4 The Business of Ontario Agriculture Better Farming | June/July 2024 INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE INSIGHT FROM THE INSIDE LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FARMLAND DISPUTE; HAPPY 150 TO OAC We continue to hear from readers on the potential expropriation of Wilmot farms by the Region of Waterloo. At press time, local politicians and bureaucrats were still adding to the exasperation of farmers, refusing to provide any answers or dialogue to address the serious concerns and questions. The Region is seeking to acquire 770 acres of prime farmland, but since farmers began pushing back against the land assembly, the lack of transparency and any information has exacerbated the situation. Something smells bad here, and the lingering odor isn’t coming from any farm. I spoke recently with Kevin Thomason, vice-chair of the Grand River Environmental Network, who strongly supports the local farmers against this “absurd” development. “This is prime agriculture, based on soils, and far from our urban centres. It’s simply the wrong location for a mega-industrial development. Worse yet, local Wilmot Township politicians blame Regional politicians. Who blame the Province. Which claims no involvement. All claim to be gagged and under NDAs with no answers from anyone. Meanwhile, farmers’ lives are on hold, and the situation is already costing them in so many ways. “These local politicians were elected to represent everyone – including farmers. It’s just very unfortunate to put farmers and our entire community in this awful position without any consultation or dialogue.” One farmer reader emailed us this summary: “The Region is threatening farmers with expropriation of their working farms. It’s an upsetting and unfortunate act.” We join all readers celebrating Ontario Agricultural College’s 150th Anniversary. It’s a big milestone, and an opportunity to acknowledge the incredible role OAC has had in farm families across the province and beyond. Those years at OAC were so important to so many alumni, who have gone on to do so many great things in our industry. 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 EMILY UNGLESBEE 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. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Follow us on @BetterFarmingON “Those first two to three weeks of July are critically important. That’s when we start seeing tar spot build up, and that gives us an indication of what’s going on in Ontario, as well as in the U.S.” - Albert Tenuta, Page 16 “Overapplication of N fertilizers can and does occur, as the relationship between N and yield is not simply a straight line, where more is always better.” - Colin Elgie, Page 25 “Nobody seems to have a great handle on the number of dairy-beef calves in Ontario, but when talking to people in the genetics business, they are saying that up to 40 per cent of breedings are producing beef-cross calves.” - Keith Schweitzer, Page 40 “As a teenager, I was always assigned the task of loading the wagon and feeding the threshing machine. The older men preferred to keep both feet on the ground and provide sheafs to the young fellow on the wagon.” - Ralph Winfield, Page 45 Cover: Leslie Stewart photo; Bacres Grain photo
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