Craig Klemmer laughed when told that economists today are like weather forecasters: too many factors and moving targets to be sure you’ve got it right. The Farm Credit Canada economist didn’... Read more
OTTAWA — It’s not often that Conservative and Liberal governments join forces. But the Ontario and federal governments did just that to urge the other provinces last month to accept a propos... Read more
YARKER — After some uncertainty around the future of Quinn’s Meats at Yarker, a slaughterhouse northwest of Kingston, a buyer has been found.Enright Cattle Company, a Tweed beef farm, has ag... Read more
BLACKSTOCK — Winning a Master Breeder shield is an achievement for any dairy farm. But winning four puts you in a very small and select class.And not just one, but two farms took home their... Read more
SAINT-HUBERT — As technology accelerates, space can play a huge role in the future of farming. The Canadian Space Agency is looking to hear from industries of all kinds, including agricultur... Read more
CARP — Sometimes following a dream isn’t as important as jumping at an opportunity. That’s how entrepreneur Jennifer Stewart and her Canadian soldier husband Kevin found themselves running f... Read more
THUNDER BAY— The new president of the OFA is a first-generation farmer who grew up on a farm and who told her mother at 13 that she’d never marry a farmer, Dutchman or someone from her churc... Read more
BERWICK — It’s a good time to be a Jersey farmer. As of Feb. 1, Ontario is implementing a new payment schedule for dairy producers based on milk components that will boost the bottom-line fo... Read more
LISTOWEL — It’s often a taboo subject when farmers gather at the local coffee shop. But an agricultural group in Perth County is reaching out to farmers and rural residents wrestling with st... Read more
SIMCOE — As many as 400 migrant workers from Trinidad and Tobago were stranded on Western Ontario farms after harvest ended last year. Nearly 100 workers from the Caribbean country were stuc... Read more
SOUTH MOUNTAIN — After a lifetime farming, from milking cows to plowing fields, Dale and Lois Keyes recently finalized the sale of their South Mountain-area farm and donated $1 million from... Read more
STIRLING — It seems 2020 had one last nasty surprise in store for the beef sector. The largest federal slaughterhouse in the province and one of just two still open had to temporarily wind d... Read more
FOURNIER — Last year was the year of disrupted plans, among other things. But disruption can mean opportunity. A pair of siblings who’d always been meaning to come home to the farm found the... Read more
ST. ISIDORE — The federal carbon tax hike is going to cost grain farmers as much as $50/acre once it’s fully implemented in 2030. Last month the feds announced the carbon tax would hit $170/... Read more
There were six on-farm, farm-related fatalities in Ontario last year, well up from 2019’s historic low of three, according to reports gathered by Farmers Forum. Two were in Eastern Ontario.... Read more
Hamilton-area broccoli grower Ken Forth will remember the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions of 2020 as a nerve-wracking nightmare for fruit and vegetable growers because of their dependence... Read more
LONDON — After a hectic and challenge-ridden year, Ontario farmers are cautiously optimistic about 2021. After all, the food chain survived. Food got to market and in most rural areas COVID-... Read more
STELLA — Farms in the agri-tourism business are relieved they survived 2020 and its many lockdown restrictions. One farm operation had a stellar year. Topsy Farms, a hippy-founded cooperativ... Read more
WAUPOOS ISLAND — Drive through Prince Edward County in the spring or late summer and you might spot an unusual sight: a herd of 150 or so sheep floating on a barge. But it’s just another day... Read more
MORRISBURG —When Morrisburg-area crop farmer Warren Schneckenburger started out with cover crops, he was trying to use them to replace having an employee in the tractor. So far it’s been wor... Read more
LISTOWEL — Dairy incentive days, an opportunity to sell more milk than one’s quota allows, can be frustrating for milk producers who can’t fill them. Farmers operating in tie-stall barns or... Read more
CRYSLER — Despite a boom in demand for meat processing in Ontario, many small abattoirs aren’t considering expansion and those that are aren’t convinced they can pull it off. The National Fa... Read more
In most years it’s a bad idea to wait until harvest to market all of your crop, but 2020 has messed with even that conventional wisdom. Corn, soybean and wheat prices have all been strong an... Read more
