National milk committee renews innovation program Thursday, October 13, 2011 by SUSAN MANNA program designed to give processors who develop new innovative dairy products access to milk outside of their existing plant supply quotas was renewed for a further two years with some changes.The national Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee approved renewing the Domestic Dairy Product Innovation program at its meeting earlier this month after postponing making a decision earlier in the year.The program was reviewed and renewed every five years until last year when it was extended for one only year because committee members couldn’t reach a consensus. The current program began Aug. 1, 2011 and runs to July 31, 2013. Canadian Dairy Commission chief of commercial operations Laval Létourneau says program changes include:• reducing the timeframe a new product can remain under the program to three years from five;• adding a five million litres per year limit to the amount of milk processors can receive; and • increasing the total amount of milk available under the program to three per cent of national market-sharing quota from two per cent.For the 2010-11 dairy year, there were 98 contracts issued to 33 different processors who used 72.87 million litres of milk. The program is particularly popular in Ontario. “A huge portion of the applications that we are receiving come from Ontario,” Letourneau says. BF Canadian Dairy Commission chair retires Study takes aim at milk prices
Poll Reveals Mixed Public Sentiment on BC Ostrich Cull Decision Thursday, October 2, 2025 Farms.com poll shows divided opinions among Canadian farmers on the Supreme Court’s decision to halt the ostrich cull. A recent poll conducted on Farms.com's X account @OntAg aimed to capture Canadian farmers' views on the Supreme Court’s decision to halt the ostrich cull in British... Read this article online
New Ontario agrobotics challenge seeking high school submissions Thursday, October 2, 2025 A new competition for Ontario high school students is looking for innovative ways to solve challenges in the ag sector. The AgRobotics Ontario Challenge launched at the end of September. The competition is a collaboration between the Western Fair District, the Ontario Council for... Read this article online
Canada Post Strike Continues to Threatens Agri-Businesses and Rural Communities Thursday, October 2, 2025 The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is calling on the federal government to take swift action to end the ongoing Canada Post strike, warning that the disruption is causing serious harm to small businesses – including many in the agriculture sector. “The government’s... Read this article online
Farmland Values Climb Across the Prairies-Manitoba Leads, Ontario Holds Steady Thursday, October 2, 2025 Canadian cultivated farmland values rose by an average of 6.0 per cent in the first half of 2025, according to the mid-year farmland values review by Farm Credit Canada (FCC). This marks a modest acceleration compared to the first half of 2024, which saw a 5.5 per cent increase. Over... Read this article online
Setting Foundations for Higher Yielding Soybeans Wednesday, October 1, 2025 Farmers can achieve higher soybean yields by focusing on strong foundations and careful field management according to Shaun Casteel, Extension Soybean Specialist from Purdue University, who spoke at the in August. He emphasized that no single method guarantees success—each field... Read this article online