Scoops
| FROST DEVASTATES ONTARIO'S FRUIT SECTOR | 05/14/12 |
| From FCC Express-by Owen Roberts Devastating weather-related losses of up to $100 million are forecasted for Ontario's fruit industry. The province's agriculture minister was scheduled to tour part of the Niagara region fruit belt Thursday to observe the damage and discuss the impact with farmers, industry representatives and crop insurance officials. The problem stems from record high temperatures in the winter that sparked extremely early blossoming, followed by more than a dozen frosts. A particularly severe frost occurred on the weekend when blossoms were abundant. As a result, much of the $60 million apple crop has been lost in Niagara and in other fruit-growing regions in the province, such as Georgian Bay, Lake Erie's north shore and near Toronto. As well, up to 30 per cent of Ontario's $48 million tender fruit crop is in jeopardy, including peaches, cherries, pears, plums and nectarines. Some Ontario farmers say certain varieties such as Empire apples will be costly and available in very limited quantities, if at all. "Higher prices are likely to continue over the next several years as farmers attempt to recoup losses from this year," says Jacob Pries of the Organic Council of Ontario. Indeed, many of the expenses associated with growing apples will still be necessary, as pests are still an issue, even with little or no crop. Brandon Weber, farm manager at Filsinger's Organics in Ayton, Ont., says farmers who fail to control for pests this year will cause increased pest problems over the next years. They'll still have to spend money and time on pest and fungus control, he says, even for trees with no apples. This bout of unpredictable weather has thrown a new wrench into food price predictions. As last year drew to a close, University of Guelph researchers Sylvain Charlebois and Francis Tapon were predicting the 2012 overall price increase in food would be about two per cent. However, Charlebois noted at the time, unpredictable heat, cold and rainfall continue to influence farming in ways never experienced in modern-era agriculture. "If the weather co-operates, our predictions will be fine," he says, "but how can we know what Mother Nature will do?" |
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| WIN, PRIDE SEEDS AND BAYER CROPSCIENCE LAUNCH ENHANCED WEATHERCENTRAL.CA: BETTER TOOLS. BETTER GRAIN. | 05/14/12 |
| From a Release - Chatham – With the 2012 planting season well underway in Ontario, farmers sowing corn and soybeans this year now have free access to a new online tool kit available at WeatherCentral.ca. Weather INnovations has teamed with PRIDE Seeds and Bayer CropScience to deliver the latest in weather-based online agronomic advisories for Ontario’s major field crops, corn wheat and soybeans. WeatherCentral.ca provides site-specific tracking of Crop Heat Units and Growing Degree Days throughout the season. Growers can log-on to WeatherCentral.ca by creating a free profile. They can then identify and save field locations to view weather forecasts, agronomic models for wheat and corn, and interactive CHU and GDD reports for their exact locations. To coincide with the start of the 2012 season, WeatherCentral.ca has been revamped with a brand new look, and now features corn tools including models for predicting growth stages for the entire season and calculating drydown moisture levels at harvest. “These new advisory tools for growers will help them make better decisions on their farms,” said Ian Nichols, WIN president and business manager. “They assist in the more efficient use of resources while also reducing management stress.” The new Research Corner section will follow the very latest in grain research & development news from academic, government and industry investigators. “PRIDE Seeds is very enthusiastic to be part of the WeatherCentral.ca program,” said Stephen Denys, vice-president of sales and marketing. “Our goal as a company is to partner with like minded companies that are focused on providing farmers with the tools they need to increase profitability on the farm. By sponsoring these tools, our goal is to ensure Canadian farmers have the environmental information they need to make more informed management decisions. As a result, WeatherCentral.ca is an important resource for not only farmers, but for our dealers and agronomy team as well.” Of special interest at this point in the season is the SPRAYcast® model, available to all visitors to the site, with no registration required. It provides a three-day advisory of the best times to apply crop protection products based on weather forecasts. SPRAYcast®, along with the DONcast® and WHEATcast™ disease models, have been provided on WeatherCentral.ca for the past 3 years with support from Bayer CropScience. “The information and tools available through the site are essential to grain growers across Ontario,” said Greig Zamecnik, Director of Business - Row Crops & Horticulture with Bayer CropScience. “We are proud to continue supporting our customers with this kind of open-access, science-based outreach.” WeatherCentral.ca is also now on Twitter! Follow us through “_weathercentral” to stay current on critical weather news, site updates, photographs and observations from fields. More upgrades are scheduled throughout the season, so stayed tuned at http://www.weathercentral.ca. |
