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.


Ontario cucumber growers reach price agreement with Wisconsin greenshipper

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

Growers of hand-harvested cucumbers are taking a price cut for some grades this year compared to a year ago as part of the 2014 agreement reached recently.

Al Krueger, executive assistant with the Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, says the agreement was reached just before the matter was slated to go to arbitration this month. Hartung Brothers Inc. of Wisconsin, a licensed greenshipper, buys the largest number of cucumbers in Ontario.

Growers don’t particularly like the price cut, but “I think they probably understand it,” Krueger says. About farmers’ costs, he says it’s hard to determine if those are going up “at this stage because it’s hard to read what impact the lower Canadian dollar is going to have on costs.”

The Canadian dollar going down now in value compared to the American dollar won’t impact this year’s price but it will have an impact on next year’s prices, he says.

The cucumber agreement is the second in a series of vegetable agreements the processing vegetable growers board is negotiating. The first in the series was the onion agreement, reached in November 2013 with Cavendish Appetizers. It was the first onion agreement the processing vegetable growers negotiated since the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission approved last summer the onion growers’ request to be brought under the processing board’s jurisdiction.

Krueger says it would be naïve to say the pending closure of food processors in Ontario, including the Heinz tomato processing plant in Leamington this June, isn’t having an impact on this year’s vegetable negotiations. But he couldn’t point to the “tangible impact either. It’s more of a feeling that manufacturing, particular food manufacturing, is under pressure in Ontario.”

In the Dec. 18, 2013 newsletter, it said the processing vegetable growers wanted to maintain the same prices as 2013 for cucumbers, while Hartung Brothers’ final offer position was a $20 per ton price cut for the No. 1 grade and a $15 per ton cut for the No. 2 grade.

For cucumbers delivered at the factory receiving station up to and including Aug. 7, the minimum price per ton for the No. 1 grade (… to 1 1/16 inches) is $825, a $15 per ton decline from 2013.  There is also a $10 per ton drop in the price for the No. 2 grade (1 1/16 to 1½ inches) for this year to $332 per ton. There was no change in the prices compared to 2013 for the following three grades:

  • No. 3 (1½ to 2 inches) - $222 per ton.
  • No. 4 (2 to 2…› inches) - $20 per ton.
  • Nubs and crooks - $20 per ton.

For processors that need a split planting, the minimum price for hand-harvested cucumbers delivered at the factory receiving station after Aug. 8 is:

  • No. 1 (… to 1 1/16 inches) - $898 per ton. A drop of $5 per ton compared to 2013.
  • No. 2 (1 1/16 to 1½ inches) - $363 per ton. A drop of $5 per ton compared to 2013.
  • No. 3 (1½ to 2 inches) - $239 per ton.
  • No. 4 (2 to 2…› inches) - $22 per ton.
  • Nubs and crooks - $22 per ton. BF

Current Issue

May 2025

Better Farming Magazine

Farms.com Breaking News

New board members for Ontario Pork

Friday, April 25, 2025

Ontario Pork, an association representing the 1,898 pork farms that market 5.9 million hogs in the province, has announced its new board lineup for 2025. As a Guelph, Ontario-headquartered organization, Ontario Pork is engaged in the areas of research, government representation,... Read this article online

Sheep farmers win Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Sheep farmers and wool producers from Wallenstein, Ont. are Ontario’s Outstanding Young Farmers for 2025. “It’s great to be recognized by your peers in the industry with an award like that,” Ryan Schill told Farms.com. “When we started the sheep farm, there were people questioning us... Read this article online

Ontario ag connections in the NHL playoffs

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

The 2025 NHL playoffs are underway, and some of hockey’s biggest names got their start on an Ontario farm or have invested in agriculture since becoming professional athletes. Farms.com went through each of the 16 playoff team rosters to uncover which players have a connection to... Read this article online

New Alcohol Trade Freedom in Ontario

Thursday, April 17, 2025

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has welcomed Ontario’s bold step in eliminating trade barriers and allowing direct alcohol sales to consumers. This new legislation aims to ease internal trade across provinces and support small businesses. One of the key changes... 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