The weather and the provincial election campaign are heating up in Ontario. With just over two weeks to go before the vote, party leaders are looking to rural Ontario — and the agriculture and food sector — for votes to win power in Ontario's fractured and dysfunctional political landscape. Can Premier Kathleen Wynne relegate the... Read More
Category: Ag Policy
The Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA) announced today that it has filed a Level of Service Complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency, contending that Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway did not fulfill their common carrier obligations for the movement of Western Canadian grains and oilseeds this crop year. “The breakdown of the Western... Read More
With incredible yields comes the incredible need for storage. Fortunately, plastics protect much of our agricultural commodities today, in North America — twine and net-wrap secure livestock forage and bags shelter grain and hay. But are we overvaluing these privileges? Are we willing to sacrifice the environment and our own health as balance to protecting... Read More
It's with much fanfare, pomp and circumstance, confetti cannons and more that we roll out the following news: Lyndsey Smith, editor of this illustrious web site is moving to Ottawa to open our fifth bureau. (The other four are Lethbridge, somewhere in the Special Areas of Alberta, Guelph and, currently, Winnipeg. There will be a... Read More
Following on the heels of a recommendations report that came out of the Beef Strawman process, a new study completed by Toma & Bouma suggests three main ways Canada's beef industry can improve its profitability. The Canadian Beef Industry Benchmark study, conducted with the help of Drs. Steve Morgan Jones and Allan Preston, suggest that... Read More
Is rural Ontario unique – or indispensable? Some would argue both. And a new poll designed to eek out rural priorities suggests they’re right. The poll in question, which opened after the provincial election was called last week and closed yesterday (May 7) at 5 p.m., was led by the Rural Ontario Institute. And while... Read More
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced Monday, May 5, 2014, that the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act (Bill C-30) passed third reading in the House of Commons and has been referred to the Senate. This legislation aims to put into law measures for Canada's logistics system to move agricultural products,... Read More
The federal government's proposed Bill-30, dubbed the "Fair Rail for Grain Farmers" act, hit a snag while moving through the legislative process yesterday, as the bill was sent back to committee over an amendment being deemed "out of order." At issue was the amendment proposing railways compensating shippers over poor service — what some have... Read More
Earlier this week, Ontario's Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk confirmed what people in Ontario's horse racing industry have known and lived through for the past two years. In the Auditor General's special report on the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Modernization Plan and cancellation of the Slots-At-Racetracks Program (SARP), Lysyk concluded that “OLG developed its Modernization Plan... Read More
The Ontario government has announced a program to help beekeepers rebuild their colonies, as a means to maintain the essential role honeybees play in the pollination of agricultural crops. Harsh winter conditions and ongoing health threats, such as from varroa mites or other pests, have knocked back bee populations. The province is anticipating higher than... Read More