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| FARMS GETTING LARGER WITH FEWER FARMERS COUNTER-STATSCAN | 05/10/12 |
| From Statistics Canada The trend to consolidation and adaptation in the Canadian agricultural sector continued between 2006 and 2011 as the number of census farms declined and many farms expanded and consolidated their operations. The 2011 Census of Agriculture showed a shift away from livestock-based farms to crop-based farms. A full analysis is available in the analytical report, "A snapshot of Canadian agriculture." The 2011 Census of Agriculture counted 205,730 census farms, a decline of 23,643 or 10.3% from 2006. At the same time, the number of farm operators fell by 33,135 or 10.1% to 293,925. Farm numbers have been declining steadily since 1941. Between 2006 and 2011, the number fell in every province except Nova Scotia, where it rose 2.9%. The number of operators was down everywhere in Canada except Nova Scotia, where it increased 2.5%, and British Columbia, where it was up marginally. Between 2006 and 2011, the average size of Canadian farms increased 6.9% from 728 acres to 778 acres. In Saskatchewan, the average farm size increased 15.1% to 1,668 acres, the largest increase in the country. Production shifted as well. Crop production and beef farming have long been the backbone of Canadian agriculture, but the gap between the two has widened. In 2006, oilseed and grain farms accounted for 26.9% of all farms and beef farms accounted for 26.6%. By 2011, the share of oilseed and grain farms had increased to 30.0%, while the share of beef farms had declined to 18.2%. |
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| SURVEY SHOWS AG IS ROBUST | 05/14/12 |
| by the Canadian Press Canada's agricultural landscape, once dominated by small farms and plentiful livestock, is now characterized by larger operations that focus on crop production, new census numbers suggested Thursday. Data from Statistics Canada's 2011 census of agriculture showed the country's farmers are consolidating their operations and shifting their efforts away from the cattle farming that was once the backbone of Canadian farming. The number of total farms shrank 10.3 per cent since the last census release in 2006, continuing a downward trend that first surfaced in 1941. The number of farm operators also dropped 10.1 per cent over the period. Data suggests, however, that the decline in overall numbers doesn't necessarily point to a downturn in total farming. Although the number of farms slipped to 205,730 from 229.373 in the previous census, StatsCan says many smaller farms have been consolidated into larger operations over that five year stretch. The total area of land being farmed slipped only four per cent to 160,155,748 acres, while the average farm size jumped seven per cent to 778 acres. Alfons Weersink, professor of agriculture at the University of Guelph, says digging deeper into the census data reveals a sector that's in fairly robust health. "The last several years have been good for most of agriculture," Weersink said in a telephone interview. "Profits have been up, prices have been increased quite significantly from the last census... There's been a significant boost up." Weersink cites the growing number of commercial farms as evidence of the industry's strength. StatsCan says the number of farms reporting more than $1 million in gross farm receipts soared 31.2 per cent from 2006 levels. There was also a three per cent surge in the number of farms bringing in more than $500,000, which now make up 11.5 per cent of all farms in Canada. Total gross farming receipts climbed four per cent to $51.1 billion, a fact Weersink partly attributes to high commodity and grain prices. That same up-tick partially accounts for the shift in farm production that took place over the past five years, he says. Canada's farming industry was traditionally sustained in equal measure by grain and beef production, according to the last census. Now, StatsCan said grain and oilseed farms make up 30 per cent of the national total, up from 26.9 per cent, while beef farms tumbled from 26.3 per cent to 18.2 per cent. Weersink says farmers have been adjusting their focus to capitalize on the strong crop market. |
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| ESSEX COUNTY GREENHOUSES NEED SKILLED WORKERS | 05/14/12 |
