Grain Farmers of Ontario chair Mark Brock speaks with media Friday on the front lawn of MPP Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, Ont. (Ralph Pearce photo)

Pearce: GFO goes informative rather than inflammatory

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not that farmers in Ontario aren’t frustrated and angry concerning legislation aimed at curbing the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. They are. However, during a protest Friday in front of Ontario Deputy Premier Deb Matthews’ riding office in London, executives with the Grain Farmers of Ontario and roughly 35 farmers took a more proactive […] Read more

bee hive

Making the case in the neonic debate

Can agriculture afford to lose to the non-science of neonic opponents? The costs would be even higher than you probably think

Reading Time: 13 minutes Here in early 2015, it’s becoming a recognized pattern in agriculture: another day, another article, another proclamation and another call for action, all revolving around farmers’ use of neonicotinoid seed treatments and the alleged damage this does to bees and bee colonies. To say there is an abundance of information on this topic is one […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Neonic rules ‘unworkable’ for Ont. corn, soy growers

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s planned regulation to limit the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments might as well be a ban from where the organization sits representing the province’s corn and soy producers. After reviewing the draft regulation, which provincial officials posted March 23 for public comment until May 7, Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday it “strongly opposes […] Read more

pigs on the farm

The West’s big challenge for soybeans

Soybean Guide: Despite their province’s soaring soy acreage, Manitoba’s hog industry is still locked into expensive imported soymeal. Worse, change may still be years away

Reading Time: 5 minutes It was another banner year for Manitoba soybeans in 2014 with production hitting a record 1.1 million tonnes, up 3.7 per cent from 2013. Figures from Statistics Canada show that, although average yields dropped 14 per cent to 32.3 bushels per acre, a 21 per cent increase in harvested area more than made up for […] Read more


(Photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ont. ag minister to review GFO proposal on bee health, neonics

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario corn and soybean growers have secured a meeting with the provincial ag minister on the farmers’ proposed Plan B to balance crop pest control against bee health. Grain Farmers of Ontario said Thursday its representatives will meet March 26 with Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal to discuss the proposals laid out in GFO’s Ontario Pollinator […] Read more

(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ont. oat, barley growers approve GFO entry

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s barley and oat growers have voted just over three-quarters in favour of representation by the province’s wheat, corn and soybean growers’ organization. Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) confirmed Monday that eligible growers voted 77 per cent in favour of the move in a November vote conducted by the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission. GFO […] Read more


cash cropper smartphone app

When it comes to crop rotation planning, there’s an app for that

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: < 1 minute Crop prices are certainly more bearish now than they have been during the past two seasons, and because of this some farmers will question whether they should tweak their cropping rotation in the short term or stay the course. Now there is a smartphone app called “Cash Cropper” that will help you to evaluate: The […] Read more