MISSISSAUGA — Oxford County is still the dairy capital of Ontario, according to the latest numbers from Dairy Farmers of Ontario. By July of this year, the county’s 306 producers had cranked out a whopping 381 million litres of milk. Perth Count... Read more
By Connor LynchHEARST — Going north to farm can be a daunting proposition but a promising one, given Northern Ontario’s comparatively inexpensive and plentiful land. But finding a farm or some acres to buy or rent can be tricky.The Northern East... Read more
By Connor LynchGUELPH — Most farmers would probably not assume that their personal information is subject to freedom of information requests. They got a rude awakening in July, when an anonymous person made a freedom of information request for t... Read more
Canadian tractor sales jumped 42.1 per cent this July compared to July 2019, according to an Association of Equipment Manufacturers’ report. However, this increase is due to the sales decrease in the previous months during COVID-19 shut downs, F... Read more
By Connor LynchHEARST — Going north to farm can be a daunting proposition but a promising one, given Northern Ontario’s comparatively inexpensive and plentiful land. But finding a farm or some acres to buy or rent can be tricky.The Northern East... Read more
By Connor LynchGUELPH — Most farmers would probably not assume that their personal information is subject to freedom of information requests. They got a rude awakening in July, when an anonymous person made a freedom of information request for t... Read more
By Connor LynchTORONTO — Hot and dry has been the story of Ontario’s growing season, and will be the harvest story as well, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. Summer can be a turbulent season, weatherwise, with the mont... Read more
So far, up to 25 % of restaurants in the country have now closed for the season and perhaps for good. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce expects 60 % of restaurants to close permanently by November. Even if such a forecast may be a little excessiv... Read more
Canadian agriculture has come through COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns pretty well, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Despite “images of dumped milk and shuttered restaurants dominated media attention industry concerns about w... Read more
On March 11, when the WHO proclaimed that COVID-19 was a pandemic, I was working in Nova Scotia. We had planned to work with veterinary clinics to run seminars for dairy farmers all week. We still had two days left. We wondered if we should go a... Read more
Farm safety is a ubiquitous topic these days. But how much good has all the talk and awareness done? According to a study to be published in the medical journal Preventive Medicine, next month, the short answer is: Not much. According to 30 year... Read more
By Connor LynchTORONTO — Hot and dry has been the story of Ontario’s growing season, and will be the harvest story as well, said Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. Summer can be a turbulent season, weatherwise, with the mont... Read more
KEMPTVILLE — The former Kemptville agricultural college will be home to a 235-bed prison. The prison is to be built on about 182 acres owned by the province and on the site of what was the former college dairy barn and A.M. Barr show arena. Call... Read more
Canadian agriculture has come through COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns pretty well, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.Despite “images of dumped milk and shuttered restaurants dominated media attention industry concerns about w... Read more
Since it’s more dangerous for a healthy child to ride a bicycle to school than it is to be in school in this pandemic, healthy children can go to school.But you might think the fires of hell had been unleashed if you got your cues from teachers’... Read more
Many people tell me that we really shouldn’t be sending our kids back to school. I have a lot of educators and health care types in my family and they warn darkly that the virus is bound to come roaring back this fall and force a second lockdown... Read more
Vegetable gardens are now as richly productive as they are going to get and the urge to preserve the bounty is in full swing. We’ve had some let downs this year, largely, we believe to the scorching heat and desert-like dryness of summer’s start... Read more
OTTAWA — Despite the world preparing for its largest ever corn and soybean crops, Canada and Ontario yields will not break any records. But yields are expected to be up, at least over last year. Canadian farmers should expect an overall average... Read more
KEMPTVILLE — The former Kemptville agricultural college will be home to a 235-bed prison. The prison is to be built on about 182 acres owned by the province and on the site of what was the former college dairy barn and A.M. Barr show arena. Call... Read more
By Connor LynchBROOKE TOWNSHIP — Former mixed-operation farmer and federal Minister of Agriculture Ralph Ferguson died last month at 91. By turns a cash crop, egg and beef farmer, Ferguson was prolific in politics and with farm organizations. Fr... Read more
GUELPH — Southwestern Ontario once again claimed the bulk of Agricorp payouts this year, but overall payouts are way down from last year’s record-breakers. Of the $13.7 million that Ontario’s crop insurance agency paid out for replanted acres (w... Read more
BRADFORD — A 77-year old Bradford-area vegetable farmer was killed after being struck by a tractor last month. According to South Simcoe Police Service, Mario Palumbo was killed after being run over by his own tractor on Aug. 15. The cause of de... Read more
By Connor LynchBROOKE TOWNSHIP — Former mixed-operation farmer and federal Minister of Agriculture Ralph Ferguson died last month at 91. By turns a cash crop, egg and beef farmer, Ferguson was prolific in politics and with farm organizations. Fr... Read more
GUELPH — Southwestern Ontario once again claimed the bulk of Agricorp payouts this year, but overall payouts are way down from last year’s record-breakers. Of the $13.7 million that Ontario’s crop insurance agency paid out for replanted acres (w... Read more
I love my tractors and the front-end loaders. Like most farmers, I have a “few” tractors around. Five to be exact and one backhoe. They range from 40 hp up to 160 hp. The higher horsepower tractors do fieldwork; the smaller ones do yard work, su... Read more
By Connor LynchWOODSTOCK — A man charged with burning down a barn at the Woodstock Fairgrounds was hunted down by a police dog. Police suspected arson after Old McDonalds’s barn at the fairgrounds was set ablaze on Sept 1. Firefighters were able... Read more
By Patrick MeagherA grassroots drive to end the carbon tax on farm use propane and natural gas is gathering steam across Western Ontario. An exemption resolution was passed unanimously last month in the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, st... Read more
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MP Lianne Rood was named the Conservative agriculture critic last month. She’s taking over the position from Alberta MP John Barlow. She was also deputy ag critic under former party leader Andrew Scheer. Born and raised on... Read more
“Temporary foreign workers are entitled to the same benefits and protections as any other worker in Ontario.” Those aren’t my words, although they are 100 per cent true. They were pulled from a Government of Ontario media release dated June 24,... Read more
By Patrick Meagher A grassroots drive to end the carbon tax on farm use propane and natural gas is gathering steam across Western Ontario. An exemption resolution was passed unanimously last month in the Township of Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh, s... Read more
HENSALL — The federal labour ministry is investigating after an accident at Thompson’s Ltd. feed mill in Hensall last month. Two workers “were found under bags of soybeans,” according to the provincial labour ministry, which got the call on Aug.... Read more
