Ontario Opens Nominations for 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards

Jun 18, 2024

TORONTO – The Ontario government is opening nominations for the 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards, which recognize the outstanding efforts driving the agriculture and food industry forward. These awards celebrate farmers, processors, industry organizations, people and businesses who demonstrate excellence in their field and are paving the way towards a more sustainable and profitable industry.

“The Excellence in Agriculture Awards honour those who set a high standard and lead by example to ensure Ontario’s agriculture and food industry can continue to grow and prosper,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. “Our province is full of devoted and forward-thinking farmers, businesses and organizations working to grow the industry, and I look forward to celebrating their successes.”

This year, the province will recognize agricultural excellence in 12 categories:

Youth Excellence
Food Processing Excellence
Research and Innovation Excellence
Northern Business Excellence
Workforce Excellence
Women’s Excellence
Education Excellence
Supply Chain Excellence
Indigenous, Métis or Inuit-Owned Business or Community Excellence
Promotional Excellence
Farm Family Excellence
Urban Agriculture Excellence

Through this initiative, the province is encouraging the pursuit of excellence across the broader agriculture and food industry, which will be key in realizing the goals set out in the Grow Ontario Strategy.

Source : News Ontario

Video: Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard

On Friday, April 24, 2026, from 12 noon–1:00 ET, the Penn State Center for Agricultural and Shale Law, alongside the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s (PDA) Agricultural Business Development Center (ABDC), presented this webinar in the Understanding Agricultural Law Educational Series, a course designed to develop subject matter literacy and competence on fundamental issues of agricultural law for attorneys and business advisors who work with or represent agricultural or rural clients but may not necessarily specialize in agricultural law:

“Understanding the Basics of the Renewable Fuel Standard”

The Clean Air Act’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program requires transportation fuel sold in the United States to contain a minimum volume of renewable fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or advanced biofuels. Established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and later expanded by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the RFS is implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This webinar provides an overview of the legal authority and structure for the RFS program and explain how it works, including the program’s system of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) and categories of renewable fuels. Additionally, this webinar addresses EPA annual volume requirement rulemaking and associated recent legal issues.