OFVGA executive director Alison Robertson and Brian Gilroy, the 2023 recipient of the OFVGA Award of Merit. Gilroy is a former OFVGA chair and apple grower from Meaford.

Brian Gilroy receives Industry Award of Merit

Former OFVGA chair honoured for contributions to fruit and vegetable industry

Brian Gilroy is the 2023 recipient of the OFVGA’s Industry Award of Merit. He received the award at the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association’s annual industry banquet in Niagara Falls Feb. 21. An apple grower from the Meaford area, Gilroy has been involved with the OFVGA board in various capacities since 1990 and was […] Read more

Keith Currie. (OFA photo)

Former OFA president to lead CFA

Keith Currie acclaimed to replace Mary Robinson

A former president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is taking the helm of Canada’s largest general farmers’ organization. Keith Currie of Collingwood, Ont. was acclaimed as the new president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture this week during the CFA’s annual general meeting in Ottawa. As CFA president, Currie replaces Mary Robinson of Albany, […] Read more

Ontario land values rise by double digits – again

Ontario land values rise by double digits – again

Grey, Essex, Elgin see rates climb well over 30 per cent

Southwestern Ontario farmland values continued to soar in 2022, with some of the most significant increases occurring in what were, at one time, historically undervalued counties. According to the latest farmland values report from Valco, a London-area real estate appraiser, farmland values across the 11 Southwestern counties increased by 25.65 per cent. This, said author […] Read more

Farmers hear from national political leaders

Farmers hear from national political leaders

For the first time since at least 1980, according to a long-time member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, a sitting Prime Minister has spoken to the annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). Liberal leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was a last minute addition to the agenda, joining Conservative Party leader Pierre […] Read more

There is much to celebrate in Canadian agriculture, but there are also significant challenges facing the sector.

Editorial: We need to celebrate agriculture each and every day

Canada’s Agriculture Day was celebrated last month for the seventh consecutive year. One word came my mind this agriculture day, Feb. 15, as I received information from groups via email and watched social media channels. That word was ‘meh.’ My lacklustre response made me ponder whether we still need an official day to celebrate Canadian […] Read more


File photo overlooking the marina and sea wall at Half Moon Bay, about 30 km south of San Francisco. (JasonDoiy/E+/Getty Images)

Suspect in California farm worker shootings appears in court

Early evidence suggests workplace grievance, authorities say

Redwood City, Calif. | Reuters — A California farm worker accused of shooting seven people to death near San Francisco, some of them his co-workers, made his first court appearance on Wednesday after he was charged with murder in the state’s second deadly gun rampage in recent days. Chunli Zhao, 66, the lone suspect in […] Read more

(RBAuction.com)

Ritchie Bros. raises cash payout in bid for IAA

Activist investor Starboard Value buys into Ritchie

Reuters — Canada’s Ritchie Bros. on Monday sweetened the cash component of its buyout offer for IAA Inc. by 28 per cent, valuing the U.S. auto retailer at US$5.94 billion, and also secured the backing of a key IAA shareholder which had questioned the initial offer. The latest cash-and-stock offer at $44.40 per share, will […] Read more

Quebec hog producer Rene Roy is the new chairman of the Canadian Pork Council. (Cpc-ccp.com)

Canadian Pork Council names new top brass

Rene Roy elected as council's new chair

A few weeks after hiring a new executive director, members of the Canadian Pork Council have also chosen their new board chair and first vice-chair. The council on Tuesday announced it had elected Rene Roy, a hog producer from St-Jules in Quebec’s Beauce region, as its new board chair, and Scott Peters, a producer from […] Read more


File photo of Rabobank’s office building in Utrecht. (Rabobank.com)

Rabobank to offer Canadian farm-level lending

Dutch co-operative bank's Canadian arm to loan directly to farmers, starting on Prairies

Updated — A global financing firm operating at higher altitudes in Canada’s food and agrifood sector now plans to expand its business down to the farm and ranch level. The Canadian arm of Rabobank — an Amsterdam-based farmer co-operative lender, providing banking, leasing and real estate services in more than 38 countries — announced Tuesday […] Read more

Justine Hendricks, shown here in a 2019 video, is the new CEO of Farm Credit Canada. (Elevate International video screengrab video via YouTube)

EDC executive to lead Farm Credit Canada

Justine Hendricks to replace retiring Michael Hoffort

Canada’s federal farm lender is importing its next chief executive from Export Development Canada. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the appointment of Justine Hendricks, EDC’s senior vice-president and chief corporate sustainability officer since 2019, as FCC’s new CEO effective Jan. 30, 2023. As CEO, Hendricks replaces Michael Hoffort, an FCC staffer since […] Read more