| From The Windsor Star By Ellen Van Wageningen LEAMINGTON - Peter Quiring's launch pad into Ontario's $1-billion greenhouse industry was a small shop he started with a used welding machine, a grinder and a cutting torch. A welder and fabricator by trade, he got his start at Windsor shops serving the auto industry. He later completed the mechanical design program at St. Clair College and, in 1994, set up his own business in his hometown of Leamington, where he saw an opportunity to supply and install heating and automation systems for rapidly expanding greenhouse operations. Soon he was building the structures. When he couldn't sell 18 acres of high-tech greenhouses he built on spec in 1999, he took the final plunge and began to grow bell peppers. Today, at age 49, Quiring is the owner of Canada's largest greenhouse complex. His Nature Fresh Farms Ltd. occupies 130 acres under plastic and glass along Highway 77 north of Leamington's urban centre. In this southwestern corner of Ontario, which has the highest concentration of greenhouse vegetable production in North America, Quiring is a leader in adopting the latest technology and finding innovative ways to reduce costs. Where the former tradesman is coming up short is finding skilled workers prepared to make a career under the glass. It is a concern that is uniting the fiercely competitive and independent greenhouse owners, said Anne Miskovsky , Leamington's economic development officer. Not only do they need expert growers, some of whom they've had to recruit from as far away as the Netherlands and Israel, they are worried that some of the companies that service their greenhouses can't find enough computer technicians, marketing personnel and tradespeople, she said. There have been discussions involving the town, growers and St. Clair College about how to improve training and recruitment. Quiring, whose friendly, low-key demeanour belies his driven nature, has been "wonderful" to work with, Miskovsky said. Like the auto industry he once worked in, Quiring is up against competitors from around the globe. "Now we have to rely on a highly skilled workforce, a very efficient workforce. Because if we're not skilled, if we're not efficient, then we have to go back to being cheap. Well, I don't think that's a possibility for us," he said. Quiring doesn't know what his businesses are worth, but it has taken "a lot of debt" to get where he is today. The spotlessly clean, highly automated hydroponic greenhouses of Nature Fresh Farms produce 15 million pounds of bell peppers (red, yellow and orange) and 15 million pounds of tomatoes (on the vine and beefsteak) a year. During the main growing season, from May through November, they employ 275 workers - ranging from minimum-wage pickers and packers to senior growers, who are responsible for maintaining ideal crop conditions and can make $100,000 annually. Peppers are moved from the vines in trolley carts with weight sensors that gently lower them onto conveyor belts to be sorted and packed. Vine tomatoes aren't touched by human hands once pickers place them in boxes that are stacked on carts that move along a rail system that snakes its way through the greenhouse to the packing area. Water that carries nutrients to the hydroponically grown plants is tested weekly and recycled. Heat and temperature are computer controlled to keep them at the perfect level. Each shipping box is labelled so the tomatoes and peppers can be traced back to the section of the greenhouse where they were grown. Quiring's greenhouse construction and equipment manufacturing plant, South Essex Fabricating Inc., is also becoming more automated, using laser cutters to perform tasks once done manually. It employs 60 people year round, most of them skilledtrade workers. He estimates that since 1996 it has built 1,200 to 1,500 acres of greenhouses for companies in southern Ontario, New York, Ohio, Michigan and even North Carolina. Recruiting skilled-trade workers for both the fabrication plant and the greenhouse operation has always been a challenge, Quiring said. Nature Fresh Farms has a permanent Help Wanted sign posted out front, a common sight outside many greenhouses in the area. For decades, Ontario greenhouse vegetable growers have relied on seasonal workers from Mexico and the Caribbean to provide a reliable and dedicated core of pickers, packers and janitors. Quiring said foreign workers fill roughly half those lower-wage jobs in his greenhouses and he is able to hire locally for the rest, although recently it's getting harder as greenhouses expand. Roughly 70 per cent of the 10,000 jobs in the sector go to Canadians, said George Gilvesy, general manager of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers. The bulk of those jobs are in Leamington, Kingsville and surrounding communities in Essex County, Chatham-Kent and Lambton County. Economic development officer Miskovsky estimates at least 20 per cent of the jobs are well-paying ones that require skilled trades or post-secondary training. "In the past and now, if we're advertising to hire just about any skilled tradesman, including food safety and quality control people, the amount of competent replies we get to an ad is very limited," Quiring said. "It can be anything - electrical, refrigeration, even welders I have a hard time getting ... If the economy improves it will be exponentially more difficult to find those people." In his view, one stumbling block is an antiquated apprenticeship system that isn't accessible enough to young people and too onerous for employers