Ottawa Valley Seed Growers Guest Column What’s in a photo? A good photo will give you a feeling – make you happy, angry, frustrated or simply inform. It may need a caption, or more often it... Read more
Although my focus has been on the infectious diseases of cattle, it is difficult for me not to pay attention to what is happening with infectious diseases in other species, too ... Read more
BLACKSTOCK — For their environmental improvement and exceptional pasture management, Denise and Jeff Byers of MurrayHill Farm received the 2021 Mapleseed Pasture Award earlier this ye... Read more
Ed Hand Farmers Forum LONDON — Ontario’s farmers may soon have another option when it comes to provincial farm organizations. Currently, farmers have a choice of three; the Ontario Federatio... Read more
SIMCOE COUNTY — Are some municipal planning departments in rural Ontario making the province’s acute housing shortage even worse by effectively encouraging farmers to demolish surplus farmho... Read more
Hank Daniszewski Farmers Forum Southwestern Ontario farmers are generally confident of a substantial, perhaps even record soybean yields. “It looks like it’s going to be a great crop …... Read more
Steve Kell’s Market Minute One of the most encouraging things to develop out of the summer of 2021 is our potentially record-breaking crop size. Ontario has already harvested its bigge... Read more
OXFORD STATION — Timothy and other staple grasses of hay and pasture fields look to be in short supply as a result of drought conditions on the seed plantations of western Canada. “Timothy i... Read more
Farmers Forum staff OTTAWA — Almost 1,500 news media companies in Canada received money from the Liberal government’s $61 million pre-election “emergency relief” fund, including farm publica... Read more
SARNIA — By triggering a never-before-used 1977 treaty, the Trudeau government has finally gone over the head of Michigan’s governor to preserve the flow of gas and oil on Enbridge’s Line 5... Read more
ST-ISIDORE — The seed-dealing Bercier family have launched their own house brand of locally grown seed. Centre de Criblage Marc Bercier Inc.’s new ‘CCMB’ line includes individual varieties o... Read more
It’s a no-brainer for Ontario to finally nix law that merges adjacent properties with same owners, legal expert says Nelson Zandbergen Farmers Forum ONTARIO — Some Ontario farm families have... Read more
GUELPH — Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, is now accepting applications fo... Read more
Irena Vélez Farmers Forum CORNWALL — The peak of apple picking in Ontario is in September, when the popular Honeycrisp apples are ready for harvest. However, Diane Lunan, co-owner of Cornwal... Read more
Between 25 and 75% of soybeans were harvested in southwestern Ontario by Oct. 4 ... Read more
The silage corn harvest was pretty well wrapped up ... Read more
Harvest can be the most stressful time of the year and when some farmers need help coping with stress and depression. Read more
Five years after his father died and cows and quota were sold, Jeremy Rose decided to take on the family farm WINCHESTER — Jeremy Rose may be a “new” dairy farmer at his family’s tranquil fa... Read more
The Richmond Fair made a comeback this year after a year of pandemic lockdowns. The Sept. 16-19 fair was back to the real deal with a midway, 4-H shows, horse and cattle shows and demolition... Read more
NORTH GOWER – It was shortly after midnight when a Mazda 3 sped through the North Gower intersection heading west on Rogers Steven Road, crossed lanes and flew straight into the side wall of... Read more
OTTAWA — There is a farm labour shortage around the world and in Canada. From relief milkers, to manual labourers to agronomists, crop specialists and veterinarians, the agriculture and food... Read more
Every province has seen an increase in farmland values in 2021 thus far, according to Farm Credit Canada’s mid-year report. But Ontario has seen the largest increase in the country. Farmland... Read more
WINCHESTER — The Winchester hockey arena has been rechristened the “Sam Ault Arena,” and the building is now adorned with a new mural celebrating the late local Ault Foods boss, an important... Read more
Nelson Zandbergen Farmers Forum EASTERN ONTARIO — Ontario’s two most popular crop assessment tours are projecting a provincial yield record for corn and possibly for soybeans. The recently c... Read more
Honey bee winter loss down to 10-year low and pesticides are only one of many threats ONTARIO — The percentage of Ontario honeybee colonies dying over the winter declined for a third straigh... Read more
