As we gear up for Ontario’s Local Food Week, it’s important to reiterate the need for shopping local and supporting our rural communities and farm businesses.

Fulfilling labour needs has been a longstanding challenge in Ontario’s agri-food sector. It requires priority focus on skills development and training, along with access to skilled workers to help fill chronic labour shortages. When the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) and community partners launched Feeding Your Future last year, it was in response to a direct need that had been amplified due to COVID-19.

The pandemic has fostered many firsts, especially when it comes to virtual learning and engagement. For the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), that came in the form of our first ever Research Day.

Queen’s Park certainly looked different for this year’s Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) virtual lobby day. Many OFA directors fed animals the morning of our meetings, and a few even logged on from their farm shop.

Trespassing on farm property continues to be an ongoing concern for many of our farmers across the province. As the warm weather arrives, farmers often deal with an increased number of off-road vehicles and rural trail hikers roaming the countryside.

A truth that is deemed to be universal, is the fact that the most valuable resource of any business is the people. Regardless of technology, automation or other means, human capital remains essential in ensuring the continued production of high-quality food, fibre and fuel. The entire food value chain relies on people to fill planting, production, quality control, processing and distribution roles to keep the agri-food system strong and viable.

Do you know where your food comes from? It’s a simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. Our food security and the economies that rely on it are dependent on a complicated agricultural supply chain – one that starts on the farm and ends at the dinner table.

As the days start to get warmer, farm equipment across the province will begin hitting the roadways for planting season. Many farmers spend a lot of time on the road throughout the spring, travelling long distances between fields and back to their farms.

An important aspect of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has always been our grassroots engagement through county and regional federations across the province.

Across Ontario’s agri-food sector, health and safety has always been a main priority in keeping farms, employees and customers safe. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the importance of health and safety was taken to a new level with additional practices and procedures put in place to help control and slow the spread of the coronavirus in an effort to keep businesses up and running.