Farms.com Home   Ag Industry News

OFA wants changes to gov't program

OFA wants changes to gov't program

The province needs to do more work on the Ontario Wildlife Damage Compensation Program, OFA rep said

By Abbey Gallina

While the Ontario government updated the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program in the winter, the program doesn’t support all the farmers who need it, a recent OFA commentary said.

OMAFRA updated the program as of Feb. 1, following substantial consultation with producers, a government release said. Rick Nicholls, MPP of Chatham-Kent-Leamington, applauded the province’s move on Twitter.

The revised program is meant to provide:

  • more ways to provide sufficient evidence to prove wildlife predation
  • a more independent and transparent appeal process
  • better training for municipal investigators to assess predation
  • compensation that better reflects market prices

However, this program does not support all Ontario producers, Mark Reusser, vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, said in Thursday’s OFA commentary. The compensation program specifically outlines livestock, poultry and honey bee farmers are eligible to receive compensation if their stock is damaged by predators. While crop farmers can also experience decreased yield due to wildlife damage, they are not eligible for this program.

And, “the current Production Insurance program doesn’t offer fair coverage to farmers who experience crop or yield loss due to wildlife damage,” Reusser said.

So, the OFA is “addressing this compensation gap with the Ontario government, asking them to create a wildlife damage compensation program for field crop farmers.”

Paul Grillo/Flickr photo


Trending Video

From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.