LOCAL HEADLINES

In a year that’s been full of difficult surprises for local farmers, from economic uncertainty and wild weather, one Niagara-on-the-Lake grape grower last month received a most welcome surprise.

In a room full of people who had homes flooded and crops on the verge of ruin thanks to a series of summer storms, it was perhaps no better time to have a Pinball pep talk.

The Province’s newest agriculture minister may have grown up in a farm family in one of the most fertile parts of Ontario, but Sam Oosterhoff said he’s not taking anything for granted.

The Vooys family has been volunteering at the West Niagara Fair for several years. Marlene Vooys is now in charge of the photography section, helping to select the classes and assisting the judge on judging day. She also sponsors “The Jar Wrangler” class in the canning section.

As the goat plucked a bit of hay from Penelope Duffie-Edgar’s hand, the young Wellandport girl’s face lit up with joy.

After a spring and summer of preparing for the show ring, 4-H members from the Niagara Goat Club, Lincoln Dairy Club, Niagara Beef Club and the Niagara Poultry Club were well equipped for the Grand Champion Showperson Competition.

On Friday, Sept. 11 members of the Niagara 4-H Goat Club were welcomed to the West Niagara Fair for their achievement day. A great crowd of parents, siblings and grandparents came out to cheer on these young people.

How do you become “The Batter Up Champ,” or better known as “Baker of the Fair?”

A Ridgeway greenhouse has traded chrysanthemums for cucumbers.

This year’s Wainfleet Fall Fair was a chance for those new to the area to learn a little about farm life, or for those long time residents to reconnect.

The 2026 Ag Robotics Demo Day was held July 22 at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Simcoe, a University of Guelph research station.

Over Labour Day weekend, visitors to Wainfleet were reminded just how much work it once took for something as simple as a pair of gloves.

Of all the tools an artist could employ, the shovel is rarely one of them.

Just as Niagara’s grape growers were getting ready for a busy harvest season, they offered a toast to an academic institution crucial in making those harvests better and better each year.

Normally during a formal presentation, a cacophony of sound drowning out the speakers would be considered an unwelcome distraction. But at an event held in Haldimand last month it was celebrated as a sign of progress.

This annual West Niagara Agricultural Society Scholarship Program celebrates young leaders who have excelled in their achievements as 4-H club members and at school and in their community.

From advanced AI and fancy robotics to friendly bugs and fungi, visitors to last month’s What’s Growin’ On open house learned how researchers are working to make sure more of the food Canadians eat is food produced in Canada.

With a blue cloudless sky over top a sea of 40,000 blooming yellow sunflowers, the scene at London Born Wines’ event space last month resembled the flag of the country attendees were supporting.

First came the love of horses, then the idea of having a couple on their own property.

Used substrate in Ontario’s greenhouses may offer value for farmers and outdoor growers.