Ont. cuts red tape to benefit farmers

Jan 25, 2019

Simplified farm business registration can save producers time and reduce paperwork

Staff Writer

Farms.com

The Ontario government plans to modernize the Farm Business Registration Program, allowing producers to save time and minimize paperwork.

Ernie Hardeman, minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, announced this proposal, which aims to reduce red tape for farmers as a component of the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act, yesterday. He made the announcement at the Doan & Family Turkey Farm in Norwich.

"Ontario's farmers and farm businesses are among the many impacted by burdensome, unnecessary government red tape," Hardeman said in a Thursday OMAFRA release. "I am pleased to be working to remove many of these barriers to business growth and job creation in the agricultural sector. In fact, we are looking to do even more as we work with the sector to find additional areas for the government to address so (farmers) can focus on growing their businesses."

The proposal is part of the government’s multi-year Ontario Open for Business Action Plan. The plan aims to diminish regulatory red tape affecting businesses by 25 per cent.

Before the announcement, Hardeman toured the Doan & Family Turkey Farm, saying that such events benefit the province’s ag industry.

“I think it’s one giant step to try and get the message out to the rest of Ontario of what is actually going on down on the farm,” he told Farms.com. “Obviously, there are misconceptions of how farming is done and how animals are raised.

“Every opportunity I get to go out and (hold these) events, and the media is there, we can then get the message out to the public of what’s happening out there and why agriculture is so important to the province of Ontario.”

Kathryn Doan, co-owner of Doan & Family Turkey Farm, agrees that farm tours help Ontarians better understand different areas of the ag industry.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs photo

“I think, even when we are familiar with a certain sector, we’re not necessarily experts in other areas,” she said to Farms.com. “I feel it’s really important, especially with turkey. There’s an opportunity for us to highlight how important it is to keep our birds healthy – to keep our birds in an environment that grows the safe food that the consumer want.

“You should say yes to opportunities like this,” she added.

Lauren Arva photo

Video: New colours and more durability for Case IH RB6 round balers

Farmers will see a new look and more efficiency and durability from Case IH's RB6 Series variable chamber round balers for model year 2026. In this report from the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois, Case livestock product specialist Brian Williams notes that the first thing farmers will notice is a new colour scheme. "For the tailgate, the frame, and also the pickup, we've changed to our Case IH red colour. One of the really nice things about changing that colour scheme is that you're able to see that crop flowing into the baler much better from the tractor." There's also changes to the pickup with the addition of a second roller. "On the 566 model, you can get it with the double windrower roller," says Williams. "For our customers that are baling corn stalks or large windrows, it helps to push that windrow down to let that feed into the chamber, so that they're able to bale a little bit faster, because everyone's looking for better efficiency." There are also modifications to the rollers in the bale chamber — the stripper roll and the fixed roll have been combined into a one-piece roller. "There's no welds on those rollers, so the dependability is going to be far greater than our previous model," adds Williams.