Soybeans are up, corn is down and wheat is on the rise. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest planting forecast for 2021.Riding a tide of strong exports, high price... Read more
WINCHESTER — Farmers hoping to drive across the border to scope out an equipment auction can forget it. The only way they’ll get across is if they already have proof of purchase. Tyler Como... Read more
WHEATLEY — Grain farmers can’t always count on having Christmas off as harvest weather decides: It giveth and taketh away. This year it gaveth.Most farmers had finished harvest by the end of... Read more
WEST ELGIN — Christmas tree farms have always played a special role for families during the Christmas season. That’s only been intensified this year. With fewer farms and higher demand, farm... Read more
By Connor LynchSIMCOE — As of December 3, about 80 migrant workers were stranded on a mixed-crop farm at Simcoe in Norfolk County facing the possibility of overwintering in Canada and not se... Read more
Expect a warmer, wetter Canadian winter, says Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips. That doesn’t mean that this month or next month won’t be icicle cold. The whole winter,... Read more
By Connor LynchGUELPH — When your belly is full, you have many problems. When it’s empty, you only have one. Sage words that had a big impact on consumer confidence and priorities in our foo... Read more
By Connor LynchWINCHESTER — Crop farmers don’t always get Christmas off, let alone December. But they get December off this year. Most Eastern Ontario farms wrapped up corn and soybean harve... Read more
By Connor LynchST. ISIDORE — Giving land back to nature doesn’t have to be an act of generosity that’s punished by the pocketbook. It certainly wasn’t for St. Isidore-area crop farmer Marc B... Read more
By Connor LynchDURHAM — Durham Region farmer Scott David Brown died after an accident in a corn drying silo at the home farm last month. The 42-year old ran D.S. & B. Farms at Brock Town... Read more
STITTSVILLE — Ontario’s Christmas tree farmers are expecting a gangbuster year with trees in short supply. Fallowfield Tree Farm at Stittsville, west of Ottawa, was selling trees south of th... Read more
OTTAWA — We’re eight months into pandemic restrictions and people are getting fed up, especially in rural areas where very few people are getting sick. Social gatherings and church services... Read more
LONDON — We’re eight months into pandemic restrictions and people are getting fed up, especially in rural areas where very few people are getting sick. Social gatherings and chur... Read more
By Patrick MeagherOttawa’s proposed Clean Fuel Standard, a new environmental regulation, is infuriating a lot of people. It has been called a second tax on carbon dioxide that will drive up... Read more
LONDON — Farms in the agri-tourism business feared a shockwave this year due to COVID-19 restrictions but many adapted and stayed open, despite taking a revenue hit. Revenues dropped for Ste... Read more
OWEN SOUND — When COVID-19 hit, followed by a societal lockdown, there was a lot of uncertainty for farmers markets and the farms that rely on them. Not designated essential businesses at fi... Read more
ELMIRA — If April is the cruelest month then September might’ve been the kindest, at least to apple orchards. With fine weather and a captive audience deprived of other attractions by COVID-... Read more
GUELPH — The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is by far the province’s largest general farm organization with more than 38,000 member families out of 57,211 census-recorded Ontario fa... Read more
EMBRUN — Just east of Ottawa and south of Hwy 417 on the road to Embrun, a herd of shaggy-headed, horned cattle hang out on pasture at a four-way intersection shared by two gas stations and... Read more
Fibre optic internet access is slowly expanding in rural southwestern Ontario, but there’s consensus that the need is more urgent as agriculture technology advances and COVID-19 pushes more... Read more
BORNHOLM — 2020 is a year for the history books in countless awful ways, but at least one good one. After a bone-dry summer for many growers, they hauled in some good-quality corn and great... Read more
MOIRA — Soybean harvest was mostly finished last month with yields better than expected and some bogged down by repeated rains. Farmer Dale Ketcheson at Moira in Hastings County was one of t... Read more
WINCHESTER — Five weeks without rain starting at the end of June “don’t make” a good corn crop. But Eastern Ontario’s crop is coming through a stiff drought stronger than it had any right to... Read more
