Ontario Agriculture

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CFFO Blog's Blog (97)

The CFFO Commentary: Christmas and the Difference it makes for Farming

By John Clement

December 24, 2010



I'm not by nature a person devoted to creeds and confessions, but every once in awhile something will strike me as particularly meaningful in one of those documents. At this Christmas season, some of the words found in the beginning of the Heidelberg Catechism strike me as appropriate. The question is asked "what is your only comfort in life and death?"… Continue

Added by CFFO Blog on December 24, 2010 at 6:34am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary:Farm Policy Increasingly Needs to Pay Heed to the “Missing Middle”

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 17, 2010 at 7:00am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Farmers Matter and Need to Build Goodwill with Consumers

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 10, 2010 at 6:13am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: New Agricultural Opportunities in Bio-Products

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on December 3, 2010 at 4:45am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Future Safety Net Design Drawing Attention

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on November 26, 2010 at 6:29am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: CFFO Releases Goals for an Ontario Food Strategy

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,…

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Added by CFFO Blog on November 12, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

CFFO Commentary: CFFO Convention to Focus on Feeding the World While Supporting Family Farms



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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on November 5, 2010 at 5:50am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Listening to Farmers' Concerns Key to Good Representation

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on October 29, 2010 at 5:18am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Moving Beyond "Random Acts of Stewardship"

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on October 22, 2010 at 5:09am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Personal Insight Into Need to Preserve Best Farmland

By Nathan Stevens

October 15, 2010

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

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Added by CFFO Blog on October 15, 2010 at 6:28am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Working as Colleagues Can Move Ontario Farmers Forward

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on October 8, 2010 at 5:53am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Tackling Agricultural Challenges Aided Through Leadership Training

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…

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Added by CFFO Blog on October 4, 2010 at 4:00am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Competing Interests Arise in Land Use Planning Discussions

By Nathan Stevens

September 24, 2010




Good land use planning is critical for the success of agriculture. And with the current review of the Provincial Policy Statement underway, talks are heating up between farming organizations and those representing other interests in land use planning.



The CFFO is currently in dialogue with a collection of environmental groups, including Ontario Nature, Ducks Unlimited and Ecojustice,… Continue

Added by CFFO Blog on September 27, 2010 at 3:18am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Agricultural Entrepreneur Puts Focus on Farming for the Motor City

By John Clement



September 17, 2010




I’m watching with interest a Detroit-based entrepreneur whose vision for his city could throw many of our paradigms about urban agriculture out the window. Seeing Detroit’s huge amount of vacant land as an opportunity, the entrepreneur is setting out to assemble large parcels of vacant inner-city land and create a large-scale, for-profit agricultural enterprise.



The entrepreneur in question is John Hantz, the… Continue

Added by CFFO Blog on September 17, 2010 at 9:47am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: A Cloud Forms on the Horizon of Ontario’s Green Energy Future

The CFFO Commentary: A Cloud Forms on the Horizon of Ontario’s Green Energy Future



By Nathan Stevens

September 10, 2010




Glenn Fox of the University of Guelph recently shared his critique on the implementation of Ontario’s Green Energy Policy. His thoughts on the subject point to a serious test of the Province’s commitment to the development of renewable energy over the coming year.



The rationale that has been used to support the development… Continue

Added by CFFO Blog on September 10, 2010 at 5:28am — No Comments

The CFFO Commentary: Future of Farming requires Accommodating Differing Views

By Jenny Denhartog

September 3, 2010

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

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Added by CFFO Blog on September 3, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

CFFO's Stevens: More Land Use Protection Needed in Provincial Policy Statement

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Added by CFFO Blog on August 26, 2010 at 10:30am — No Comments

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

SHIC-Funded MSHMP Assesses Evolutionary Dynamics of PEDV in US Throughout Last Decade

