Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine is the flagship publication of Grain Farmers of Ontario and a source of information for our province’s grain farmers.

Grain Farmers of Ontario

August 2023

In this issue:

Women on board

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN DISTRICT LEADERSHIP

August 2023 - 2023 will be remembered as a year that Grain Farmers of Ontario made history — for the first time, the organization’s board of directors includes women. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW• Julie Maw and Angela…
A bright future

FROM THE CEO'S DESK

August 2023 - ONE OF THE DRIVERS behind the formation of Grain Farmers of Ontario in 2010 (when the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association, Ontario Soybean Growers, and Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board joined forces), was to better capitalize…
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Leadership matters

MENTORSHIP AND OPPORTUNITY KEY TO WOMEN’S SUCCESS

August 2023 - ‘MY MOMMY IS a Farmer!’, exclaims the title of a children’s book by Sandi Brock, who, together with her husband, Mark, operates Shepherd Creek Farms near Staffa, Ontario. The storybook — told from a child’s…
2023 agronomy update

EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON 2023 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

August 2023 - NO ONE WILL ever know what type of growing season is up ahead. Crop planning is important, but the reality is there are factors that can influence the crop growing season and require a change…
Sustainability and the value chain

PERSPECTIVES OF PRIVATE SECTOR EFFORTS

August 2023 - GLOBALLY, AGRICULTURE AND food companies are developing sustainability programs to build resiliency within their business, meet sustainability targets, and communicate environmental and social progress to stakeholders. The sustainability of an agri-food value chain starts with…
Underused housing tax

CONVERSATIONS WITH BUSINESS EXPERTS

August 2023 - (J.M.) WHAT DO FARMERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UNDERUSED HOUSING TAX? (B.Z.) The Underused Housing Tax (UHT) is a new tax that took effect on January 1, 2022. It requires an annual return to…
GrainTALK for August 2023

AN UPDATE ON GRAIN FARMERS OF ONTARIO NEWS AND EVENTS

August 2023 - Are initiatives like the Women’s Grain Symposium and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training working? Is Grain Farmers of Ontario better for having invested in these programs? Yes, we are better and yes, they are…
Weed science research

WOMEN TAKING THE LEAD

August 2023 - THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH’S Plant Agriculture department continues to build on its world-renowned reputation for research and innovation. Weeds are an increasingly common problem across all crops. From increasing rates of herbicide resistance to finding…
Ontario mill fills a niche market

FERGUS-AREA ENTREPRENEUR BUILDS SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

August 2023 - WHEN MELISSA MCKEOWN and her brother Trevor were casting around for ideas that combined their farm background with their entrepreneurial spirit, they landed on local organic flour milling. It was an excellent choice that became…
Planting date matters

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

August 2023 - THE PLANTING DATE map used by Ontario growers was developed by research conducted in the 1990s (Figure 1). This research found that every day planting is delayed beyond the optimum planting date for a region,…
Women in STEM

NETWORKING GROUP ENCOURAGES DIVERSITY IN SCIENCE

August 2023 - NOTING THERE WERE very few women speaking at or chairing sessions at a convention she attended, Dr. Jennifer Geddes-McAlister knew that needed to change. A researcher from the University of Guelph and a mother of…
Farm women and mental health

RESEARCH FOCUSES ON GENDER AND CLIMATE CHANGE

August 2023 - MENTAL HEALTH — AND its impact on farmers and the agricultural community — has become a more talked about subject in recent years, thanks, in part, to research conducted at the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC)…
Rural childcare challenges

FARM FAMILIES STRUGGLE TO FIND SUITABLE OPTIONS

August 2023 - JORDANNA AND SCOTT Dietrich, who operate a grain farm, laying egg barn, and custom farming operation near Tavistock, Ontario, welcomed a son in September 2022. As Jordanna prepares to return to her off-farm job in…