Growth in Southwestern Ontario farmland values slowed in 2023

Growth in Southwestern Ontario farmland values slowed in 2023

Resiliency in Ontario’s farm sector keeps per-acre costs high

Growth in the value of farmland in Southwestern Ontario slowed in 2023, but per acre costs remain at record highs. Ryan Parker, partner with London-area real estate appraiser Valco, has been authoring an annual report on farmland values in Southwestern Ontario since 2010. In the latest analysis, he says it’s clear higher interest rates, lower […] Read more

File photo of laker vessels navigating the Welland Canal. (JonathanNicholls/iStock/Getty Images)

Seaway strike backs up Ontario grain

Prairie grain may follow suit if strike backs up traffic via Thunder Bay, GFO warns

The nature of eastern Canadian grain logistics, and a strike by St. Lawrence Seaway workers who operate the system’s canals, will see cascading impacts across the system if the situation isn’t resolved quickly, according to Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario. Unifor workers in both Ontario and Quebec walked off the job Sunday […] Read more

(Sollio Agriculture photo)

Sollio to exit southwestern Ontario grain handling

Country elevator assets to be sold after harvest, co-op to focus on ag retail

One of Canada’s biggest ag co-operatives is moving ahead on plans to “optimize assets” by shedding its stake in grain handling in southwestern Ontario and focusing more closely on retail ag inputs. Sollio Agriculture, the agribusiness arm of Quebec-based Sollio Cooperative Group, on Tuesday announced it will start “an orderly wind-down” of its Ontario Grain […] Read more

File photo of a U.S. veterinary medical officer examining tissue samples for avian influenza virus. (Suzanne Deblois photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

High-path avian flu drops into southwestern Ontario

H5N1 confirmed on poultry farm

Ontario’s feather sector is moving to a “heightened biosecurity advisory” after highly pathogenic avian influenza was confirmed this weekend in a poultry flock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday it had confirmed high-path H5N1 in a flock in southern Ontario, a day after the Ontario Feather Board Command Centre (FBCC) published a report of […] Read more

A vessel loading at Parrish and Heimbecker’s Goderich, Ont. grain terminal. (Photo courtesy P+H)

P+H reworks Lake Huron grain terminal for larger boats

Dust control also added at Goderich site

Grain and agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker has built out the mooring structures at its Lake Huron grain terminal to allow “all configurations” of boats to load and unload there. The Winnipeg company announced Friday it has completed a new mooring dolphin at its terminal at Goderich, Ont., as well as a new vessel-loading spout […] Read more


(Silo.ca)

Xplornet buys Ontario’s Silo Wireless

Deal includes rural wireless, fibre services

Canada’s biggest rural broadband company has expanded its space in the southwestern Ontario market by buying internet and fibre-to-home provider Silo Wireless. New Brunswick-based Xplornet Communications, whose client list already includes over a million rural customers in all provinces, announced it has closed its deal to buy Silo for an undisclosed sum. The deal gives […] Read more

A 12-week global test of the McDonald’s P.L.T. starts Sept. 30, 2019 in 28 southwestern Ontario stores. (CNW Group/McDonald’s Canada)

Ontario to host global test for McDonald’s pulseburger

The biggest quick-service dining chain on the planet is set to use southwestern Ontario as the global test market for its first foray into Beyond Meat. McDonald’s announced Thursday it will run a 12-week test for a plant-based burger it calls the “P.L.T.” exclusively at 28 restaurants in the region starting Monday. “This test allows […] Read more

Chicken ginseng soup. (Greatmountainginseng.com)

Ginseng exports not in trouble as claimed

MarketsFarm — China has not halted its ginseng imports from Canada despite allegations to the contrary, a spokesperson from Ginseng Ontario says. Rebecca Coates, executive director for Ginseng Ontario, said China is only one of many export destinations for Canadian-grown ginseng. Other major buyers include Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Europe. An official from another […] Read more


(ArcticGardens.ca)

Ontario backs frozen vegetable plant upgrades

The Canadian arm of French vegetable processor Bonduelle will put up almost $80 million to upgrade and expand three of its frozen vegetable plants in southwestern Ontario, with provincial government backing. The province on Tuesday announced it will invest up to $8.5 million in Bonduelle Canada’s upgrades for its processing plants at Tecumseh, Ingersoll and […] Read more

(John Deere photo)

Precision ag tech’s link to broadband under study

Crop growers in southwestern Ontario are being asked how their access to high-speed internet, or lack thereof, has helped or hindered their adoption of precision ag tools. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), as part of the Regional and Rural Broadband (R2B2) project, are studying how “current and future connectivity” influences […] Read more