Feds change tobacco license eligibility requirements Thursday, May 14, 2009 © AgMedia Inc.by SUSAN MANNAgriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s changes to some of the eligibility requirements for tobacco licenses means children or other family members of growers who took the federal buyout can now try their hand in the industry.And those people still have time to get their licenses as the application deadline was extended to May 22 from May 15. But potential growers are also facing a tight deadline to prepare land for planting.Linda Vandendriessche, chair of the Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board, says “fumigants have to go on the soil at a particular time of year and it’s getting very, very late.”Former West Lorne-area tobacco farmer Harry Vergeer says extending the deadline for license applications “allows for the crop size to be a bit larger than it would have been if the extension hadn’t been put in place.”Vergeer and his brothers have grown tobacco for 42 years and have now switched to corn, soybeans and wheat. He’s taken the federal tobacco buyout but his son, Mark, is looking to enter the industry.“He will be the owner of the (tobacco) crop and we will be helping him,” Vergeer says.This is “about transition from one generation to the next,” he adds. “That was the principle of the program – to help tobacco farmers leave the industry and reposition the industry in moving forward.”Vandendriessche says the board changed the deadline for the license applications after the federal government lifted restrictions May 7 prohibiting family members of farmers participating in the Tobacco Transition program from growing tobacco on their family’s land.But the family member getting the license must rent the land and equipment from their family. “It has to be a business deal, at arm’s length and all documented according to government guidelines,” she says.The board challenged the previous prohibition on family members from being able to obtain a license. “The Tobacco Transition program recipient gave up his right to grow,” she says. “He did not give up his right to manage his farm.”So far, about 70 people have received licenses. This year’s crop size won’t be known until after the May 22 license application deadline.License applications are available at the board office in Tillsonburg. The fee is $100 for the license plus a one-cent-a-pound assessment that goes to the tobacco board for its operations. The $100 is deducted off of the assessment, Vandendriessche says. The license has to be renewed annually.If a grower can’t find a company willing to buy his or her product, they can’t grow that year. “This is tobacco and there is still legislation and regulations that have to be followed for growing the crop,” she says.More information about the license applications is available from the board office at (519) 842-3661. BF Ag Minister nixes fruit wines for now Beating a dead pigeon
2026 Grains Innovation Fund is now open Tuesday, July 29, 2025 Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), the province’s largest commodity organization representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, is now accepting applications for its . “This year marks another exciting chapter for the Grains Innovation Fund,” stated Paul... Read this article online
Applications Open for Grains Innovation Fund 2026 Monday, July 28, 2025 Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), the province’s largest commodity organization representing 28,000 farmers, is now accepting applications for the 2026 Grains Innovation Fund. The fund offers grants up to $75,000 to support innovative projects that promote the use of Ontario’s grains such as... Read this article online
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Join the John Deere Antique Tractor Show in Palmerston Friday, July 25, 2025 The Upper Canada Two Cylinder Club is thrilled to announce that its annual John Deere Show will be held this weekend from July 25 to 27, 2025, in Palmerston, Ontario. The festivities kicked off with a John Deere Tractor Parade on the evening of Thursday, July 24, winding through... Read this article online