Ontario Farmland Forum to Discuss Climate Change and Rising Energy Prices

Jan 31, 2013

Ontario Farmland Trust Annual Forum to Convene in Guelph, Ontario

Ontario’s farmers have been dealing with unpredictable weather events, while trying to manage rising energy prices. With these new realities, it’s important that farmers and rural communities find creative ways to adapt to this new changing reality.

The Ontario Farmland Trust will be hosting its 9th annual Farmland Forum with the central theme being “The Farm Economy & Rural Resilience: Coping with Climate Change & Rising Energy Prices.” The forum is set to take place on Friday, February 15, 2013 at the University of Guelph.

The event is geared towards farmers, planners, policy makers and government officials. The forum will discuss some of innovations that are happening on the farm and provide examples of community-led initiatives.

“The implications of climate change can be difficult to predict exactly, but what does seem certain is that we need to be better prepared for the possibility of disruption in our systems – our irrigation, groundwater and stormwater systems, our cultivation systems, our building systems, or our interaction with the ecosystem and unfamiliar plants and animals in the countryside. Planning for that, how to be proactive about risk, as well as gaining insight into what price changes in the energy mix might mean, is something we need a whole lot more conversation about,” said Farmland Trust Chair, Norman Ragetlie in a release.

The following are the speaker highlights:

•Jon Scholl (President of American Farmland Trust)
•Susanna Reid (Huron County Planner)
•Grant Martin and Kevin Eisses (Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario)
•Mayors Chris White (Guelph-Eramosa) and Don MacIver (Amaranth Township)
•Ted Cowen (Energy Policy Analyst with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture)
•Sally Ludwig (Transition Guelph)
•Rsearchers Eric Marr and Emanuele Lapierre-Fortin

More details about the forum can be found at: www.ontariofarmlandtrust.ca

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