Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

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, the CFFO Seminar Series focused on the importance of a strategy. It developed a set of goals for the sector to work towards that improve the entire sector and meet the needs of society at large. The result of our consultation with the grassroots is the CFFO’s Goals for an Ontario Food Strategy.

The CFFO strategy focuses on forward thinking initiatives that enhance the productivity and capability of the Ontario agri-food sector. The strategy considers today’s political reality of record deficits, and the fact that real influence can be leveraged if farmers, processors, retailers and consumers have a common set of goals and values related to food. This means that bridge building will be essential to success.

The strategy identifies broad goals for the entire sector, as well as more specific goals related to domestic production and export oriented goals. The most important of these goals is to achieve a food system that is profitable for each segment of the chain. The strategy then focuses on how government can support the initiatives of the farming community as capacity builder and enabler of innovation. And finally the strategy acknowledges that the plan for Ontario must play to one of its key strengths: the wide diversity of production that can take place in this province.

Ontario needs a food strategy to succeed on an ever more competitive North American stage. There need to be clear cut goals for the sector as a whole to work towards and achieve. The CFFO Food Strategy, which can be found on our website under publications, identifies the goals that are important to its members that will move Ontario agriculture forward successfully in the future.


Nathan Stevens is the Research and Policy Advisor for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. The CFFO Commentary represents the opinions of the writer and does not necessarily represent CFFO policy. It can be heard weekly on CKNX Wingham and CFCO Chatham, Ontario and is archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. The CFFO is supported by 4,300 farm families across Ontario

Views: 62

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

Pulse Market Insight #289

Big Risks Dampen Price Signals for 2026 Crop This is the time of year when new-crop bids for pulses usually start showing up, but not always. It’s not just the actual price that signals how urgently buyers are looking to lock in acres; the timing of new-crop bids is also an indicator. For example, I recall years when new-crop bids for peas or lentils already started to show up in October, almost a year before the next crop is harvested. That happened when pea and lentil supplies were very short and importers wanted to ensure they would have access to next year’s crops. In general though, the first new-crop bids are often seen in late December or early January. One rule of thumb some people use is the Saskatoon Crop Production Show in mid-January as the “real start” of the contracting season. But this year, it seems that new-crop bids are even scarcer than usual, with a few possible reasons. The first is that overseas buyers aren’t very concerned about locking in next year’s supplie

CN Marks Record December, Annual Grain Movement

Canadian National Railway set a new benchmark for grain movement in December, capping off a record-breaking year. The railway said Friday it moved more than 2.82 million tonnes of grain from Western Canada in December, marking its fourth consecutive monthly record and surpassing the previous December high set in 2020 by more than 80,000 tonnes. The strong December performance also helped CN establish a new annual record for grain shipments in 2025. In Western Canada alone, CN moved over 31.3 million tonnes of grain during the year, exceeding the previous record of 30.9 million set in 2020. Across all of Canada, total grain volumes across CN’s network reached more than 32.7 million tonnes, breaking the prior record of 32.25 million established in 2024. CN attributed the record volumes to a combination of large Canadian grain crops and steady execution throughout the supply chain. Janet Drysdale, CN’s executive vice-president and chief commercial officer, said consistent operat

ROI announces the Community Well-being Dashboard in Ontario’s two official languages

The Rural Ontario Institute (ROI) is pleased to announce the Rural Community Well-Being Dashboard and supporting factsheets will be made available in Ontario’s two official languages in the spring of 2026.

Chicago Close: Little Changed in Pre-Report Positioning

Corn, wheat, and soybean futures were little changed on Thursday as traders continued to position ahead of key USDA reports to be released on Monday. 

GFO Rejoins Grain Growers of Canada

Almost six years after parting ways, Grain Farmers of Ontario has rejoined Grain Growers of Canada, marking a renewed push for a more unified national voice as Canada’s grain sector navigates mounting economic and policy pressures. 

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service