Is agriculture ahead or behind the rest of the economy on the technology curve? I’ve always said ahead, but those who monitor these sorts of things from outside the industry always rank agriculture as a “mature” or “legacy” sector that lags other sectors in technology adoption. The answer is likely somewhere in the middle — […] Read more
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Speed up availability of high-speed internet in rural areas
My fist-pump moment when we were deciding whether to buy our small farm 10 years ago had nothing to do with the state of the house, or soil conditions, or proximity to off-farm work. I was standing on the second floor of the derelict house on the property and I could see the elevator leg […] Read more
Low milk prices prompt U.S. dairy to eye supply management
You can tell every five to 10 years that the American milk situation is getting particularly dire — when they start having discussions about supply management. Dairy farms in the United States are in their fifth year of chronically low milk prices, which declined quickly in late 2014 from about $25 per hundredweight of milk […] Read more
Higher farm incomes are definitely something to celebrate
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
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 more
