In the news
NEWS BITES THAT MATTER
Is IP soy production a fit for your farm?
The Canadian Soybean Council is excited about their upcoming producer information session which is geared to answer important questions about IP soybean production for farmers. The event, which is being held in collaboration with the Canadian International Grains Institute, is being held at three locations throughout Ontario at the end of January.
Woodstock – Monday January 24, 2011
Quality Hotel & Suites, 580 Bruin Blvd.
Walkerton – Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Knights of Columbus Hall, 1658 Hwy 9, RR5, Mildmay
Chesterville – Thursday, January 27, 2011
Chesterville Legion, 167 Queen Street West
TIME: 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Lunch and refreshments provided)
COST: $26.25 (includes GST)
Space is limited, so register today to secure a spot. Register online at www.cigi.ca or call Bre-An Appler at 204-983-2477 by January 17, 2011.
For more information about the workshop call Michelle McMullen, Manager, CSC, at 519-767-2472. •
SWAC donates $25,000 to Ridgetown
The Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) recently provided the First Leadership donation of $25,000 to the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown Campus’ Reek building’s new east wing campaign.
This is the first donation to the $2.5 million campaign to construct the new wing. They plan to seek $1 million from community stakeholders and $1.2 million from the province. The Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario has made a generous investment to initial architectural designs. The designs and engineering plans have been progressing for over a year.
The expansion is driven by huge growth in agricultural diploma enrollment requiring additional classroom space and a new student services and recruitment centre.
It’s a timely investment with the campus recently seeing their largest enrolment in history and celebrating its 60th year as agriculture education providers.•
Farmincome drop in 2009
In 2009 realized net farm* income fell 11.2 percent to $3.3 billion reported a resent report from Statistics Canada. This was the first drop since 2006.
Declining program payments, increases in depreciation charges, and grain, cattle, and hog receipts are considered to be the culprits.
In Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia realized net income fell and a drop in farm cash receipts exceeded declines in expenses. Total net income in Canada amounted to $2.9 billion in 2009, significantly lower than the $6.9 billion in 2008.
The value of inventories also dropped in 2009 to $351 million because of reductions in the stocks of most major grains and declining livestock inventories. This is a massive change from the $3.2 billion increase we saw in 2008 with above-average year-end stocks.
Overall, agriculture’s net value fell by $4.5 billion to $11.3 billion in 2009. In 2008 the value increased by $6.0 billion. The drop is primarily due to a drop in the total value of production. Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and British Columbia were the only provinces to record net value increases in 2009.
*Realized net farm income: the difference between a farmer’s cash receipts and operating expenses minus depreciation, plus income in kind. •
