By Nelson ZandbergenFarmers Forum FINCH — The operators of a 29-turbine wind project in North Stormont are offering area residents funding for window coverings to avoid flicker shadow. They... Read more

Old barns are usually considered the humblest of buildings but a new Ontario group is focused on preserving them as icons of agriculture heritage. Ontario Barn Preservation is a non-profit v... Read more

Farmers and the federal government have, historically, been at loggerheads over the issue of climate change mitigation. Farmers care about the environment but government action has typically... Read more

Two of the biggest rural events of the year are planning to reopen this year. The Royal Winter Fair has announced it is planning to reopen its annual event in Toronto in November. Plans are... Read more

OTTAWA — Four days before last year’s opening of The Ottawa Valley Farm Show, its organizers made the agonizing decision to pull the plug. The day before, the National Hockey League suspende... Read more

YARKER — Kara and Darryl Enright are no strangers to side ventures. The beef farmers run a cow-calf operation at Tweed and a value-added operation turning hides into high-end leather bags, p... Read more

For years, beef farmers in Ontario have faced a frustrating bottleneck in slaughtering and processing their herd because of a shrinking number of local abattoirs. Now some producers have dec... Read more

ESSEX — One of the two Soil Champions named last month by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association wasn’t always in the soil-management business. As a young lad on his parents farm,... Read more

HAMILTON — Ben Loewith is a proud dairy farmer. So proud he invites city dwellers in nearby Hamilton to come and tour a clean and efficient modern dairy operation. That pride has been reinfo... Read more

Crop prices may look good this year, but the rising cost of inputs such as fertilizer may give some farmers sticker shock. Fertilizer prices have risen by as much as 50 per cent, with a stro... Read more

LONDON — Two years ago there was speculation that farmland in Oxford County would hit $30,000 an acre in 2019. It did. Now analysts are saying Oxford County farmland could hit $40,000 an acr... Read more

LANARK COUNTY — Lambton County crop farmer Robert Johnston is the kind of guy who can make other people really nervous. At March 4, with local soybean prices hovering at an eye-widening $17.... Read more

CLIFFORD — Clifford-area grain marketer Dan Renwick has his idea of a smart farmer: one who “took some of the crop to Vegas, but not all of it.”It seems there’s no shortage of farmers taking... Read more

AYLMER — A wall of flames 1,000 feet wide; nearly 800 cattle trapped inside a massive, burning barn; and freezing temperatures rapidly turning to ice on the ground. This is what Malahide tow... Read more

ST. ALBERT — There’s an endless parade of tools, tips and tricks to get ahead out there. But at the end of the day, focusing on doing what you do best is what it’s all about. That’s exactly... Read more

KEMPTVILLE — The proposed provincial prison to be built at the former Kemptville College grounds is facing ongoing opposition from a small but feisty group of local residents. A group callin... Read more

GORMLEY — Crop farmer, elevator operator, industry advocate and inheritor of a farming tradition from 1806, Gormley’s John Doner died on Feb. 4 after battling ALS. Doner’s ailment, also know... Read more

TORONTO — After being closed for more than a year, Ryding-Regency Meat packers will re-open. Beef farmer Eugene Burgin, of Eusi Farms at Forest, will take over the plant and renamed it TruHa... Read more

PICTON — This year was supposed to be a growth year for Sunset Cabins and Farms. The mixed farm and agritourism operation at Picton, in Prince Edward County, was looking to double its flower... Read more

Billionaires and celebrities want to be farmers too. Russell Crowe owns a 400-acre farm in Australia. Also in Australia, actress Nicole Kidman raises Black Angus cattle. Mark Ruffalo grows s... Read more

Farmers are losing control of a long-contained pest in Ontario’s soybean crop. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is starting to develop resistance to the main control method used by farmers, said... Read more

How can producers get more out of their soybeans? Sure, they’re stubborn and tough, but unresponsive too.Not so, argued Dr. Dave Hooker of the University of Guelph. Data show that from 2001... Read more

If you’re trying to keep a bag of seed from germinating before you plant it, the bag warns you to store it in a cool, dark place. Understandably, producers can be pretty leery of planting in... Read more

GANANOQUE — Bison farmers are in the business of extremes, handling livestock that are docile and happy when given space, easy on fences when relaxed. But they’ll tear through them like pape... Read more

Turnout was surprisingly good for many of the Grain Farmers of Ontario’s annual district meetings last month. But the mood was muted, with meetings held over Zoom. District 6 (Haldimand, Bra... Read more

Turnout is always troublesome for the Grain Farmers of Ontario’s annual district meetings but this year’s turnout at the January meetings dropped dramatically. While it is easier to Zoom dig... Read more

MOUNT BRYDGES — A London-area abattoir owner welcomes provincial help to finance a much-needed expansion of his business, but the program was shut down before he could even apply. On Dec. 11... Read more

PICTON — Prince Edward County’s Ontario Provincial Police detachment last month issued a phone scam warning after receiving a number of calls from area residents. Scammers called residents c... Read more

AYLMER — Clovermead Adventure Farm expects to be buzzing again later this year, much like the apiary that started it all. But for now, one of Southwestern Ontario’s biggest agri-tourism attr... Read more

MILTON — The Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame is up to a nice even 240 inductees with the seven to be inducted this year.The hall of fame is also bringing its annual induction ceremony back... Read more

GODERICH — A freight train jumped the tracks at a Goderich-area grain elevator on Feb. 1 and smashed into a transport truck, a pick-up truck and destroyed one building. No one was injured. T... Read more

One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, farm organizations are cautiously optimistic that they can find a way to bring migrant workers into Canada safely and efficiently despite stricter regula... Read more

PRESCOTT-RUSSELL — For the last decade the Eastern Ontario Agri-Food Network has been a regional network in name only. Long funded only by Prescott-Russell, the not-for-profit recently start... Read more

KEMPTVILLE — Agriculture, as an industry, is well-suited to Type A personalities. For those driven to always do more and better, there’s always something new to try, work to be done, somethi... Read more

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