Statistics Canada says that farm households are doing much better than they did a generation or two ago. That’s something to celebrate. Median farm income was almost half of the income of the rest of the population in the early 1970s. As of 2016, it was 20 percent above the median income of the rest […] Read more
Author Archives
Higher farm incomes are definitely something to celebrate
Ont. farmers reject increase to beef checkoff
A bid to increase the checkoff Ontario beef producers pay to Beef Farmers of Ontario failed to get the 66 percent of votes required for approval. Beef Farmers of Ontario dipped into its reserves to pay a 2017 deficit worth nearly $1 million and had planned to do the same in 2018, expecting that the […] Read more
U of G launches food accelerator to push innovation
The University of Guelph has created a new organization to help launch agri-food ideas and innovations. Accelerator Guelph aims to provide business training, help create networks and provide a process to innovators in agriculture and food at the university. Getting research and great ideas from university researchers to the market has been a challenging process. […] Read more
Ontario renews partnership with University of Guelph
The University of Guelph in Ontario is expected to receive up to $713 million for agriculture research over the next 10 years through a renewal of its agreement with the province’s agriculture ministry. The new agreement has been updated to manage digital data and is aimed to leverage more funds from other levels of government […] Read more
Study puts dollar value on U.S. dairy support
American dairy farmers continue to benefit from broad agriculture supports, a study shows. Dairy Farmers of Canada has had Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates regularly study the effects of American policy on dairy farms in the United States. The latest data were released at the recent Dairy Farmers of Canada Policy Conference in Ottawa. It […] Read more
Ont., feds sign new ag program agreement
The Canadian and Ontario governments have signed an agreement to provide $1.5 billion of Canadian Agricultural Partnership money. Jeff Leal, Ontario’s agriculture minister, says the five-year program is expected to start April 3 and provide a seamless transition between the old federal-provincial agriculture partnership, Growing Forward 2, and the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Leal announced […] Read more
Milk ad awareness beating top brands
Dairy Farmers of Canada has been pushed to improve how it measures the effectiveness of its farmer-funded milk promotion
Dairy Farmers of Canada is trying harder to track how well its marketing efforts boost milk sales after Ontario members pulled promotion funding over a lack of information. DFC’s recent policy conference included a presentation by Don Mayo, global managing partner for IMI, an organization that measures media campaigns. Mayo is part way through a […] Read moreProcessing vegetable compromise reached
The Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers marketing board believes it has found a compromise to an imposed regulation that it fears would have gutted grower contract protection. Farmers had previously had two years of contract security, but new regulations would have reduced it to none and processors could have dropped growers whenever they wished. The matter […] Read more
Ont. vegetable growers face new regulatory reality
The only way is forward. That’s what Ontario’s processing vegetable growers heard at their annual meeting from the chair of the group that regulates farm marketing in the province. That doesn’t mean some farmers didn’t still question the province’s move to fire the board of the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers and its staff last year. […] Read more
Ontario’s advertising pullout causes headaches for DFC
The decision last June by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario to pull out of national dairy advertising is forcing change at the national Dairy Farmers of Canada. The decision, which took effect in January, delayed the DFC 2018 budget as the national organization reworked staffing and commitments based on losing $37.5 million in 2018, the […] Read more
