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April 18, 2019

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) researchers have made a discovery that can help corn producers manage grain contaminated with vomitoxin (DON). Dr. Ting Zhou and a team of scientists helped find a new species of the bacteria Devosia mutans from an Ontario alfalfa field. Within the bacteria are two enzymes that make DON non-toxic. This discovery could be a game-changer, he said. “With the bacteria and the enzymes, this opens a big door for several industries to use them in pre- and post-harvest applications,” he told Farms.com. From a pre-harvest perspective, the... read more

Ag in Ontario’s budget

April 16, 2019

To help restore fiscal balance by 2023-24, the Conservative government cut funding for some ministries – including OMAFRA – in Friday’s budget. OMAFRA’s spending allotment drops from $1.06 billion in 2018-2019 to about $839 million in 2019-2020, the budget says. The cut in the provincial ag budget is displeasing, said Keith Currie, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. “We are concerned with the OMAFRA budget cutbacks and will be reviewing these details carefully once spending estimates are available,” he said in a statement Friday. The... read more

Prepping for planting

April 9, 2019

Ontario growers are making the necessary preparations in advance of the 2019 growing season. While it’s still to early to plant any crops, it’s never too soon to get the machinery in order, said Todd Arthur, a cash cropper in Middlesex County. “We probably won’t plant anything until closer to the end of the month, so right now we’re just getting our equipment ready,” he told Farms.com. “It’s better to do it now and get it done than have to worry about it when you’re ready to plant.” Arthur is also deciding what crops to plant.... read more

Ontario farmers to plant more corn acres in 2019?

April 8, 2019

to plant record acres of corn this spring. The weak Canadian dollar is part of the reason the farmers are planting more corn. DON fears do not seem to be having a significant impact. Farms.com Risk Management conducted a 2019 Ontario Planting Intentions farmer survey from January 23rd – March 24th, 2019. The survey forecasts that Ontario farmers intend to plant a record amount of corn, unchanged soybean acres, and lower wheat acres compared to 2018. “This is inline to planting intentions recently announced by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA),” said Moe Agostino,... read more

Deciding how to sell the farm and quota

April 3, 2019

Producers with quota may need to take extra steps to avoid significant income tax implications when selling their farm assets. Bud Arnold, a senior tax manager for Baker Tilly in Elora, helps farmers navigate the sale of quota. “Most supply management boards require that quota remain connected to a particular farm business,” he said. “In some cases, these components can be separated within a related group, but it’s not usually possible to retain quota to provide a stream of lease income after selling the farm business.” The process of selling the farm and... read more