Grain Farmers of Ontario congratulates Heath MacDonald on being named Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Guelph, Ont.,  – Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, extends its congratulations to the Honourable Heath MacDonald on his appointment as Canada’s new Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food.

The new Minister succeeds the Honourable Kody Blois, who served as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Rural Economic Development since March 2025. Grain Farmers of Ontario thanks him for his leadership in the previous government.

With the appointment of Minister MacDonald, Grain Farmers of Ontario looks forward to continuing its work with the federal government to ensure a policy environment that enhances the sector’s global competitiveness, recognizes grain farmers’ vital role in Canada’s food sovereignty, strengthens their economic contributions, and secures the long-term viability of grain farming in Ontario.

“As we welcome Heath MacDonald to the role of Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, we are optimistic about the opportunities ahead to strengthen the agriculture sector,” says Jeff Harrison, Chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario. “Our organization remains committed to working collaboratively with the Minister and federal government to address challenges and opportunities facing Ontario’s grain farmers.”

Grain Farmers of Ontario continues to advocate for the following federal priorities:

1. Maintain the free trade between the U.S. and Canada that grains and oilseed farmers rely upon 

• Ensure that the following critical products imported into Canada for planting grains and oilseeds crops remain tariff free. 
  • Fertilizer including nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium-based products. 
  • Equipment for planting, growing, harvesting, and moving a crop. 
  • Barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat seed. 
  • Crop protection products including herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. 
  • Energy including natural gas, propane, gasoline, and diesel. 
• Ensure that the exports of Ontario grain and oilseed commodities and products remain free of tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers. 
• Provide Ontario farmersad hocfunding equivalent to the funding the U.S. Administration provides U.S. farmers. 
• Return any tariff money collected from Ontario grain farmers directly back to Ontario grain farmers. 
• Direct stimulus funding to protect domestic processing and creating new markets. 

2. Protect and grow opportunities in China, Asia Pacific, Central and South America, and the EU and UK as trade relationships change. 

3. Create tax fairness for grain and oilseed farmers. 

• Exempt grain farming from the carbon tax. 
• Exempt grain farmers from the capital gains inclusion rate increase. 
• Maintain the pause on bare & blind trust. 
• Reinstate the Capital Cost Allowance and Accelerated Investment Incentive Program. 

4. Protect grain farmers from escalating input prices and market volatility by providing 60 per cent funding for the Risk Management Program for price stability during volatile times and stability during tariffs and make programming equivalent to the U.S. business risk management suite. 

5. Return Ontario grain farmers to an even playing field with U.S. farmers by removing the fertilizer tariffs and sanctions on Russian fertilizer imports. 

6. Recognize the significance of all renewable fuels, particularly corn-based ethanol, as both a market for Ontario grain and a low-carbon fuel source and increase investment to build this market for further future growth. 

7. Establish an equitable distribution of research funding to support innovation in the Eastern grain sector and restore funding in plant breeding. 

8. Raise the Advance Payments Program funding from $250,000 to $350,000 permanently. 

9. Return agriculture and agrifood funding to business risk management programs where it is most important, including removing and halting efforts to introduce environmental cross compliance. 

10. Invest in Ontario’s food and beverage processing and export capacity to support new grain utilization opportunities. 

Grain Farmers of Ontario is committed to working with the new Minister and the federal government to build a strong, sustainable, and competitive agriculture sector that benefits all Canadians.