The Liberal government's minimum wage hike will cost Ontario fruit and vegetable growers $297 million over the next two years. The impact on the industry was calculated by professional consultants and presented to all levels of the provincial government, but Premier Kathleen Wynne, Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) and senior bureaucrats chose not to listen,... Read More

Ontario’s veterinary community is responding to the rise in goat and sheep production with new education and research initiatives. Jeff Wichtel, dean of the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), says since September, his school’s curriculum has expanded teaching to include more information on small ruminants, and is conducting several new research projects to build up health... Read More

Almost half of Ontario's certified crop advisors packed a London, ON hotel conference room this week for their organization's annual meeting and conference. Ontario Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) Association chair Ken Currah says meeting attendance is a strong indication of grower demand for agronomic services and the expertise that CCAs bring to the farm. He... Read More

December ended with very cold weather across Canada, but overall Canadian tractor and combine sales numbers reported by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) were hot, compared to 2016. The December 2017 the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Canadian Flash Report shows 2WD farm tractors up 15.1%, 4WD farm tractors up 24.5% and self propelled combines... Read More

Precision agriculture provides clear evidence of the impact of yield variability. But often farmers find themselves mired in a swamp of data as they work to create management zones and prescriptions to maximize yield across a field. University of Guelph's Clarence Swanton certainly sees the opportunity for farmers to intensify management and increase yield but... Read More

The national association that represents Canadian agricultural retailers has hired a new executive director. Mitch Rezansoff has taken on the lead post with the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers following Delaney Ross Burtnack's departure for the Manitoba Canola Growers Association last summer. Rezansoff was most recently the Integrated Solutions Manager at Enns Brothers — a John... Read More