 2010, was a night for small victories for the Farmers of the Holland Marsh, the citizens of King Township, and the people of Ontario!
This was the night our Township Council voted, unanimously, in favour of an interim control by-law. Basically, if upheld by the OMB, it halts the building of the power plant slated to be imposed in the Greenbelt, on agricultural land in the Holland Marsh. This will allow Township staff the… Continue
Shaun Haney spoke to John Gillespie, Chairman of the Beef Information Center about what he thinks the he and the Beef Information Center accomplished at the NCBA. John is a farmer from Ontario who has committed an immense amount of time to serving the beef industry in… Continue
Added by Joe Dales on January 30, 2010 at 7:52am —
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Alumbaugh: Oh the Irony!
By JoAnn Alumbaugh, Farms.com
Last week, Gilbert Arenas, the pro Washington Wizards basketball player, was suspended indefinitely for bringing guns into the Wizards’ locker room and for inappropriate behavior preceding a game, when he mockingly “shot” at teammates. It happened last Wednesday, January 6, which coincidentally, was the player’s 28th birthday.
But, now here’s one for the record books: The very next day after his suspension, Arenas… Continue
Added by OntAG Admin on January 19, 2010 at 3:33am —
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TORONTO, Jan. 14 /CNW/ - The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Trees Ontario, along with its partners, the Ontario Forestry Association (OFA) and local planting agencies will host seven free workshops to educate local area landowners on the resources and incentives available to plant trees on their properties.
Everyone can take part in supporting tree planting in Ontario. The workshops give landowners the opportunity to learn about tree planting techniques, financial… Continue
Added by OntAG Admin on January 14, 2010 at 11:39am —
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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,… Continue
By Heather Travis Westerr News
Thursday, January 7, 2010
In a few years, a herd of Holstein cows might be powering the village of Ilderton. This is not so far-fetched, as a locally owned farm has begun turning manure into an energy resource with the help of university researchers.
In 2006, the urban sprawl of London, Ont. forced the Stanton… Continue
Added by AgOntario on January 8, 2010 at 6:00am —
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My name is Avia Eek. My husband, Bill, and I farm in the Holland Marsh. My husband, and many of the farmers in the Holland Marsh are descendants of the first pioneers who broke this land in 1934. Although, it should be noted the first industry here was the harvesting of the marsh grass for mattresses. This business took place from 1880 to approx. 1915, when it peaked.
The soil in the Holland Marsh is organic based, the result of… Continue
I'm a young farmer. I can say that now - especially since just a couple of weeks ago we moved out to one of our family farms. This is a house my great-grandfather built in the early 1900's, and is the farm where the dry cows and heifers are kept. My mom and dad are a few kilometres away at the farm I grew up in - where the milking cows are.
As I get settled on the farm, I thought I'd share some of my experiences. Along the way I'd invite any and all pieces of advice I can get - as I… Continue
Strong Ontario food and beverage processors – particularly those located in communities that have been hardhit by the recent economic downturn – are encouraged to apply to the Southern Ontario Development Program (SODP). SODP’s food and beverage initiative includes a $20 million fund of federal interest-free loans for upgrades, expansions, or modernization of commercial food and beverage production facilities, or fund a strategy to access new markets.
By: Synthesis Agri-Food Insights
November 24, 2009 Volume 1, Issue 7
Helping you understand agriculture's challenges and opportunities by analyzing the issues and sharing their insights -the Synthesis consulting team Rob Hannam, Mary Lou McCutcheon, Julien DenTandt, Peter Hannam and Heidi Dancho. www.synthesis-network.com
The war for talent.
Recruiting and retaining talent has always… Continue
Despite the fact that many corn producers have yet to finish corn harvest, the corn seed sales season for 2010 has officially begun.
If you are like me, there is something a bit disconcerting about sales calls hunting seed orders for next year when I am so far behind on this year’s harvest. My thought process is, let me get the crop off, consider the performance of this year’s seed choices, and then we’ll talk about next… Continue
Soybean yields in North America have been stalled over the past 20 years as pests like aphids and Soybean Cyst Nematodes take hold. When farmers plant certified seed it allows seed companies to put profits back into research and development. Companies like Syngenta, Monsanto and Dupont are spending millions of dollars a day in research and development. With these investments by the seed industry we may finally see the soybean yield trends going in the same positive direction as the corn yield… Continue
Added by John Beardsley on November 10, 2009 at 12:47pm —
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Minister Goodyear announces investment to support Ontario’s food and beverage processors
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced a $20 million investment today in Guelph that will allow food and beverage processors operating in Southern Ontario access to funds to expand, modernize, innovate and/or improve their competitiveness.
