Northern Ontario farmers to benefit from government investment

Aug 15, 2016

Ontario is investing $3.7 million to increase production

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

The Government of Ontario is investing $3.7 million to help farmers in Northern Ontario produce more crops.

Four projects, run by consortiums of farmers, will receive the funding through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. A total of 76 farmers are involved with the projects, which include clearing more land for agricultural use and installing tile drainage systems.

Kathleen Wynne

“Our government is investing in projects to clear land for farming and improve yields on existing land, which will increase the food supply in the region and give more Northerners access to sustainable, locally grown produce,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said in a release. “By helping farmers expand agricultural production in Northern Ontario, we are diversifying the economy and supporting growth for years to come.”

The funding breaks down as follows:

$1 million to the Northern Ontario Farm Innovation Alliance (NOFIA), a non-profit organization that provides research and innovation infrastructure for agriculture in Northern Ontario, for about 1,900 acres of land for a group of farmers in the Timiskaming and Cochrane regions.
$999,925 to NOFIA for approximately 1,897 acres of land for an association of 12 farmers in the Timiskaming and Cochrane regions.
$952,200 to West Nipissing East Sudbury Agricultural Support Projects Inc., for about 1,587 acres of land for an associaiton of farmers in the Nipissing and Sudbury regions.
$793,725 to Sault. Ste. Marie Innovation Centre for approximately 1,383 acres of land for a group of 29 farmers in the Algoma and Sudbury West regions.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.