Ontario Federation of Agriculture Commentary By Keith Currie, OFA President Great opportunity lies in rural Ontario, including affordable housing. That’s the message the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) wants candidates to understand as they head into the provincial election race. OFA has clearly outlined what provincial parties and election candidates to know about what agri-food and Ontario’s rural communities require. … Read More

From a news releaseOntario is partnering with Comet Biorefining to create a new production plant in Sarnia for high-quality, sustainable ingredients that will help to directly create 82 new jobs and 158 new indirect jobs, including those in harvesting, construction, farming and manufacturing. The province is investing up to $8-million in the company’s $79.8 million project, helping to establish the … Read More

By Brian Wittal Not getting paid for the grain you deliver. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s a tough financial blow. Know the rules so you can protect yourself. The law in this area is in the hands of the Canada Grains Commission. Everything you read here in italics comes from the CGC website. Let’s start with … Read More

From a news release BioAmber Inc. has announced that it filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and that its two Canadian subsidiaries, BioAmber Sarnia Inc. and BioAmber Canada Inc., filed a Notice of Intention (the “NOI”) to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada), with a view to … Read More

By the OMAFRA field crops team, posted on fieldcropnews.com. Click here to view the full report. April exits without a single day over 20°C and wet conditions that mostly prevented wheels from turning in the fields. We enter May with good temperatures and lots of pent up energy to get on the land. April 30th marks the day the “Starters Pistol Cracked” … Read More

This week, we will continue to look at various terms and phrases related to the agriculture sector. Thank you to Farm and Food Care Ontario for their help with this. Polled – Breeds of goats or cattle that are naturally born without horns. Poults – From the time they hatch until they’re 14 days old, young turkeys are called ‘poults’. … Read More

Cold weather and rainy conditions have a lot of farmers worried about getting their planting started, but Ken Ferrie, a Farm Journal Field Agronomist, says ensuring field conditions are ideal is far more important than hitting a particular start date. “The biggest mistake guys make is with tillage,” he says. “We know if we work the field it’ll dry out, … Read More

Bill C-49, or the Transportation Modernization Act, aims to improve rail transport of grain to make it more reliable and accountable. The 2017-2018 rail backlog cost farmers figures in the billions of dollars and caused the Canadian National Railway Co. to fire its CEO and issue a rare apology to farmers who were affected by the crisis. Grain Growers of … Read More

From fieldcropnews.com By Adam Hayes, OMAFRA Soil Management Specialist, Field Crops April 15 to 21 marked National Soil Conservation Week. Soil conservation for many years focused on protecting the soil from wind and water erosion. Today, that is still a focus but the soil is becoming an integral part of the larger environmental picture. Soil conservation is now directly linked … Read More

From a news release The Grain Farmers of Ontario welcomes the Ontario government mandate to increase renewable fuel blending in gasoline. The new mandate requires gasoline suppliers to maintain an average of 10 per cent renewable content in regular gasoline beginning in 2020, and requires that renewable content meet an average lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) performance threshold of 45 per … Read More