Helping Ontario Food Processors Grow Their Businesses

TORONTO - The government of Ontario is helping businesses in the province's agri-food sector to improve their operations so they can continue to support jobs, boost the economy and bring more safe, high quality foods to local and international markets.

 

The government has committed more than $6.5 million in funding to food processors and other businesses, including animal health, commercialization and primary agri-food businesses. This funding, provided through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), will support more than 100 projects in areas such as food safety, labour productivity and waste reduction. Businesses receiving the support share costs on the projects. Factoring in funding coming from the businesses, this will represent a joint investment of more than $28 million in the sector.

 

Some projects supported through this programing include:

 

"Our government is committed to helping food processors and other contributors in our agri-food value chain to be even more competitive and grow their businesses," said Ernie Hardeman, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. "Investing in these projects will help boost innovation, enhance productivity and increase sales for our food processing sector and open the doors to new markets for the incredibly high-quality foods we produce."

 

To date, both the federal and provincial governments have committed cost-share support to more than 2,400 projects through the Partnership to help eligible Ontario farmers, processors, businesses and sector organizations innovate and grow.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.