Search
Better Farming OntarioBetter PorkBetter Farming Prairies

Better Farming Ontario Featured Articles

Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Accounting problems impede Christian Farmers

Sunday, July 22, 2012

image

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

An audited financial statement for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario failed to pass muster at the organization’s re-accreditation hearing in Guelph on Saturday. The chair of The Ontario Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Tribunal panel ordered the federation’s general manager and president to file an amended audited statement with the Tribunal and be prepared to come before the panel again to explain it.

The Tribunal found fault with a statement provided by   general manager Nathan Stevens that did not contain clear numbers showing the amounts of monies the provincial organization paid to its affiliates. According to the regulations of the Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, said hearing chairman Nicholas Richter, the financial statements and the auditor’s report must be prepared in accordance with standards set in the Handbook of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

After a lunch break during the day long hearing, Stevens came back with another statement, which Richter described as “helpful, but it is not an audited statement.”
Stevens told the Tribunal that the accountant who had prepared the financial report was not available on the weekend.  (Richter allowed at the beginning of the hearing that this might be the first time that a Tribunal panel had ever sat on a Saturday.)

The Christian Farmers membership numbers are holding steady, Arthur area rabbit and sheep farmer Lorne Small told the Tribunal. Last year the organization had 4,441 members registered through farm business registrations.  

But farm business registrations are not the be-all and end all, as all three general farm organizations have found this year, to their chagrin. On May 23, Christian Farmers, as well as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture were served notice that their accreditation had been ended.  A common issue with all three organizations is that an interpretation of the 1993 act by the ministry’s legal services branch, concluded that directing a farm business registration fee of $195 to a particular organization did not confer membership  in that organization. That would require a separate step, which the Tribunal’s decision refers to as “an explicit membership agreement.”

Small said he hoped that a similar efficient system for obtaining that agreement could be used by all three general organizations to satisfy the requirements of the Act.

Small says the organization’s bylaws have been changed to allow for another type of membership that will allow support by farm business  owners who normally object to joining an organization because of their faith. BF

Current Issue

April 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

OFA Fights for Farmer Rights during Tariff War

Monday, March 31, 2025

The agricultural sector in Ontario trades billions of dollars annually with the U.S. In 2023, this amounted to $32.8 billion, it also included a trade deficit of nearly $2 billion. The impact of tariffs and trade barriers on this trade is significant, as they disrupt supply chains, reduce... Read this article online

Lynmark Farms named Master Breeder for 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

The Canadian Milking Shorthorn Society has announced that Lynmark Farms has been named as a herd for 2025. Lynmark Farms is owned and operated by Tim Shearer and Irene Vietinghoff of Norwood, Ontario. They are the third Milking Shorthorn herd to be recognized as a since this... Read this article online

Ontario Mega Farm Faces Market Chill

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

A large working farm in Ontario, one of the province’s biggest on the market, is facing difficulties finding a buyer. Listed at $72.1 million, the 2,300-acre property is located near Lake Erie in Elgin County, spanning both Malahide Township and Central Elgin. Despite its prime agricultural... Read this article online

BF logo

It's farming. And it's better.

 

a Farms.com Company

Subscriptions

Subscriber inquiries, change of address, or USA and international orders, please email: subscriptions@betterfarming.com or call 888-248-4893 x 281.


Article Ideas & Media Releases

Have a story idea or media release? If you want coverage of an ag issue, trend, or company news, please email us.

Follow us on Social Media

 

Sign up to a Farms.com Newsletter

 

DisclaimerPrivacy Policy2025 ©AgMedia Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Back To Top