Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

It has been a very busy couple of weeks.  Making headway on rebuilding my grain header, want to get that out of the way so I can start on the tractors and tillage equipment.  So although I was beginning to feel like I was making progress, in steps OMAFRA.  My farm doesn't qualify for the farm tax rate.  In the past, my father had recieved an exemption from the FBR system for religious reasons.  Having taken the decision to join the system rather than appose/avoid it, i opened up a can of worms that will only cost me.  I didn't think much about government bureaucracy before, but now i just plain hate it.  

Our freedoms are being removed.  Why does it matter if someone registers with the government to be recognized as a farmer?  Shouldn't caring for the soil and harvesting crops be enough?  People were once judged by there abilities and endevours.  Now its by what license you hold, or permit you have.  It saddens me a great deal to see the results of past efforts.  Not my efforts, but those who build this system.  I am sure there was no ill intents when regulation was introduced, but the results are not a better more efficient society, but rather a society that spends its efforts in regulations and litigations.  

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to hear that children can no longer have skating events at school, because not all kids have a helmet.  Why a helmet?  Just in case someone falls down, the school needs to avoid the insurance lawsuit.  

The youth in the world have been rebelling against the old systems, specifically in the middle east.  The occupy movements are attempting the same thing over here.  They are not successful, because we have too much to loose, where in the third world they have nothing left to loose they can only gain.   I had not ever supported these protests, but I think I can now attest to the understanding that our system is stale, and something new is required.  I don't expect to see any changes soon, it will take a revolution and that won't happen until this society has been reduced to the nothing left to loose category.  I do hope it never comes to that, but sadly that means it would never be renewed.  

It makes for quite the dilemma, and I get the joy of being stuck in the middle of it.  It would have been nice to have had the support of the bureaucracy as I start to farm, but alas it becomes my enemy.  Although mother nature may not always favour me I consider that my ally.  I hope my experience is limited and other new farmers have a better experience.  But in my book OMAFRA is.....can't find a polite way to it.

Views: 820

Comment

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

Join Ontario Agriculture

Comment by Allan Mervin Spicer on February 23, 2012 at 8:14pm

Gus. Couldn't agree with you less. In order to be truly free, we , as a collective community give ups some reasons to be truly free. I lost a friend to a brain injury from a motor cycle acciden prior to he helmet law. Go Occupy Wall Street.
a.s.

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

Failing Grade for an Out of Touch Federal Budget

The 2024 federal budget is woefully bloated with a deficit of $40 billion dollars and yet falls short in addressing Canadian farmers’ real concerns. “Once again, the federal government has missed the opportunity to support agriculture and those that work in the industry. The real issues impacting us are the cumulative effect of the carbon tax on everything that we do, the growing need to have coordinated grain research, increased funding for the PMRA, and industry efficiency through an improved Canada Grains Act,” stated Daryl Fransoo, Chair of the Wheat Growers Association. The federal government has worked to defeat C-234, a bill that would provide immediate relief to grain farmers from the negative impact of the carbon tax on grain drying. The government fails to understand that these costs impact grain farmers and their ability to grow grain for domestic and export consumption. The government was forced to change their policy on the Advanced Payments Program and increase the int

A Message from Our Executive Director: Spring 2024

Throughout the winter, we took the opportunity to engage with many growers at various meetings and events around the province. Growers are facing many challenges heading into the 2024 growing season including significant dryness in some areas, high costs of production, and weaker prices for some major crops. We know that these factors are placing pressure on growers’ expected margins for 2024. While prices of some major crops are significantly lower since last growing season, most pulse prices have held up fairly well. Prices for green lentils, green peas, and chickpeas have been particularly strong. In addition, India has come back to the market for pea imports after a hiatus since 2017, which has given some support to yellow pea prices since December 2023. Current estimates are that India could import 800,000 to 1 million tonnes of peas from December 2023 to June 2024, while import restrictions there are temporarily lifted. At the same time, Canada’s largest market for yellow peas –

Mobile skills lab to promote ag manufacturing

A mobile skills lab will travel around Saskatchewan to promote careers in agriculture manufacturing. Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada (AMC) will create a virtual reality experience with the lab visiting school campuses and community events to promote industry careers to students, parents, and teachers. In addition to growing the workforce, the mobile skills lab will showcase professional development opportunities to those already working in the agricultural manufacturing industry. AMC President Donna Boyd said the industry has seen huge growth and this in turn has increased the demand for talent “A career in agriculture offers the opportunity to be one of the most successful industries in Canada—one which protects the environment, ensures global food security and fuels the future of food through innovation,” Boyd said. “AMC is directly addressing the needs of our members and our industry through the Careers in Ag initiative. The Saskatchewan Government is providing $300,000 to

Ag content lacking in the Federal Budget

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) was disappointed to see insufficient investment in Canadian agriculture in the 2024 budget. CFA President Keith Currie said farmers continue to struggle under the weight of high-interest rates, a price on carbon for essential farming activities, for which farmers have no viable alternatives, and an increased risk of extreme weather events. He said these challenges are testing the limits and effectiveness of risk management programs. “While we understand there are competing priorities for government funds, with erratic weather and high prices tremendously increasing the risk profile of Canadian agriculture, the government can ill-afford to ignore food production and Canadian farmers,” Currie said. Some positives in the budget included a re-commitment to launch of consultations on interoperability more commonly known as right to repair, carbon rebates for small businesses and previously announced funding for temporary improvements to the A

Keep it Clean launches 2024 Product Advisory

Canadian agriculture must pay attention to export market regulations, an industry rep said

© 2024   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service