New snack corn processor to start up in Chatham Monday, May 30, 2011 by PAT CURRIEA new plant that will process local corn into snack food – much of it to go to a company in Detroit – and employ 13-15 workers is being launched in Chatham. With the help of a $299,612 Ontario Rural Economic Development grant, Dover Corn Products Ltd., owned by businessman Gerald Lozon, has installed a modern corn mill to produce high-end corn products in what used to be a Redpath Sugar plant. "We hope to be up and running in about a month," said office administrator Crissey Aarssen.The new corn-milling plant was designed and built by Jozsef Alberti, plant manager/engineer for GrandPaPa's Canister Snacks Inc. of Detroit, which will be the main customer for Dover’s output of ground and bagged Kent County corn.Dover expects to purchase 6,000 acres of corn from local farmers and generate nearly $6 million in sales in it first year. Two future phases of expansion "are our main goal if everything goes as planned," Aarssen said."The retrofitted facility will boast modern processing equipment, and will be the first corn processing operation of its kind in all of Ontario," said Pat Hoy, MPP for Chatham-Kent-Essex. ""This project will benefit all of Chatham-Kent with new marketing opportunities for farmers and additional employment in Chatham as well," said Maria Van Bommel, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex and Parliamentary Assistant to Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell. BF Farm income increase cloaks danger signals Ontario beekeepers estimate winter losses of 30 to 40 per cent
A new front in the repair access debate Friday, March 6, 2026 Iowa lawmakers have pushed the right‑to‑repair conversation into new territory with House File 2529, a bill that focuses specifically on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems—the single most common cause of emissions-related downtime on modern farm machinery. The bill would require... Read this article online
March 8 is International Women’s Day Friday, March 6, 2026 Across the United States and Canada, women are taking on increasingly visible roles in agriculture—managing farms, leading ag-tech startups, advancing research, and strengthening the rural economies that feed both nations. Their work reflects a shift in an industry once defined... Read this article online
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry to Visit Toronto and Southwestern Ontario Tuesday, March 3, 2026 The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry will be in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario later this week as part of its ongoing study on the role of Canada’s agriculture and agri‑food sector in strengthening national food security. The fact‑finding mission is scheduled for... Read this article online
AgriStability Program Updated to Include Pasture-Related Feed Costs Beginning in 2026 Monday, March 2, 2026 In case you missed it last week, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced that pasture-related feed costs will be added as an allowable expense under AgriStability starting with the 2026 program year. The update addresses rising operational... Read this article online
Bringing more Food and Ingredient Processing Back to Canadian Soil Monday, March 2, 2026 Protein Industries Canada has announced the second cohort of nine companies participating in its Program, an initiative designed to bring more food and ingredient processing back to Canadian soil and expand the nation’s value‑added agriculture sector. The selected companies span the... Read this article online