By Tom Collins INDIAN RIVER — To handle COVID-19 concerns, managers are doing everything from postponing sales, to switching to online only, to considering tag sales or a hybrid of all three. Billy Elmhirst, of Indian River Cattle Company, says... Read more
Locals pose in front of the Brinstion post office, southeast of Kemptville, in 1908. Postal service in Canada in 1908 operated under the name The Royal Canadian Mail. It was in this year that Canada instituted the first free rural mail delivery... Read more
Nelson Zandbergen Farmers Forum Analysis High-flying billionaires and political elites return this month to Davos, Switzerland, to gather as the planet’s most exclusive club — the World Economic Forum. The organization is otherwise known for ope... Read more
Nelson Zandbergen Farmers Forum ROEBUCK — Ford government cabinet minister Steve Clark defended plans for a jail at the former Kemptville College campus and absorbed a potshot or two over his use of ministerial zoning orders — a controversial po... Read more
Food supply chain hangovers due the pandemic and the global impact of the invasion of Ukraine have enticed many to question the global nature of our food systems. Some are suggesting we need to deglobalize and refocus our energy into making most... Read more
Earthworms are getting more credit than they deserve. A recent Irish study found a rapid nutrient transfer from earthworms to plants but it has been wrongly reported that earthworms can replace fertilizers. Read more
BLYTH — In life, bachelor farmers Cliff and Don Schultz diligently cultivated a Blyth-area cash-cropping and beef farm, as well as an impressive tractor and toy tractor collection. In death, their accumulated wealth — $2.17 million — has been sp... Read more
CAMBRIDGE — A collection of Cockshutt tractors was sold at auction last month, including a Cockshutt 1555 White Tractor that sold for over $11,000. Read more
VANCOUVER — If governments in Canada want to help seniors who want to continue working, they should remove barriers that discourage them from remaining in the workforce, finds a new study released by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-par... Read more
OTTAWA — A 1.9% decrease in the number of farms operations led to a 3.5% decline in the number of farm operators in Canada since 2016, according to figures in the new 2021 Census of Canadian Agriculture. In 2016, there were 271,935 farm operator... Read more
Consumers can now scan QR codes on packaged beef cuts and get all the information they need about the meat’s nutritional value, storage requirements, and cooking tips. Read more
NORTH PERTH — The driver of a farm tractor faces alcohol-impaired driving charges after being stopped by police shortly after midnight in Monkton, May 11th. A Perth County OPP officer observed the machine swerving on Queen Avenue and pulled it o... Read more
GERMANY — The agricultural ministers of the G7 countries recently met with their Ukrainian counterpart to discuss global food security in light of Russia’s invasion of that country. Canada’s Marie-Claude Bibeau was among those who had occasion t... Read more
NORTH PERTH — One person was injured after a motorist drove through a cloud of dust and into the rear end of a farm tractor on Perth Line 86 in the Municipality of North Perth. The driver that hit the tractor was charged under the Highway Traffi... Read more
Statistics Canada reports that Canadian farms continue to grow larger in terms of sales and number of employees, while smaller and mid-sized farms are on the decline. The recently released 2021 Census of Agriculture found a continuing trend of f... Read more
TORONTO — Despite current challenges, two thirds of Canadian farmers are feeling cautiously optimistic about the future, according to an Ipsos Canada poll commissioned by RBC. The RBC Agriculture Poll involved telephone interviews with 150 farm... Read more
Farmers are eager to hire drone servicing companies to spray their fields but are less eager to buy the drones themselves, says a Western Ontario drone company. Read more
Over the past decade, the global elite’s obsession with climate change has taken away from the many other major problems facing the planet — shown most dramatically by the invasion of Ukraine. Western European leaders should have spent the past... Read more
OTTAWA — The newly released 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 189,874 farms in Canada, down 1.9% from the 193,492 farms of five years earlier. Still, the decline in farm numbers has slowed. Statistics Canada measured a 5.9% drop in farm numbers... Read more
It’s an election — there will be mudslinging, gimmicky promises, and sometimes lofty or untested policy concepts without a price tag. So, what do businesses want? Read more
DELHI — Pepsico, the makers of Frito-Lay potato-chips, recently sparred with Loblaws over price. For one week there were no potato chips in Loblaws stores, then both sides reached an agreement. Vegetable farmer Bill Nightingale doesn’t have that... Read more
More than 200 paddling enthusiasts roll down (and into) the river Read more
Ottawa Valley Seed Growers Guest Column The Ottawa Valley Seed Growers Association held its 30th annual prestigious pedigreeds auction online earlier in March. Traditionally an in-person auction held at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show, the seed auct... Read more
ONTARIO — Ontario farmers and farm families now have access to unlimited free, professional telephone counselling — amid growing recognition of the mental-health pressures placed on the sector. Initially launched in January with an available fou... Read more
ONTARIO — The last two years have been a rollercoaster for Ontario’s agricultural fairs but it appears all have survived the pandemic and are ready to fully re-emerge this year. Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies (OAAS) Manager Vince... Read more
The beloved 4-H program for ages six to 21 was decimated by a two-year pandemic lockdown. Read more
ONTARIO — After a delayed start to the planting season, the province’s farmers were making quick progress on the task in the second week of May. OMAFRA’s May 11 crop report estimated that 50% of corn and soybeans would be in the grou... Read more
I’m going to start off with a confession. While contemplating potential column topics for both the January and February issues of Farmers Forum, I wrestled with the idea of a “what if” essay on how the grain markets might react if Russia made an... Read more
KINGSTON — Canada Royal Milk’s Kingston plant has tapped into a supply of goat milk from over 120 Ontario and Quebec producers, allowing the Chinese-owned baby-formula maker to fulfill its original goal of processing both goat and cow milk. The... Read more
OTTAWA — A Calgary-based freedom-fighting legal team is working on numerous challenges to the federal government in support of the three-week trucker protest that saw more than 400 trucks and other vehicles clog Ottawa’s downtown core. The Justi... Read more
More than 400,000 new immigrants each year create new demand. Read more
Marazzo calls Ford out for pandemic mismanagement and draconian plans for the future Read more
TORONTO — With the election campaign underway, Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, says his organization wants to hear from the political parties on the “most pressing issue” of labour shortages affecti... Read more
To quote a book by Pope John Paul ll, We are crossing the threshold of hope. But we are not going in the direction he intended. Read more
When beekeepers put their hives away for the winter, they always expect some losses, but not this many. Read more
