By Sara Wood, Vice President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
From property taxes and energy costs to wildlife damage, local food promotion and major infrastructure projects, farmers across Ontario regularly face issues that can have a lasting impact on their businesses and communities.
From now until November, members of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, where I serve as a Vice President, will be gathering at meetings across the province to talk about those issues and identify where they feel the OFA should be focusing its advocacy efforts.
Our annual regional meetings are now underway, giving members a chance to hear what OFA has been working on, ask questions about our activities, and tell us what they’re seeing as challenges and opportunities on their farms and in their communities.
Current priorities include taxation, access to affordable energy, local food promotion and rural infrastructure investments, as well as wildlife damage to crops in Northern Ontario and the proposed Alto high-speed rail project in Eastern Ontario and its potential impacts on farms and farmland.
As a board representing farmers, we can’t advocate for an issue if we don’t know it exists.
Regional meetings are one way we hear directly from farmers, whether they’re struggling with a municipal decision, seeing problems with a government program or noticing an emerging issue that needs attention. What starts as a concern in one community can sometimes point to a much broader challenge for agriculture.
That’s also where OFA’s resolutions process comes in.
Any OFA member, local federation or member organization can bring a resolution to our provincial board at any time during the year, although most are debated and voted on at our Annual General Meeting in November.
A resolution can identify a problem, suggest a policy change or ask OFA to advocate for action on a specific issue. Past resolutions have addressed everything from land use planning and taxation to rural health care and internet and cellular connectivity, for example.
Passing a resolution at the annual meeting doesn’t automatically make it OFA policy, but it tells us as board directors that members believe a particular issue deserves attention.
We review passed resolutions against OFA’s mandate, priorities and existing policies and determine what action is appropriate. Local matters may be best handled by a county or regional federation, while federal concerns can be taken forward through the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
It’s an important process because agriculture is such a diverse sector. What works for one kind of farm business or part of Ontario may create challenges somewhere else. Debate lets us hear those different perspectives and look for approaches that work for agriculture as a whole.
But regional meetings aren’t only about shaping policy direction.
They’re also a chance to meet neighbours, compare notes on how the season is going and learn new things. Many meetings, for example, include guest speakers on agricultural and rural issues, government programs and other topics that can be useful to farm businesses.
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