Ontario and the federal government will fund a program to help producers develop innovative equipment or production techniques on their farms.
“The program is designed to help broaden the use of innovative technologies and practices on farms,” said Stuart Budd of the Ontario agriculture ministry’s research and innovation branch.
“Innovation is a pretty broad term and we have intentionally left it that way to encourage a broad range of proposals.”
However, he said the major focus will be on new equipment and management practices that improve farm efficiency.
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“Certainly there is nothing that precludes proposals that improve environmental practices through innovative solutions, for example, but the emphasis is on how to make Ontario farms more efficient and competitive,” he said.
“We see the major focus as improving the bottom line.”
Program rules allow consideration of farmer-proposed projects that fund on-farm demonstrations, research on new equipment or management practices or “projects that provide required data for regulatory approval of innovative technologies.”
Farmers with ideas they would like to test will have to work through non-supply management commodity groups, which will recommend projects to the Ontario Agricultural Adaptation Council.
Commodity groups also can make proposals.
The council will administer the program and its four-year $12.5 million budget.
Other provinces have also announced farmer innovation programs under the federal-provincial Growing Forward policy, which is cost-shared 60-40 by Ottawa and the provinces.
