Ontario invests more than $990,000 into the project
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
Northern Ontario’s agricultural community is receiving nearly $1 million in government funding to help increase farm productivity.
The provincial government is investing $994,080 through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) for this work. The Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Association will lead the project, which is designed to install drainage systems on 1,390 acres of land and clear another 354 acres for agricultural production across 23 farms.
“The support from Ontario for this program recognizes the potential of farmers to expand contributions to the local economy and communities through increased food production and employment opportunities,” Kevin Belluz, president of the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Association, said in a release yesterday.
Regional farmers are pleased with the government’s confidence in their communities.
Since 2013, Ontario has invested more than $621 million through the NOHFC, which helps farmers produce crops in a unique part of the province.
“It’s awesome to hear that we’ll have more useable land in the area,” Henriet DeBruin, a greenhouse grower and executive director of the Thunder Bay Federation of Agriculture, told Farms.com today. “Technology is getting better and, with tile drainage, farmers are going to be able to grow better crops. It’s a win-win situation for the research centre and the farmers in the area.”
The tile drainage investment in Thunder Bay aligns with the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.
Earlier this winter, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced $340,000 of funding for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association to develop a tool for farmers. The tool lets growers use satellite data of field crops under different climactic conditions to show how they could benefit from installing tile drainage.
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