BLENHEIM, Ont. — Ontario Agriculture’s nutrient management specialist says progress toward phosphorus reduction targets in Lake Erie cannot be measured by testing the water. Instead, the province’s farmers will need to work together on land to establish science-based models that demonstrate how improved practices provide a reduction benefit, Chris Brown said. “As farmers, we need […] Read more
Stories by Jeffrey Carter
Ontario biomass producers in expansion mode
CAMPELLVILLE, Ont. — There’s been much talk about dedicated biomass in Ontario over the past couple decades. Now the industry may finally be ready to grow. “We expect a major surge in acres this year,” Urs Eggiman told a Ontario Biomass Producers Co-operative meeting Feb. 25. “We expect it will soon go to five digits, […] Read more
Ontario imposes legislation to address stray ground current
OUNGAH, Ont. — The Ontario government appears ready to pass legislation that will force Hydro One and other electrical distributors in the province to quickly address stray ground current complaints. The second reading of a private members’ bill introduced by Conservative MPP Rick Nicholls was passed Feb. 18 with support from agriculture minister Jeff Leal. […] Read more
Organic, conventional show nutrient differences
Study finds higher percentage of the daily recommended requirements of very long chain fatty acids in organic whole milk
DRESDEN, Ont. — Studies published in the British Journal of Nutrition found differences in the nutritional composition of organic and conventionally-produced foods. The two latest were published Feb. 16 and publicized by Newcastle University in the United Kingdom. They compare organic and conventional milk and meat. The milk study is a systematic review of 170 […] Read more
Agriculture at the crossroads
GUELPH, Ont. — The art of agriculture or, for some, its spiritual essence, should be valued as much as the science, says a farmer from Ontario. “We have to realize everything is interconnected and we cannot live in isolation,” Chris Boettcher told the Guelph Organic Conference Jan. 29. “It may be that we’re entering the […] Read more
Ontario sinks money into greenhouse sector
DRESDEN, Ontario — Job creation and economic activity are behind a Feb. 2 statement announcing more than $1 million in grants to an Ontario greenhouse company. Lakeside Produce Inc., which also operates greenhouses and shipping facilities in California and Mexico, will use most of the money to expand its Leamington, Ont., warehouse by about two […] Read more
Galloways offer grass-fed option
LONDON, Ont. — Farmers interested in the grass-fed beef market can look to the example of Andy and Lisa Sproston. Cuts from their Galloway cattle demand a premium at their on-farm store. Tenderloin sells for more than $60 a kilogram and New York strip loin for more than $45. Meaty soup bones sell for $14.95. […] Read more
Processing tomatoes recovering
LONDON, Ont. — The low Canadian dollar and new market opportunities are sparking a resurgence of Ontario’s processing tomato industry. Jim Poel, president of Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, said the industry’s low point came two years ago when H.J. Heinz Co. announced the closure of its processing plant in southwestern Ontario. The closure reduced the […] Read more
Grower stores produce underground
GUELPH, Ont. — Zach Loeks stores vegetables year round with his award-winning, underground, cold storage facility. Through the winter, vegetables are held at just above freezing and with near-optimum humidity. By making a thousand ice blocks in the dead of winter, similar conditions are extended through the summer. “We have 2 to 4 C temperatures […] Read more
Financial advisers give it their best guess
The low dollar is supporting farmgate prices, but financial analysts disagree on where the loonie is headed
LONDON, Ont. — Canadian farmers are in the enviable position of being buffered, to some small extent, from the volatile world economic situation. That’s the view of JP Gervais, chief economist with Farm Credit Canada, and international investment adviser Donald Coxe who spoke here at the Ontario Processing Vegetable Industry Conference Feb. 2 and 3. […] Read more
