Canadian-grown eggplant and okra have replaced about 800,000 kg of imports over the past several years, creating a research-to-grower-to-market success story. The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has played a central role helping with research and bringing together the parts of the industry needed to create a food chain success. The eggplant and okra case […] Read more
Eggplant value chain project replaces most imports
Greig: Animal welfare research focusing more on emotional states
Animal welfare research is moving beyond identifying what keeps an animal healthy, to focus more on their state of being and their happiness. For years, farmers have justified the way they manage and house animals based on objective measures of their health: disease prevalence, growth rates and feed consumption. Consumer research, however, shows that’s not […] Read more
Greig: Food fraud a challenge to whole food supply chain
Farmers are used to the conversation about how to manage trust with consumers. Food companies are learning it too, and finding food fraud to be a significant concern. Food fraud “comes back to trust,” according to Renata McGuire of NSF Consulting and Technical Services. “Do I trust this brand?” McGuire, along with Sylvain Charlebois, dean […] Read more
Ontario budget seeks tax flexibility for on-farm processing
The Ontario government has balanced its budget for the first time in since 2008 — but Thursday’s budget contained little news for agriculture and rural Ontario. Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget mostly highlighted agriculture programs that had already been announced, and maintains $100 million in funding for the provincial Risk Management Program, which helps offsets […] Read more
Ontario tomato farmers to get less on higher yields
The agreement between Ontario growers and tomato processors for the 2017 growing season is expected to drop the price tomato farmers are paid as their yields increase. The agreement, announced last week, maintains the contracted tonnage of 2016 and follows the five-year pricing agreement set by growers and processors last year. Final prices, however, aren’t […] Read more
Ontario greenhouse growers get competitiveness fund
The Ontario government is putting $19 million into a new initiative to support the competitiveness of the greenhouse sector in the province. Provincial Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal announced the funding on Thursday at Link Greenhouse near Bowmanville, just east of Oshawa. The Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative aims to provide funding for the creation of […] Read more
Ontario processing tomato contracts set
An agreement has been reached between growers and processors of Ontario tomatoes for the 2017 growing season, maintaining the 2016 pricing agreement and 2016 contract tonnage. Final prices, however, weren’t released Friday, as they historically have been on the website of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG). According to the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Processing […] Read more
Take advantage of growth, guard against risk with new U.S. regime: Frum
Political commentator David Frum says there’s good, bad and potentially ugly for Canadian farmers in the United States’ new and unpredictable Trump administration. Frum, a senior editor at The Atlantic magazine and, more recently, an owner of Ontario farmland, told the Grain Farmers of Ontario March Classic in London recently that global markets have been […] Read more
Ontario cereals lab filling nationwide demand
Grain Farmers of Ontario and SGS Canada took a risk in creating the Grains Analytical Testing Laboratory, as a partnership bringing wheat testing to a province with a comparatively small wheat crop. After eight months, and a first harvest of wheat analytics, the Guelph lab’s manager says they have found there is interest in the […] Read more
Technology could open up hay export markets for Ontario
An Ontario hay co-operative hopes to have a double-compaction facility running by 2018, giving it access to global markets for hay. Ontario hay has traditionally been at a shipping cost disadvantage compared to most competitors, as hay headed for Asia or the Middle East has had to be shipped by rail to the West Coast. […] Read more
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