Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

The CFFO Commentary: New Compensation for Wildlife Damage a Welcome Update

By Nathan Stevens
August 5, 2011
 
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs recently announced that the 30-year old wildlife damage compensation program has finally been updated. This has been an important issue for members of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario over the last number of years, and as an organization we are pleased that this could finally be updated. This is a solid step forward in balancing the broad number of goals desired by society involving the rural landscape.
 
The fact of the matter is that there is only one rural landscape, but a wide array of wants and needs that must be met. Biodiversity is a valuable goal that society believes is worthy of effort while growing food is an essential goal for everyone. Unfortunately, these two goals are not always in harmony with each other. Therefore, improving the compensation program for farmers helps balance out these goals in a reasonable way.
 
The highlights of the current program include an expanded list of both the wildlife species that cause harm and an increased livestock listing for compensation when the two forces come into contact with one another in a negative way. The amount that producers receive has been updated to be more reflective of today’s prices.
 
In addition, the program addresses some of the other needs that have developed over time, including a $30 reimbursement for each claim a municipality processes, a $50,000 fund for strategic investments with industry to better understand how to prevent agriculture-wildlife conflicts, and a commitment to review the program every two years to ensure it is up-to-date.
 
Moving forward, there are other concerns that need to be addressed regarding the interaction of wildlife with agriculture. Can crop insurance be used as the tool to deal with damage to crops by wildlife or is another tool going to be required? What is the proper balance to find regarding predator controls – a limited hunt of problem animals or a less targeted bounty to meet an overall population target?
 
The CFFO has been strong in its support for farmers in the area of predation over the last number of years. The update of this program is a significant step forward for farmers that have to deal with wildlife damage. It is also a step forward in balancing the wide variety of goals that are being pursued in a limited rural landscape.
 
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. The CFFO Commentary is heard weekly on CFCO Chatham, CKNX Wingham, and UCB Canada radio stations in Chatham, Belleville, Bancroft, Brockville and Kingston. It is also archived on the CFFO website: www.christianfarmers.org. CFFO is supported by 4,200 family farmers across Ontario.

Views: 46

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

Above Average Yields for Saskatchewan

Crops were above average this year in Saskatchewan, with yields topping the 10-year provincial average and beating the Statistics Canada model-based estimates released in September.  The province released its latest yield estimates in its final crop report for the 2025 growing season on Thursday.  The average oat and barley yields were pegged by the province at 94.4 and 70 bu/acre, respectively, compared to the StatsCan estimates of 90.2  and 67.9 bu/acre. The province pegged the average Hard Spring wheat yield at 51.5 bu/acre, and other spring wheat at 55.5 bu/acre, versus StatsCan’s single spring wheat estimate of 49.2 bu. The average provincial durum yield of 39.4 bu/acre was 2.5 bu above the StatsCan estimate.  At 42.4 bu/acre, the average Saskatchewan canola yield was 1.8 bu higher than StatsCan, while soybeans were a hefty 14.8 bu above at 39.6 bu. The average flax yield was pegged at 26.6 bu/acre, above StatsCan’s 23.1 bu.  Peas were reported by the province at 40.8 bu/acre,

Breaking the silence: Understanding stigma in farming and mental health

The narrative in agriculture is evolving. Caring for the land, animals, and equipment has always come first; now farmer well-being belongs on that list. For centuries, the culture in agriculture has valued resilience, self-reliance, and hard work. These are important qualities that have built our farms and fed our world. Yet these same values have, unintentionally, helped create one of the biggest barriers to farmer mental health: stigma. Stigma shows up as silence, hesitation, fear and shame, making farmers feel they must carry their struggles alone rather than reach out for support. Decades in the making The roots of those feelings – fear and shame towards mental health in agriculture stretch back decades, woven into the history of rural life. Farmers have been expected to endure hardship quietly, whether it was a drought, market crash, or a barn fire. Generations grew up hearing phrases like “tough it out” or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Asking for help, especially for

Filiz Koksel, associate professor, University of Manitoba

Filiz Koksel is an associate professor in the Department of Food and Human Nutritional Sciences (FHNS) at the University of Manitoba (UM). She was appointed Manitoba Strategic Research Chair in Sustainable Protein in July this year. Born in Winnipeg while her father was completing graduate studies at UM, Koksel grew up in Turkey, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara. She later returned to Winnipeg to complete her PhD in food science at UM and joined the Department of FHNS as a faculty member in 2017. She lives in Winnipeg with her husband and their five-year-old daughter. Tell us a bit about what you’re working on at UM. My research focuses on food processing, transforming ingredients, both plant- and animal-based, into nutritious, appealing foods. These processes range from mixing or milling for bakery applications, to extrusion cooking, which is a process used for making puffed snacks like Cheeto

Canadian Beef Producers Request Termination of the Canada-UK Continuity Agreement

The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) calls for the Government of Canada to initiate the termination of the Canada-UK Continuity Agreement, following the tabling of the UK Accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) legislation. In July 2023, the Government of Canada announced the accession of the UK to the CPTPP agreement. CCA, our provincial members, and beef producers across the country urged Canada to “say no to a bad deal”. Since then, the UK has not made any effort to address the non-tariff barriers that are keeping Canadian beef out of the UK market. At the same time, UK beef imports into the Canadian market have increased from $16.6 million in 2023 to $42.5 million in 2024. “We are calling on all Parliamentarians to stand up for Canadian beef producers,” said Tyler Fulton, President of CCA. “In these uncertain geopolitical times, we need every opportunity to diversify our markets.” Given the Government’s recent tabling of th

Jaclyn Prystupa powers precision automation at GIFS at USask

Jaclyn Prystupa is an Automation Specialist at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask). It’s a dynamic role in which she leads the development, optimization, and troubleshooting of automated workflows and laboratory equipment within GIFS’ Omics and Precision Analytics Laboratory (OPAL). Put more simply, she works with robots to expand the capabilities and throughput of GIFS’ genomics offerings. Every day, she programs, operates, and maintains a growing number of automated liquid handlers, each one capable of executing complex laboratory tasks with speed and precision. This work is central to OPAL — a PacBio Certified Service Provider and one of Canada’s largest sequencing and genotyping facilities. There, Prystupa combines genomics and computer science to accomplish big things in small timeframes. How big is big? Think thousands of plant, animal, and microbial samples. By leveraging automation, these samples are efficiently prepared,

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service