Ontario Farm Products revamps processing vegetable negotiation committees Friday, March 4, 2016 by SUSAN MANNJust why the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission wants to change the composition of the province’s processing vegetables’ negotiating committees has one industry spokesperson scratching his head.The current negotiating committee structure is working fine, says Al Krueger, Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers Association executive assistant, when asked about the commission’s proposal to amend processing vegetable regulations to ensure, as is stated in its recent Ontario Regulatory Registry posting, there is “active grower participation in the negotiating agencies for vegetables for processing.”Krueger says he’s unsure “where the commission got the idea active growers do not participate in negotiations because they absolutely do.”He also questions why the processors should be permitted to determine the participants of the growers’ side in the negotiations.The commission’s registry posting says a fall 2015 meeting with processors prompted the change. The processors indicated they preferred to negotiate prices with the growers who supplied them.“Name one other instance where the party that you’re negotiating with gets to determine who sits on the other side of the table,” says Krueger. “That’s a little bit what we’re getting into here.”Donald Epp, executive director of the association, couldn’t be reached for comment. Krueger notes each crop has a negotiating committee. On the grower side, the negotiating team is made up of three to four board directors and farmers growing the crop under negotiation are on the committee. For example, the board members who grow tomatoes are on the tomato negotiating committee.There may not be growers on the board with contacts from all of the processors but there are three tomato growers on the board “and certainly those growers can represent the interests of industry at the negotiations,” he says.In cases where there aren’t any board directors growing the crop being negotiated, the board appoints the chairman or past chairman along with a couple of growers of that crop to the negotiating committee. That has happened in the past with onions.The commission has proposed to amend the regulations to “specify minimum requirements for active growers of each processor to be participants of the negotiating agency for each vegetable.”Krueger says, “it takes a certain type of person to accept the request to be on a negotiating committee. Not everybody wants to sit across the table from their buyer.” Furthermore, many farmers say they pay licence fees so they don’t have to worry about stuff like negotiations, and that’s “what we have a board for.”The board directors are democratically elected from the group of committeemen who were elected by growers at the organization’s annual meeting. Krueger says the board directors “are the growers that growers, as a body, have elected to negotiate on their behalf.”The board’s executive decides which board members sit on each negotiating committee.Krueger says they plan to submit a response to the commission’s proposal. The deadline for public comments is March 21.The commission says in its posting it intends to finalize the amendments by the middle of the year so the changes can be implemented in time for the negotiations for the 2017 crop. BF Behind the Lines - March Sudden increase in virus a cause for worry in Ontario's sheep industry
$18.4M Boost for Canadian Cereal Grain Innovation Thursday, September 19, 2024 Gate Project Receives Major Funding for Research Canada's position as a pioneer in cereal grain research is set to strengthen with the Gate Capital Campaign raising $18.4 million. This funding will support the Global Agriculture Technology Exchange (Gate) initiative, a project... Read this article online
BASF introduces Surtain herbicide for field corn growers Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Field corn growers in eastern Canada have a new crop protection product available to them. After about 10 years of research and trials, BASF has introduced Surtain, a residual herbicide for corn that combines PPO inhibitor saflufenacil (Group 14) and pyroxasulfone (Group 15) in a premix... Read this article online
We Didn’t Start the Fire! Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Corn Monday, September 16, 2024 Assistant Professor of Corn Production at Purdue University’s College of Agriculture, Daniel Quinn, PhD. recently provided fascinating insights into the impacts of fire on major corn producing areas, many of which have been impacted by smoke from wildfires. Quinn was the keynote... Read this article online
New home for the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario Saturday, September 14, 2024 The Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) has announced it has moved into its new office building in Ingersoll. Located at 274620 27th Line in Ingersoll, the new office will serve as the hub for CFFO’s ongoing efforts to advocate for and support Ontario’s Christian farmers.... Read this article online
Canadian Ag Youth Council Welcomes new Members Saturday, September 14, 2024 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has announced the latest members to join the Canadian Agricultural Youth Council (CAYC). This update introduces nine fresh members alongside thirteen returning youths, marking a significant step towards involving young voices in agricultural... Read this article online