VIDEO: Food and farmers at SIAL 2017

VIDEO: Food and farmers at SIAL 2017

Reading Time: < 1 minute John Greig, Ontario field editor for Glacier FarmMedia, takes in the SIAL food industry trade show in Toronto, Ont., and speaks with a few of the exhibitors showcasing their products.

VIDEO: Wet fields in southern Ontario delaying planting

VIDEO: Wet fields in southern Ontario delaying planting

Reading Time: < 1 minute While at least one crop appears to be benefitting from the overly wet conditions in southern Ontario, corn and soybean growers are seeing their planting efforts delayed because of too much rain and wet soils. John Greig, reporter with Glacier FarmMedia, shows you some of the conditions farmers in southern Ontario are facing.


An aerial view of the Van Raay family's corn silo after it collapsed on their farm.

When a grain silo collapses

This silo collapse raises the question: Do you know what your first step would be in the event of major building failure?

Reading Time: 5 minutes On November 1 last year, when Martin and Teresa Van Raay’s 100-foot-tall steel silo smashed to the ground, it set off a flurry of activity that involved their suppliers, friends and fellow farmers. In the end, it reinforced their faith in their community’s ability to come together at a time of crisis, but that’s not […] Read more

(OntLA.on.ca)

Ontario budget seeks tax flexibility for on-farm processing

Reading Time: 4 minutes 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


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario tomato farmers to get less on higher yields

Reading Time: 2 minutes 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

Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs (fourth from left), announced the new Greenhouse Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative at a greenhouse in Bowmanville, Ont. (Photo courtesy OMAFRA)

Ontario greenhouse growers get competitiveness fund

Reading Time: < 1 minute 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


(HeinzItUp.com)

Ontario processing tomato contracts set

Reading Time: 2 minutes 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

Prince Edward County landowner and political commentator David Frum spoke to the GFO March Classic in London. (John Greig photo)

Take advantage of growth, guard against risk with new U.S. regime: Frum

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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


The joint GFO/SGS Canada lab opened in Guelph in July 2016. (GFO/SGS Canada video image)

Ontario cereals lab filling nationwide demand

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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

Compressed hay bales. (Hunterwood.com)

Technology could open up hay export markets for Ontario

Reading Time: 3 minutes 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