Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa announces the province’s next horseracing sector funding agreement March 23 at Hamilton’s Flamboro Downs. (OntarioRacing.com)

Ontario ponies up for two decades of horseracing

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario government has put its next funding plan for the province’s horseracing sector on a substantially longer track. The provincial government on Friday announced a funding agreement providing the sector with $105 million a year for 19 years starting April 1, 2019, to replace the five-year, $100 million-per-year Horse Racing Partnership Funding Program in […] Read more

(Lindsay Irrigation video screengrab via YouTube)

Ontario power utilities offer farm water pump rebate

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario farmers buying certain types of high-efficiency water pumping systems for irrigation, horticulture or stock watering could now be up for rebates. Hydro One and Niagara Peninsula Energy (NPEI) on Friday announced the AgriPump rebate program, which the two electricity utilities described as the first plan of its kind in the province. For farmer customers […] Read more


(NorthGrenville.ca)

Community to ‘transform’ Guelph’s Kemptville ag campus

Reading Time: 3 minutes The home municipality for Ontario Agricultural College’s (OAC) former Kemptville campus is set to remake the site as an “education and community hub.” The municipality of North Grenville, which includes Kemptville, about 40 km south of Ottawa, closed a deal in December to purchase the Kemptville ag campus, with the official transfer due to take […] Read more

Glacier FarmMedia launches Farmtario

Glacier FarmMedia launches Farmtario

Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada’s largest publisher of farm magazines and newspapers has cultivated a new source of news for farmers in Ontario. Launched Wednesday at the London Farm Show, Farmtario will be a biweekly print publication starting April 30. Its website, Farmtario.com, is available immediately. “We see a bright future for Ontario agriculture and we’re proud to announce […] Read more


(Haagen-dazs.ca)

Nestle to spread out at London ice cream plant

Reading Time: 2 minutes A multi-phase overhaul at Nestle Canada’s southwestern Ontario ice cream factory is moving further ahead with a plant expansion. The company’s London, Ont. ice cream plant, which has operated since 1966 and supplies brands such as Haagen-Dazs, Drumstick, Parlour and Skinny Cow for all of Canada, is in the midst of a four-phase, $51.5 million […] Read more

Former 4-H Canada president Rob Black will be stepping down from his role as CEO of the Rural Ontario Institute to take his place in the Senate. (Photo courtesy ROI)

Rural Ontario leader appointed to Senate

Reading Time: 2 minutes A leader in Ontario’s agriculture and rural community is one of Canada’s newest senators. Rob Black, executive director of the Rural Ontario Institute and a former president of 4-H Canada, was named Thursday as one of two new senators from Ontario by Governor General Julie Payette. Why is this significant? It has been a long […] Read more


University of Guelph president Dr. Franco Vaccarino (right) and Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal sign a new research partnership agreement, with Guelph-area MPP Liz Sandals. (John Greig photo)

Ontario, U of Guelph renew ag research partnership

Reading Time: 2 minutes Up to $713 million in agriculture research will be funded at the University of Guelph over the next 10 years through a renewal of the university’s agreement with the provincial ag ministry. The new agreement has been updated to manage digital data and is aimed to provide a base from which to leverage more research […] Read more

(OntLA.on.ca)

Ontario, Canada sign $1.5 billion CAP agreement

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian and Ontario governments have signed an agreement that will see $1.5 billion of Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) money available to be spent in the province. Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal said the five-year program will start April 3, which, he added, will mean a seamless transition between the current federal-provincial agriculture and food […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario processing vegetable contract compromise reached

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers marketing board believes it has found a compromise to an imposed regulation that would have gutted grower contract protection. Why it matters: Farmers had contract security of two years previously, but new regulations would have taken that down to none — and processors could have dropped growers whenever they wished. […] Read more

Hot fall pulls Ontario corn yields above average

Hot fall pulls Ontario corn yields above average

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ontario’s corn crop yielded better than expected, at 184 bushels per acre average, while soybeans were closer to their 10-year average at 44 bushels per acre, according to Agricorp. Why it matters: The provincial crop insurance agency has some of the most solid crop production numbers in Ontario, as its members have to report their […] Read more