In April 2013, porcine epidemic diarrhea virus emerged in US pigs for the first time and since then has been an endemic pathogen causing significant production impacts to the swine industry. Team members including Drs. Joao Paulo Herrera da Silva, Nakarin Pamornchainavakul, and Kimberly VanderWaal partnerted with the SHIC-funded Morrison Swine Health Monitoring Project ream members Drs. Mariana Kikuti, Xiaomei Yue and Cesar Corzo of the University of Minnesota, to assess the long-term evolutionary dynamics of PEDV in US pigs a decade after its initial introduction to help guide practitioner strategies for future PEDV control. PEDV causes acute enteric disease in nursing and post-weaning pigs with severe clinical signs in neonatal piglets, leading to significant economic losses. After the introduction of PEDV to the US in 2013, it spread rapidly and quickly emerged across 31 states. Two strains, indel and the more virulent non-indel, have been identified in the US to date. However, th

Jump In With Both Feet: Q&A with Ohio Pork Council’s President

An open book – that’s how Ohio Pork Council president Nathan Schroeder defines himself. The leader of one of the most active state pork organizations in the country, he believes strongly in the power of communication. “They are getting a leader who likes to communicate,” says Schroeder, a 46-year-old pig farmer from Leipsic, Ohio. “I like to share what we are doing because I’m very proud of what we are doing. I think communication is important. Being able to share what you are doing in an open and honest fashion is key.” He also says he’s willing to take some risks and is not scared to jump into something new with both feet – whether it works out or not. Schroeder says there are several initiatives in Ohio that have him feeling optimistic about the future. “We started a young leadership program in Ohio. I’m very proud of that one,” he says. “I attended the national Pork Leadership Institute a few years back, and thought is a really good program. It opened my eyes to a lot of things

Pork Promotions and Opportunities: What’s Making Headlines?

NOVUS and DPP Team Up to Recognize Excellence in Swine Education Nominations are open globally for a new award recognizing swine educators. The NOVUS Distinguished Academic Training & Innovation Award will be presented in partnership with the 16th International Symposium on Digestive Physiology of Pigs (DPP) held May 20-23, 2025. Along with recognition, the award winner will receive $7,500, the company said in a release. The award is open to educators around the world at higher education institutions who have made significant contributions to the academic and professional growth of undergraduate and/or graduate students in the fields of digestive physiology of pigs, and related fields such as swine nutrition, nutritional biochemistry, and nutrient metabolism. Award sponsors NOVUS and DPP aim to highlight the importance of swine academic leadership and innovation, ensuring the continued growth and advancement of the field. Marisol Castillo, executive manager of Global Swine Solutions

Jarrod and Shari Bakker: Pigs Fuel Dreams and Marriage

For Jarrod and Shari Bakker, the pork industry has always been and will always be part of their love story. They met at the Iowa State Fair (ISU) after their senior year of high school while participating in the Premier Exhibitor Contest. Although it doesn’t matter who won, Shari beat Jarrod if you want to keep track. After that, they both headed off to Iowa State University for their freshman year. “We re-met during fall of 2002 in a mutual friends’ dorm room and became good friends,” Shari says. “Jarrod had started working at the ISU teaching farm and after a couple of months, helped me get a job at the farm. We were just good friends for a couple of years, traveled to hog shows and started dating our junior year of college.” They were lockstep as they competed on the livestock judging team, graduated from Iowa State University and began their adult life. Shari took a job as the Team Purebred Jr Coordinator. “Jarrod proposed at the state fairgrounds during World Pork Expo the summ

Swine Scholars Auction raises record amount

The 2025 Iowa Pork Congress saw a record-breaking fundraising effort for student scholarships in the pork industry. This year’s Dollars for Swine Scholars Auction raised an impressive $62,511, surpassing the previous record of $61,525 set in 2023. Held in January at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, the auction was a highlight of the Iowa Pork Congress festivities. Proceeds from the event will support scholarships for incoming freshmen, returning students, graduate fellowships and interns pursuing careers in the pork industry. “We are incredibly grateful to the generous individuals and organizations that contributed to this year’s auction,” said Aaron Juergens, president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association. “This event is about investing in the future of the pork industry by supporting the next generation. It was a fantastic night, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.” One of the most sought-after items was a CINCH World’s Toughest Rodeo package, donated by the Iowa E

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