to use effectively. "A big part of the problem for greenhouses, I think, is perception," said Peter Tumidajski, vice-president of strategic planning for St. Clair College. Outside communities such as Leamington, Canadians aren't aware of how automated they've become and the sophisticated servicing, marketing and distribution systems that surround them. The college is working on developing a training program for greenhouse technicians, but it lacks an up-to-date training facility, he said. In the meantime, Quiring and other greenhouse owners make do. "By and large, I've trained my own skilled-trades people, especially in the welding and the engineering and design part," Quiring said. In the past year, Nature Fresh Farms has started inhouse training programs for growers, and it currently has nine. "Typically, we just look for people in the workforce that show potential," said Quiring. "Attitude is everything ... I'm looking for people that want a career, not necessarily people who want a paycheque for today." Quiring, who grew up in a farm family with six siblings, embodies that drive. His cellphone is beeping every few minutes during a half-hour interview. He rarely works fewer than 70 hours a week. A good chunk of that is on the road, and some of it is spent sorting out problems in his head while he sits in front of the television at night, he said. His passion isn't as much for greenhouses as for innovating and cutting his own path. "I've always wanted to be in business and I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit, wherever that takes me," he said. His son, Mat, and future sonin-law John Ketler are working with him in the greenhouse business. Quiring also has three daughters. When it comes to his children's careers, he just wants them to do something they like. "It doesn't really matter what somebody does as long as it's good, honourable work and they do their best at it," he said. "From there, you can take it to whatever level you want to." |
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| CANADIAN AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICY FROM A PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVE | 05/11/12 |
| This week's guest commentary comes from Nathan Stevens, the Interim Manager and Director of Policy Development for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario Canadian trade policy is one of the more controversial issues that Ontario farmers live with every day. There are segments of Ontario agriculture that would benefit from more open trade and segments that would not reap the same rewards. A recent trade policy session held by the George Morris Centre brought in several experts on the intricacies of international trade deals and the challenges and opportunities that Canada and its farmers are currently facing as talk over joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership heats up. First and Foremost, the multi-lateral approach is stalled at the moment and bilateral and regional deals are picking up steam. The Doha Round of the World Trade Organization negotiations is stuck. Instead, countries that see mutually advantageous situations are developing bi-lateral deals, such as the Canada-Europe Union CETA, or regional deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Mark McConnell, a trade lawyer, shared his view on the perspective of the United States (US), the largest player in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The U.S. is more concerned about Japan as a potential partner than either Canada or Mexico. He noted that the new Farm Bill appears to be heading towards serious cuts in support programs. Meanwhile, elements of the U.S. dairy sector are pushing towards a form of supply management, which will greatly impact U.S. views on the Canadian supply management system from a trade perspective. Larry Herman, a trade lawyer who believes in an aggressive stance on trade, argued that the dairy industry should be developing transitioning options for the government to move forward on these deals. From his point of view, the system does not need to be dismantled, but aspects of it could be changed in order to further trade opportunities. He also noted that these deals aren’t just about agricultural interests, and that other sectors have mixed views of the deal as well. From the perspective of Peter Gould, General Manager of Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the dairy supply management system is working well, is willing to discuss issues, but has no intention of offering transition options to the Canadian Government. The innovative dairy industry in Ontario is focused on expanding into new markets and finding new opportunities for milk producers. There are many different perspectives on the future of agricultural trade policy and the impact that it will have on Ontario’s farmers. If Canada succeeds in joining the Trans Pacific Partnership, there will be opportunities and challenges that innovative farmers will need to prepare for in our increasingly global business environment. |
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