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

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

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

Pulse & Soybean Crop Update

Soybeans range from R3 (beginning pod) to R4 (full pod). Soybean plant height and biomass have increased dramatically over the last two weeks as the plants continued flowering and pod development. Varying degrees of stem, leaf, flower and pod deformations have been noted and have been attributed to a variety of causes including: Rapid Growth Syndrome – Shows up as bubbling and crinkling and curling of new leaves since the leaf interior is growing quicker than the leaf veins and edges can keep up with. See Figure 1 below. Suspected Herbicide Drift – Concerns regarding suspected Group 4 drift in particular have been reported this year. Caution should be taken with such diagnosis based on visual assessments only as rapid growth syndrome can produce some comparable symptoms. See Figures 2 and 3 below. Suspected Environmentally Induced Male Plant Sterility – Symptoms with this disorder can be very odd and hard to verify. Extreme fluctuations in temperature which includes very hot conditi

Drought Support for Manitoba Livestock Producers

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture have reached agreement on the five-year Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership policy framework. Governments will continue to deliver a complete and effective suite of business risk management (BRM) programs. Business Risk Management (BRM) programs are in place to help farmers in managing risks from income declines resulting from drought, flooding, low prices, and increased input costs. The programs work together by providing protection for different types of losses, as well as cash flow options. AgriInvest helps cover small margin declines. AgriInvest Publications and Forms AgriStability assists in cases of large margin declines caused by circumstances such as low prices and rising input costs. AgriStability Publications and Forms Agristability Benefit Calculator AgriInsurance offers protection for production losses related to specific crops or commodities caused by natural hazards. Pasture Days Insuranc

Smoky conditions and hot weather impacting Manitoba's agricultural producers

In a growing season that's already experienced more than 30 days of air quality warnings, Manitoba's farmers are adjusting to keep themselves and their animals safe amid smoky conditions from wildfires burning across the province. In Pipestone, Man., the orange haze can get so thick it's hard to see more than half a mile, says cattle producer Melissa Atchison. That means during the tail end of calving season, they're taking extra precautions to keep themselves and their animals healthy. "It's not as if you are going to have pre-smoked meat," Atchison said. "It doesn't affect meat quality.… It's more about managing their health and their lungs and their respiratory system." Jonas Watson, a veterinarian at Winnipeg's Grant Park Animal Hospital, said the adverse health effects caused by poor air quality can also hurt producers' bottom line. The summer's intense heat can impact an outdoor animal's breathing at the best of times — but add in irritants like smoke and their health can be

Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station educates local producers

The Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station showcased 44 experiments and other projects it's doing this year to local producers at its annual summer tour day. Most notably, the station is adding 31 new varieties of all its crops to avoid stagnancy to sustain and improve crop yields, testing the greenhouse gas emissions of different enhanced-efficiency fertilizers and assessing whether these fertilizers could improve the efficiency of fertilizer use. “Even before I start seeding the experiments, I share what sort of experiments I’m going to do with farmers and ask them if there’s anything else they would like us to do,” said Tarlok Singh Sahota, the station’s director, who personally meets with farmers in their fields and barns for these discussions. “So, this is a very shared program with the farmers and (the) farm will be closely linked with the farmers. I think this is probably the only substation in our country, not only in the province, that works so closely with the f

FedNor announces funds for agriculture, video series

The Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA) is getting federal funding support to strengthen Northern Ontario’s agri-food sector. Announced on July 25, the $702,713 in funds will improve local value chains, advance technology adoption, and promote sustainable practices, according to FedNor, which is providing the funds. NOFIA will also assess key production and procurement challenges, and explore infrastructure investments to support aggregation, storage, and distribution. The idea is to expand market opportunities and increase demand for products produced in Northern Ontario. “This investment is a game-changer for agriculture in Northern Ontario. It allows us to strengthen our regional food systems, support producers of all sizes, and explore innovative technologies that will shape the future of farming in the North,” said Emily Seed, NOFIA’s executive director, in a news release. “By working together with communities and partners, we’re helping to build a more sustaina

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service