Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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 off. 

Once we got to the airport we learned that our flight was delayed more than an hour. Why, you ask? Our flight was coming from Toronto and of course our wonderful winter weather had delayed the flight. We made the best of out of it though - there was no Timmy's but we quickly found the Starbucks. A small taste of home!

One thing we noticed about our two hour flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires was that they served us a meal – a sandwich, fruit and free alcoholic beverages. If this was a North American flight we would not have had this. So is it South American hospitality on Air Canada or a mandate?

When we landed in Buenos Aires we had to go through customs again and in Argentina Canadians must pay a reciprocity fee. They also wanted to know how many mobile phones we were bringing in each and what the models were as apparently they do not want anyone to sell mobile phones in the country.

After customs and baggage claim a few of us found another piece of home - McDonald's! And more than a couple of burgers were eaten.

Our tour guide in Argentina is Jorge - a very knowledgeable man with many years of experience in agriculture including years spent in Canada and Washington as part of Argentina’s agricultural attaché.  He gave us a brief history of the city before dropping us off at our hotel.

As a welcome to Argentina, we enjoyed a Tango show at one of the oldest shows in Bueons Aires. We dressed in our most sizzling attire and stepped off the bus at Senior Tango where we were seated at round tables facing a huge circular stage. The vino Tinto and thick, juicy steak were quickly delivered to our table.  The show enacted the history of Argentina, the sultry origins of the tango and ended with a resounding and soulful "Don't cry for me Argentina". The intricate dance moves were only slightly upstaged by the live horses and awe-inspiring moustaches.  

The Tango was created in Buenos Aires in the 1890s - invented in the houses of ill repute and later introduced to France and embraced there.  

Accordion, violin, la musica!  An amazing show that we will never forget. 

"I don't often eat sirloin steak while watching the tango, but when I do, it's in Argentina!" -Donna

-Class 15 

 

Views: 254

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

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

Bull Rider TJ Gray Wins PRCA Top Gun Award at 2025 National Finals Rodeo

Oregon bull rider TJ Gray captured the PRCA Top Gun Award at the 2025 Wrangler NFR, winning big and making history.

B.C. mink farmers drop legal challenge of ban, citing costs after four-year fight

Mink farmers in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada are dropping their legal challenge over a pandemic-era ban in the province due to legal fees they say are “far beyond their means.” The British Columbia Mink Producers Association and the Canada Mink Breeders Association had been petitioning for a judicial review of the province’s ban on mink farming and had been challenging the policy decision, which dates back to November 2021. In a statement, the mink farmers say they remain angry at the move by the province, which they describe as driven by “an aggressive anti-fur lobby.” The farmers say they have fought the province unsuccessfully in several separate court attempts while no financial compensation has been offered to operators who had to tear down their farms. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in August that the farmers’ lawsuits have “no reasonable prospect of success” and dismissed a bid for damages against the province, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, and othe

Oilseed crushing and major grain deliveries statistics, November 2025

Oilseed crushing statistics Data on oilseed crushing are now available for November 2025. Deliveries of major grains Deliveries of major grains across Canada rose by 14.2% in November from the same month the previous year, totalling 5.6 million tonnes. Increases in total wheat (+21.0% to 3.4 million tonnes), canola (+11.1% to 1.6 million tonnes), and rye (+11.2% to 11.9 thousand tonnes) contributed to higher deliveries. Major grains include wheat (excluding durum), durum wheat, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed and canola. Focus on Canada and the United States Producer deliveries capture grain that is destined for a primary elevator, feed mill, crushing plant or flour mill. This includes grain elevators that hold grain before it is exported, as well as shipments to US markets that are not licensed by the Canadian Grain Commission. The imposition of tariffs by the United States may have an impact on producer deliveries of major grains in the coming months. In 2024, Canada exported a tot

Parrish & Heimbecker to buy GrainsConnect Canada

Further consolidation of Western Canada’s grain sector is just around the corner. Parrish & Heimbecker (P&H) is purchasing GrainsConnect Canada (GCC), a joint venture currently owned by Australia’s GrainCorp and Japan’s Zen-Noh Grain Corp. GCC was formed by the two international firms in 2015. P&H is getting four high-capacity grain elevators as well as GCC’s 50 per cent stake in Fraser Grain Terminal at the Port of Vancouver. The elevators are in Reford, Sask., Maymont, Sask., Huxley, Alta., and Vegreville, Alta. The 35,000-tonne facilities are each equipped with 134-car rail loops. P&H has a longstanding partnership with GCC through its shared ownership of Fraser Grain Terminal. The port terminal exports up to four million tonnes of cereals, oilseeds, pulses and other commodities per year. It can handle and discharge 120 railcars and has 70,000 tonnes of storage. It can load grain into vessels at a rate of 2,000 tonnes per hour. The purchase is expected to close in early 2026

Farmers face new challenge as group 14-resistant kochia spreads across western Canada

A new study shows that Group 14-resistant kochia has developed and spread rapidly across Western Canada. Group 14 is an important herbicide group for controlling the prolific weed because it already has widespread resistance to glyphosate, a Group 9 product, and has long had resistance to Group 2 chemistries. Back in 2021, the first known case of Group 14-resistant kochia was discovered in West Central Saskatchewan. In 2022, it was discovered in North Dakota. Charles Geddes, a research scientist in weed ecology and cropping systems at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge is a leading expert on herbicide resistant weeds. His team designed genetic tests to identify Group 14 resistance using leaf tissue samples. This increased the speed and efficiency of identification. In a post recently published on Linked-in, Geddes has published a map showing instances of Group14 resistance across all three Prairie provinces. The greatest concentration is in the brown and dark brown so

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service