ONTARIO — Rural Ontario stayed true to its Conservative roots winning 22 out of 25 ridings in Ontario farm country, in the recent federal election. Farmers Forum identified 25 rural ridings... Read more
Peterborough Liberal loses, calls Taliban “my brothers” The Liberal incumbent in Peterborough-Kawartha, Maryam Monsef, who was also the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, lost her seat.... Read more
Maynard van der Galien Renfrew County I have never been around work horses so I’m fascinated by my Old Order Mennonite neighbours who farm with horses and have no tractors. I often stop by t... Read more
Angela Dorie Backroads For the past 21 months, since COVID-19 was first recognized, it seems the world has not only become more fearful, and more threatening but also far, far crazier. Proba... Read more
Just reading in this newspaper about teenage drivers heading out on the road without licenses because the province can’t deal with the enormous backlog in testing created by the pandemic. Read more
Dr. Robert Tremblay Veterinarian Several of the codes of practice for the care and management of farm animals are currently undergoing revision or will be going through the revision process... Read more
An online video hoax by a small group of Nebraska farmers has been circulating and scaring the life out of people. Read more
Connor Lynch Farmers Forum KINBURN — When it comes to getting nutrients into the crop, nitrogen often gets all the attention. But it’s far from the only nutrient crops need. Potassium, or po... Read more
Imagine insulting a chicken and getting charged with hate speech. According to two academics from England’s Sheffield University, animals can be victims of hate speech and should be protecte... Read more
As a result of the pandemic, the cattle industry has been dealing with show cancellations for far too long. Cattle showmen had hoped for a revival of shows in 2021 but that didn’t happen. So... Read more
CHICAGO — Manipulating RNA can allow plants to yield dramatically more crops, as well as increase drought tolerance, say a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking Universi... Read more
In 1893, 12 Eastern Ontario cheesemakers produced enough curds to prepare a “Mammoth” block of cheese that they sent by rail to the Chicago World’s Fair. The cheesemakers used 207,000 pounds... Read more
LONDON — A chicken broiler barn went up in flames south of London on the evening of Sept. 22, in a loss that local media reported at $750,000. No animals were destroyed as the barn was betwe... Read more
Canada and the United States are enjoying an economic boom – Canada returned to pre-pandemic levels for the first time in June – and agriculture and construction equipment manufacturers are... Read more
Food companies hide price increase with smaller packaging Oreo cookie boxes dropped from 303 g to 270 g without a price change. Quaker Chewy bars went from 6 to 5 bars in a box without a pri... Read more
CAMBRIDGE — The Grand River Conservation Authority is now accepting applications from farmers for their cover crop program. It’s a one-time incentive for producers to grow cover crops in the... Read more
METCALFE — Who loves a good rodeo more, the competitors or the spectators? Both are eager to attend the few shows taking place this season. Black Creek Rodeo Company is holding its third Kub... Read more
MAXVILLE — Owning his own farm was this Second World War veteran’s biggest dream. And Kenneth Jack made it happen. Seventy-five years later and Mylyn Farm is still operating, now owned by hi... Read more
Rural village of Russell named after a land grabbing, slave owning, gambling loser and the locals are okay with it RUSSELL — This rural community south of Ottawa is known as a place of dairy... Read more
Who was Peter Russell? Read more
At the 2021 Ottawa Valley Seed Growers Association (OVSGA) annual meeting held in the Navan and Sarsfield area Aug. 17, the association thanked outgoing president Robert Dessaint for his lea... Read more
Patrick Meagher Farmers Forum Anyone on social media can see how elusive coherent conversations are when it comes to COVID-19 and the vaccine. Views are highly polarized and shaming others f... Read more
Canada’s main three federal political parties are drifting farther to the left. Read more
TILLSONBURG — Jim Horvath has crashed a few times and clipped the tops of trees but it never occurred to him to retire. Read more
SEAFORTH — The year that the Seaforth Fair was supposed to celebrate its 175th anniversary, the world shut down. Read more
