CFFO Blog's Blog (97)

By John Clement

The challenges of farm policy used to be simpler. Most farms in most commodities were about the same size and generated somewhat comparable farm revenues. But those days have been leaving us for awhile now, with new challenges emerging about how to deliver public support that is both fair and appropriate to changes in the scale of production. 

 Increasingly, farming and public interest groups are noting that we are starting to experience what could be called the…

By Henry Stevens

There is general agreement in the farm community that a number of our commodities are in serious financial difficulty and face an uncertain future. There is also general agreement on why family farms in those sectors are facing such difficulties. Where there is less agreement is “how do we solve those problems and…

By Nathan Stevens

There are some industry leaders that would argue that one of the greatest opportunities for farmers in the next 20 years will be the development of the bio-products sector. At a recent information session held by the Wellington…

By Nathan Stevens

The next Growing Forward agreement is starting to loom on the distant horizon and farm groups are developing new options that differ from the current program. James Rude of the Department of Rural Economy at the University of…

As anyone who plays a lot of games knows, having a plan is essential to success. Whether one is playing a sport, a board game or a video game, having that plan of action greatly increases the chance of winning. This is also true in the business world where having a plan makes a huge difference between success and failure. The agriculture sector is no different. The CFFO has developed what it believes are the essential goals of a food strategy for Ontario.



Last winter,…

Questions involving world hunger and food production are keenly appreciated by the farming community. Most Ontario farmers are willing to work with others to ensure that no one goes hungry. But they also want to do so in a way that ensures farm markets are stable both here and…

By Paul Bootsma

October 29, 2010

For groups like the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, there is no substitute for attending farm shows and catching the pulse of what farmers are thinking. This year’s farm shows…

By John Clement

October 22, 2010

I recently heard a long-time promoter of environmental goods and service (EGS) payments to farmers argue that it’s time to move beyond “random acts of…

By Nathan Stevens

October 15, 2010

Sometimes it takes personal experience to really strengthen one’s believe in a core value of…

By Paul Bootsma

October 8, 2010

Ontario farmers have a history of being open with each other when discussing business. Helping each other overcome difficulties and making improvements in production are often discussed…

By John Clement

October 1, 2010

I appreciate good leadership. Good leaders have a way of focusing people on critical issues and helping them to work together on finding solutions. Sometimes that involves pioneering a new way of doing things and forcing people to react, while at other times it involves pushing others from behind to bring forward…

September 3, 2010

The steady decline in the number of family farms in Ontario has been…