Reading Time: 3 minutes Tomato growers and processors need a clear solution to the marketing purgatory into which they’ve been plunged over the past couple of years. However, the province’s recent proposals fail to provide the needed stability. I’ve written numerous similar pieces over the past couple of years as the province tries to break the collective bargaining power […] Read more
Tag Archives Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers
Editorial: Convoluted solution is no solution
OPVG calls new marketing regulations a ‘sham’
The organization says the changes will put give more power to processors
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG) calls new marketing regulations proposed for tomato and carrot growers a “sham process” that will put the balance of power in the hands of processors. The organization released a statement Dec. 18, the first comments made since Ernie Hardeman, Ontario’s minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs announced the […] Read more
Direct negotiations coming to processing tomatoes and carrots
Growers can also vote to negotiate as a group by secret ballot with individual processors
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario is opening up the processing tomato and carrot market to direct negotiations with processors, but is also leaving open the possibility of collective negotiation with individual processors. Ernie Hardeman, Ontario’s minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs released a letter Dec. 11 informing growers of the decision. Why it matters: The decision will reduce […] Read more
Robbins named new processing vegetable growers manager
The new GM will join the organization at a time of change in marketing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Keith Robbins is the new general manager of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG). Robbins, who comes from the Poultry Industry Council to the OPVG, is an experienced employee and manager of agriculture industry associations. Robbins starts his new role Sept. 17 and takes over from Cathy Lennon who is the new general manager of […] Read more
Processing vegetable input period ends
Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers looks to maintain current marketing, while other producers look for change
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers says that instituting direct contracting for Ontario growers of processing tomatoes will “devastate rural Ontario growers and potentially kill thousands of jobs.” The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) – the provincial government agency that regulates farm marketing boards – has proposed opening up marketing for tomatoes to direct contracting […] Read more
Ontario fruit, vegetable growers challenged by wet weather
Strawberry season delayed; veggie growers wait out the rain
Reading Time: 4 minutes Ontario’s cool, wet spring has widespread repercussions for the fruit and vegetable sector. So far it has delayed flowering and planting, caused some farms to reschedule the arrival of temporary foreign workers and created uncertainty about the viability of transplanted seedlings. Why it matters: Fruits and vegetables are high value crops and not getting enough […] Read more
More squeeze coming for tomato growers
Provincial government wants open marketing considered for processing vegetables
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ontario’s processing vegetable growers are being hit by more re-organization and uncertainty from government regulators. The provincial government and the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) is now pushing for open marketing at the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, especially for tomatoes, after already putting the sector through two years of changes. The OFPMC is the […] Read more
Canadian agriculture needs technology to innovate
Next innovators will need to look beyond yield and to what consumers are demanding
Reading Time: 2 minutes Will the next Canadian agricultural technological revolution focus on yield or taste? According to Tyler Whale, president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, an organization focused on technological development in food and agriculture, Canada’s farm and food sector must consider more than yield, stress tolerance, and other production factors to stay competitive and relevant to market demands. […] Read more
Former OMAFRA manager appointed OPVG chair
Dave Hope succeeds Suzanne van Bommel as appointed chair of the processing vegetable board
Reading Time: < 1 minute Dave Hope has been named as the new chair of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers (OPVG) board. Hope succeeds Suzanne van Bommel in the position after van Bommel’s recent resignation. Hope is a retired assistant deputy minister of OMAFRA, and a former mixed livestock farmer. He was raised on an eighth-generation farm in Ontario, said […] Read more
Van Bommel resigns as processing vegetable growers board chair
To take on a role with the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission
Reading Time: < 1 minute Suzanne van Bommel has resigned her role as chair of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers. Van Bommel was appointed chair after the province’s administrator turned control of the OPVG back to a grower board made up of half elected and half appointed members. The board will be fully elected by growers after the organization’s annual […] Read more
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