4 The Business of Ontario Agriculture Better Farming | February 2024 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR TOO GOOD A DEAL; COLLEGE ROYAL “Ask yourself if this is too good to be true. Is it too good of a deal?” Good advice from Joel Bouvier, director of Cyber Security at FCC, in Emily Croft’s story on “avoiding scammers” in this edition. Bouvier says that there are a variety of scams that currently target farmers. “It could be anything. We’ve seen fraudulent equipment and supplies sales, some invoice scams, online bidding and auction scams, grant scams, or government rebate scams.” A recent scheme I encountered here involved a man who claimed he ran a farm-building company in Texas. He wanted to advertise an “unbeatable” deal in this magazine, with our readers getting an excellent price on a new building. But that’s not all. He was offering free shipping to your farm. Everything would come on a truck. Including the crew – who would spend a few days on your property as they built your new structure. At no cost. What a deal. But where would the crew sleep? What would they eat? “You don’t need to worry about that. They will fend for themselves.” What a deal indeed. And this gentleman didn’t even need full payment before the building was up. “But of course, we would need to ask for a few-thousand-dollar downpayment up-front. Just to show the farmer is serious.” Be careful, folks. Frauds and scammers are everywhere. The University of Guelph’s College Royal is celebrating its 100th anniversary next month. If you’re a U of G alum, you might recall your favourite parts of the annual 12-day open-house. Remember the logging competition? The tug-of-war? Did you compete at square-dancing? Does the term Rumen with a View bring back some memories? Some 100 students are working hard on this year’s event, and they are hoping lots of OAC and other Guelph grads will come back and visit March 6 through 17. Paul Nolan Steve Duff, Dr. Peter Kotzeff, and Robert McKinlay speak about keeping cattle on the Ontario landscape in a panel moderated by OMAFRA’s Christoph Wand at Grey Bruce Farmers’Week’s Beef Day in January. Jacklyn Horenberg photo 1-888-248-4893 90 Woodlawn Road West Guelph, ON N1H 1B2 PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR PAUL NOLAN ext 202 Paul.Nolan@Farms.com ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR LESLIE STEWART ext 265 Leslie.Stewart@Farms.com AGRICULTURAL JOURNALIST EMILY CROFT CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS EDITION MOE AGOSTINO CAMPBELL CORK DALE COWAN ABHINESH GOPAL PAUL HERMANS RICHARD KAMCHEN PATRICK LYNCH RALPH WINFIELD ADVERTISING TEAM GLENN RUEGG JEFF McKEE JENNY LONGSTREET SCOTT FARHOOD SAMANTHA RENAUD JOAN SPIEGELBERG DESIGN & PRODUCTION TEAM TANYA MYERS GREG MARLOW SHAUN CLARK ANDREA WILLIAMS www.BetterFarming.com Better Farming magazine is mailed as a member-benefit to all farmer members of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. If you are not an OFA member, subscribe at: 1-888-248-4893 ext 281 Subscriptions@BetterFarming.com ISSN 1498-9344 (Printed) Canadian one-year subscriptions: $41 (11 issues; includes $4.72 HST). Two-year: $74 ($8.51 HST). U.S. subscriptions: $72 annually. International: $121. Single-copy back issues are $12. GST Registration #868959347RT0001 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to AgMedia Inc., 90 Woodlawn Road West, Guelph, ON N1H 1B2. Publications Mail Registration #1156. Publications Mail Agreement #40037298. Copyright ©2024 by AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any content without written permission of the publisher is forbidden. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute endorsement of the advertiser, its products or services, nor do Better Farming, AgMedia or Farms.com endorse any advertiser claims. The publisher shall have no liability for the omission of any scheduled advertising. Follow us on @BetterFarmingON We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Cover: Norm Lamothe photo; Paul Nolan photo
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