The Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s board of directors has expressed confidence in the leadership of Peggy Brekveld by electing the Thunder Bay area dairy farmer to a third one-year term as President of the province’s largest farm organization.  

GUELPH ON [November 22, 2022] – Ontario’s farmers hosted their annual general meeting in London over the past two days, gathering in-person for the first time in three years to debate resolutions, listen to engaging speakers and participate in educational workshops. Approximately 450 people attended the meeting, which marked the first time the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA) Annual General Meeting was held in London.

GUELPH, ON [November 21, 2022] – The tradition of celebrating young people in agriculture continued at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA) 2022 Annual General Meeting today as the organization named five winners in its newly expanded Bursary Program. 

While much of the autumn season in Ontario is focused on the fruit and vegetable harvest, it can be easy to forget that Ontario meat is also in high demand around this time of year.

The Ontario Government’s $2-million investment in the Fertilizer Accelerating Solutions & Technology Challenge is welcomed by the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) as a made-in-Ontario solution to an international problem.

The preservation of farmland is a very critical issue in Ontario. According to figures from the Census of Agriculture released in the spring, Ontario is losing 319 acres of productive farmland every day. That’s the equivalent of 58 city blocks, nearly 800 hockey rinks or 4,785 tennis courts. In terms of food, that is enough acreage to produce more than 23.5 million apples, 1.2 million bottles of Ontario VQA wine or 75.6 million carrots.

A telehealth line that makes mental wellness support available to all Ontario farmers and farm families is now live. It is part of the Farmer Wellness Initiative (FWI), which addresses growing mental health concerns in the agricultural sector by offering more accessible mental health and wellness support to farm families across the province.

It’s not an official season in the calendar, but kicking off in mid-August and running through mid-October, it is fall fair season in Ontario.

The Chair of the federal Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food is spending the next two days in Niagara Region. Kody Blois, Member of Parliament for the Nova Scotia riding of Kings-Hants, will be touring farms in the area and meeting with industry leaders to learn more about the issues and priorities of Ontario farmers.

The successes, issues and priorities of Northern Ontario agriculture are in the spotlight today as Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honorable Marie-Claude Bibeau tours farms and agri-businesses in northeastern Ontario and meets with local industry leaders.