Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Democracy lives in King Township

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, and this is very good. Now, as the Township Solicitor pointed out, if the provincial government really wants this project to move ahead--it will, but they can just as easily quash the entire project! The site for this facility is in a floodplain, which goes against the Provincial Policy Statement, and as well, is not "compatible" with the business of farming in this highly productive, specialty crop area. Apparently though, the Ministry of the Environment sees nothing wrong with building a 400MW natural gas-fired power plant, and claims there will be "no negligible affects to the area". I don't know how they have arrived at this particular conclusion, since they also didn't think anything other than the most basic environmental assessment was required (i.e. the same assessment that would be given to a small windmill project). This project flies in the face of so many "protected" area policies, and different pieces of legislation that anyone who is given just the tiniest bit of information about this area is flabbergasted that this was the chosen location! Anyway, our hope of hopes is that this project will be scrapped in its entirety, so that we Holland Marsh Farmers can get on with the business of feeding the people of Ontario!

Views: 122

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by Avia Eek on January 12, 2010 at 4:12pm
I'm in King Township, which is located between Toronto and Barrie (Holland Marsh). I don't know what you mean by "the # of votes over ride the key of your presentation"?
Comment by rein minnema on January 12, 2010 at 1:44pm
you are located in or near the GTO area where the ### of votes over ride the key of your presentation.

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

Manitoba Planting Advances; Remains Ahead of Average Pace

Manitoba producers made just minor seeding advances this past week, although overall progress remains ahead of last year and the five-year average.  The weekly provincial crop report pegged seeding at 8% complete as of Tuesday, up 5 points from a week earlier and ahead of 4% last year and 6% on average.   Almost half the spring wheat acres in the Central and Interlake regions have been seeded, the report said, with other regions progressing quickly. Seeding of oats and barley has begun in the Southwest, Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.  Canola planting has started in the Central region. Sunflowers have also started to be seeded in the Central and Interlake regions. Field peas are being seeded in all regions, while soybean crops are being planted in the Central, Eastern, and Interlake regions.   Manitoba received variable amounts of precipitation over the past four days, ranging from 0 mm to 12.7 mm with most regions receiving less than 0.5 mm.  Southwest:  Good weather ov

Canadian Corn Stocks Hit Decade Low, Soybeans Heavier

Canadian corn stocks as of March 31 fell to a decade low, while soybean stockpiles hit the highest in five years.  Thursday’s Statistics Canada grain stocks report showed total national corn stocks at 7.197 million tonnes, down 13% from a year earlier and the lowest since March 31, 2015, at 6.289 million. In contrast, March 31 soybean stocks were pegged at 2.393 million tonnes, a year-over-year increase of nearly 11% and the heaviest since March 31, 2020.  StatsCan said corn stocks fell amid a more than 50% fall in imports to 1 million tonnes, combined with a doubling in exports to 1.4 million.  Soybean stocks were at least partially buoyed by a larger 2024 Canadian crop, up 8.4% on the year to 7.568 million tonnes.   National on-farm corn stocks as of March 31 decreased 8.5% compared with the same date in 2024, to 4.9 million tonnes, while commercial stocks fell 20.9% to 2.3 million.   On-farm soybean stocks rose 11.1% to 1.4 million tonnes, with commercial stocks up 10.6% to 988

Early Saskatchewan Planting Ahead of 5-, 10-Year Averages

Spring planting is off to quick start in Saskatchewan, with almost 20% of the 2025 crop in the ground already.  The first weekly crop report of the season on Thursday pegged provincewide planting at 18% complete as of Monday. That’s 8 points ahead of the five-year average and 6 points better than the 10-year average. Last year, planting was 12% done at this time.  “Despite multiple storms throughout the province in April, producers were able to get into their fields and make rapid progress over the last couple of weeks,” the report said.  Limited moisture fell throughout much of the province over the last week. The highest reported rainfall was in the Alida area at 16 millimetres (mm) followed by the Lafleche area at 12 mm.  Planting progress is the most advanced in the southwest region, where 43% of the crop was in as of Monday and the first seeded crops starting to emerge. The northwest and southeast regions are also making good progress, at 15% and 14% done, respectively. The we

Understanding Yardage Costs in Cow-Calf Operations

Have you ever wondered where your money goes during the winter-feeding period? Feed costs are easy to spot in a beef cattle operation, but what about the other expenses quietly chipping away at your bottom line? This is where yardage comes in—it is a crucial part of managing winter feeding costs in cow-calf operations.  What is Yardage? Yardage refers to the overhead and non-feed costs incurred while maintaining cattle during the winter-feeding period. These costs include day-to-day expenses such as labor, equipment and building maintenance, fuel, utilities, manure handling and other general expenses like farm taxes and accounting fees. They also include non-cash costs such as machinery and facility depreciation, which represent the graduate loss of value in assets over time. Why Does Yardage Matter to a Beef Producer? Yardage may not grab attention like feed costs, but it significantly impacts profitability. These costs, especially non-cash costs like depreciation, often remain unno

Mother’s Day Q&A with Anna McCutcheon

The hardest part about motherhood is balancing everything, Anna McCutcheon says

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service