Sellers of veal through sales barns will now have to pay licence fees to Veal Farmers of Ontario. Veal Farmers of Ontario recently announced amendments to regulations that came into effect Jan. 1 that update the definitions of veal cattle and include the collection of licence fees on veal cattle sold in sales barns. VFO […] Read more
Licence fees on veal now apply at sales barn
Standardizing the future of food traceability
Developing repeatable standards – and hopefully gaining a competitive advantage
As demands for more detailed traceability systems build, many are looking to blockchain technology — systems that securely record data about food at every stage in the value chain — as an ideal technological solution. Why it matters: Standardized blockchain frameworks could help speed the adoption of rigorous traceability systems, and potentially give Canadian producers […] Read more
Managing COVID, female leadership and the climate plan
Federal agriculture minister looks ahead to 2021 and back through a challenging 2020
Questions and answers have been edited for length. Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau recently talked to Glacier FarmMedia Ottawa reporter D.C. Fraser in a year-end interview. Looking back at the year, what was the biggest personal challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic for you? Trying to identify those who were the most in […] Read more
Rural vaccine rollout will need to be prioritized
Moderna could be the only vaccine option for parts of rural and Northern Ontario
Rural and northern areas of Ontario will likely not see a vaccine rollout until the early part of 2021, and then the limited numbers will mean prioritization. The Moderna vaccine, which doesn’t require the same stringent ultra-cold storage protocols as its Pfizer-BioNTech counterpart, is ideal for distribution in rural, northern and remote areas. The question […] Read more
Soil’s processes need to be understood to build organic matter
Increasing soil health is a highly complex process tied to chemical and biological cycles
To understand the paradigm shift in the production of soil organic matter you’re going to have to dig a little deeper. “Soil organic matter (SOM) is intimately linked to soil health, to ecosystem health, to planetary health and it has influences on the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil,” Sarah Hargreaves, Ecological Farmers […] Read more
Chatham-Kent Farm Show rescheduled for 2022
The Chatham-Kent Farm Show has been cancelled for 2021, like many other farm events. The show, which runs each year at the John D. Bradley Centre in Chatham will run again Jan. 26 and 27, 2022. OP Show Productions has taken over management of the show and the company says it was looking forward to […] Read more
Local governments hit greenhouse light pollution
Growing clusters of greenhouses light up the night sky, creating problems with neighbours
Updated Jan. 18, 2021 Municipalities in the major greenhouse-growing area of the province are clamping down on increasingly bright greenhouse lighting making night into day in the rural areas where they operate. The municipality of Leamington recently enacted a bylaw to stem and roll back light pollution emitted from the region’s sizeable and diverse greenhouse […] Read more
Editorial: Stop worrying about off-farm income
Supplementing farm income some way is now the normal practice
It’s that time the agriculture stops worrying about off-farm income. The amount of income earned in a farming family but not made from the farm operation has been discussed often for decades. The main reason we know about off-farm income is it is measured and reported by Statistics Canada. With about 98 per cent of […] Read more
Rothsay increases deadstock pickup fees
Rothsay, one of the largest deadstock pickup services in the province, increased its prices Dec. 14. A letter from Rothsay to regular customers explained that, effective Dec. 14, on-farm pickup on weekdays would increase to $50 per stop, and $65 per stop for calls on Fridays. Previously, prices were closer to $20 per pickup and […] Read more
Drier South American conditions supporting soybean prices
Russia planning tariffs on grains as of February
Statistics Canada’s final crop survey confirmed above-average yields for Ontario corn and soybeans; however, winter wheat yields came in similar to the five-year average. Quick look Soybeans: Ontario 2020 production was higher than the five-year average. Corn: Corn production in Ontario is up .3 million tonnes over the five-year average. Wheat: Canadian non-durum wheat stocks […] Read more
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