Red Tape Hurts Ontario Farmers

Jul 09, 2012

Ontario Federation of Agriculture Survey Reveals Farmers Concerns

Ontario’s leading farm organization – Ontario Federation of Agriculture conducts a survey of more than 700 of their 37,000 members that exposes the barriers facing farmers. The survey’s intention was to survey the top concerns facing Ontario farmers. Over 90 per cent of the respondents indicated that red tape was the key issues that they wanted the OFA to address.

The survey shed light on some of the frustrations that farmers are facing when it comes to their business. The key theme was regulation and the sense that policy is driven by urban decision-makers with little to know farmer input on how it will impact those who produce food.

The one of a kind survey reveals a bigger issue – the gap between rural and urban communities. The rural-urban disconnect first became evident in the last provincial election where the governing Liberals lost all of their rural ridings.

Is the rural-urban gap the number one issue facing Ontario farmers today? How can farmers and organizations that represent them help connect the dots for governments and consumers that agriculture and the production of food touches their lives in an intimate way more than they could ever realize?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this issue – please share with us below:

Video: Sweetener Effects on Gut Health - Dr. Kwangwook Kim

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.