This was written by Matt Hardecke from the Young Producers' Council, which is part of the US based National Cattlemen's Beef Association. It's an interesting perspective...
As the future leaders of American agriculture and the beef industry, we need to not only know the facts but understand the thought process of our consumers. I am looking to buy a new flat screen TV. Over the weekend I went to Best Buy to gaze at the selections of options for my view pleasure. For an hour I stood… Continue
Warning: Real potato farmers should stop reading here. This might ruin your week. A San Francisco-based company just cleared $830,000 US in two weeks by selling seed potatoes. The potatoes are virtual but the money is very, very real. Zynga is a developer of apps for Facebook and the iPhone. One of their biggest hits is... get this... a game about farming. Farmville lets users own and manage a virtual farm. Apparently it's very addictive. At least, the 20 million users who are currently playing… Continue
World food commodity prices edged higher for the second straight month in April. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations on Friday reported that its food price index - which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally traded food commodities - averaged 119.1 points in April, up 0.3% from the revised March level, although still nearly 10% below its year-earlier level. The advance in the March food price index was the first increase in seven months. The peak was reached in March 2022 at 159.3 points, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The April increase in the overall food index was driven by rising meat prices and modest upticks for vegetable oils, and cereals, which offset declines in sugar and dairy products. The cereal price index was up 0.3% in March, ending a three-month run of declines. Global wheat export prices stabilized in April as strong competition among major exporters offset concerns about unfavourable c
The amount of US corn and soybean production being impacted by drought has fallen to its lowest in almost two years, following wetter Midwest weather this past week. Based on the weekly US drought monitor released Thursday, the amount of corn production impacted by drought fell to 19% as of Tuesday, down 4 points on the week and the lowest since June 2022. Soybean production impacted by drought dipped an identical 4 points from the previous week to 17%, also the lowest since June 2022. According to the drought monitor, most of the Midwest saw at least a half inch of rain, with parts of Missouri getting anywhere from 2 to 5 inches. Widespread improvements to ongoing drought occurred in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri, with a few areas of two-category improvements occurring in west-central Missouri where some of the highest rainfall amounts fell, the monitor said. On a regional basis, just over 18% of the Midwest was being impacted by some form of drought as of Tuesday, down from 23.3
Farm Credit Canada's Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program returns with support from Dairy Farmers of Canada and Starbucks to reward the sustainability successes of farmers Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) and Starbucks Canada (Starbucks) have launched today a new collaborative effort to help advance sustainability in the dairy sector. Starbucks has committed $500,000 to support dairy sustainability-focused projects over the course of this year, rewarding the continued efforts of Canadian dairy farmers on their path to net zero. The partnership includes three exciting projects, the first of which is already underway for 2024 in collaboration with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) and Lactanet for FCC’s Dairy Sustainability Incentive Program. This program rewards farmers who are successfully adopting environmental best management practices and encourages continued sustainable farming by granting annual incentives of up to $2,000 to FCC customers who meet select criteria. As part of its partnershi
The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) welcomes the release of new guidance on livestock feed released by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) today. The guidance clears the final hurdle to establishing a regulatory pathway for gene-edited products in Canada. “Today’s guidance is an important milestone in unlocking the next generation potential for innovation and growth in the Canadian canola industry,” says Chris Davison, president and CEO of the CCC. “As Canada continues its work to feed and fuel the world, plant breeding innovation will play an increasingly important role in developing even more productive and resilient canola crops.” With today’s guidance now published, Canada is also better equipped to encourage investment in support of development of gene-edited crops. New varieties will help make Canada’s canola crop more resilient in the face of pest pressures and climate volatility, support higher yields on each acre of farmland and enhance resource use efficiency. “Pl
The Ontario government has granted Brock University $3.5 million for a national sustainable agricultural project that aims to parlay the university’s grape and wine research into the broader agriculture sector.