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
Saskatchewan produced a record 41.9 million tonnes of grains and oilseeds in 2025, up 13.7 per cent from the previous year, the agriculture ministry said Dec. 19. The record is also 24.1 per cent above the five-year average. Agriculture minister David Marit said resilient and innovative producers were able to overcome challenges such as drought to grow this amount. Records were set for canola production, at 12.2 million tonnes, and lentils at 2.9 million tonnes. By volume for other crops, the province’s producers grew 12.7 million tonnes of spring wheat, 5.4 million tonnes of durum, 3.5 million tonnes of barley, and 1.8 million tonnes each of dry peas and oats. The ministry said Saskatchewan saw significant production growth in lentils, up 37 per cent, canola 16.7 per cent, barley 16 per cent, durum 8.5 percent and spring wheat 5.3 per cent. The estimates provided by Statistics Canada are based on a post-harvest survey of 7,198 farmers from Oct. 3 to Nov. 6. The province has a ta
Canadians farmers have had a hard time embracing biofuel policy the same way that producers south of the border have, says Shaun Haney, founder of RealAgriculture. He told the MNP Ag Connections Conference in Medicine Hat in November that as Canada continues to struggle to get its agriculture commodities into China, a shift of outlook is needed. At one time, scientists, agronomists and growers were extremely worried clubroot would spread across the Prairies and devastate Canada’s canola industry. “Canadian farmers have a hard time totally getting their head around and supporting it because people will often say, ‘I want the government out of stuff, I don’t want industrial policy, I don’t want nation building. We can’t create demand through government policy’,” he said. “But, that is exactly what the (Renewable Fuel Standard) is in the Untied States.” The U.S. sees 40 to 45 per cent of its corn crop going into ethanol, from which Canada has benefited. While Canada continues to focu
As the new communications intern at Alberta Canola, the Team Alberta Crops breakfast was my first time at an agriculture policy event. I come from an urban background with limited exposure to farming. Insights from presenters Milt Poirier, from QGI Consulting, and Neil Blue, a provincial Crop Market Analyst with Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation, fundamentally changed my understanding of the agricultural industry. I no longer see Canadian agriculture as simply the production of farm products. Instead, I now view farming in the context of globally interconnected systems. These systems encompass the inputs that farmers rely on, the production processes, and the networks of processing and logistics. All of these systems are further shaped by external forces, including national and provincial policies, international trade rules, climate patterns, and technological innovations. Global Competition and Climate Challenge From Neil Blue’s talk, I learned that agriculture is a competit
Taking on the role of Western Product Specialist at FP Genetics has been an exhilarating journey thus far. As someone passionate about agriculture since childhood, I’m excited to be part of an industry that combines science, relationships, and practical problem-solving. My primary focus will be to understand the connections between farmers, retailers, and the crops we nurture together. In my early days here, I dove into the fascinating world of epigenetics to uncover the secrets of how genetic traits impact plant performance. Each seed carries a narrative shaped by environmental factors and stress, and I’m dedicated to helping farmers understand their choices and the potential they hold. Working closely with Colin and Colette, my Saskatchewan and Alberta territory managers, has been both educational and transformative. We collaborate to first understand and then bridge the gap between our products and the retailers we support. Each retailer presents unique challenges and opportuniti
Women are taking the reins in Canadian agriculture like never before. Statistics Canada reports nearly 90,000 female farm operators nationwide—up from 80,000 in 2021.