LOCAL HEADLINES

Two MPPs who are actively seeking legislation to preserve Ontario’s shrinking prime food land insist that it will protect rural communities and culture, and quash developer speculation in farmland.

A third-generation Delhi area farm family is going artisanal this spring – with chickens.

Tobacco Mosaic Virus was the first virus identified more than a century ago, but it’s still around and causing problems today.

Cash crop farmers who attended this year’s Norfolk Soil and Crop Association (NSCIA) growers’ day in Courtland on March 12 gleaned many nutrient tips from agrologists, and even heard a long-term weather forecast.

Rola Elghonimy’s role as Farmer Outreach for Apidae Systems has allowed her to discover just how busy her clients are.

Megan and Maddison, two twins who live and operate their business on Cockshutt Road, have turned beef tallow, an often-forgotten by-product of cattle farming, into a skincare business.

A decade ago, two researchers from the University of Guelph, Dr. Andria Jones and Dr. Briana Hagen, conducted a study on the mental health of farmers across Canada.

One size does not fit all, particularly when it comes to hazelnut farming.

In a time when Holsteins dominate the Canadian dairy industry, and hockey sweaters and not cows come up first in internet searches for Jerseys, the Kyles of Ash Lawn Farm south of Ayr stuck to raising premium Jersey cows for a century.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of EMILI (Enterprise Machine Intelligence and Learning Initiative), the culmination of a group of community leaders working towards a common goal: to grow Canada’s economy, with a specific focus on advancing agtech in the Prairies.

The word uncertainty was thrown around a lot at the Grain Farmers of Ontario March Classic last month, and for good reason given the state of the world.

Attendees at the Grain Farmers of Ontario District 5 (Elgin/Norfolk) received insight into the latest on the fertilizer market from the head of the country’s largest farm co-operative.

There’s a few common reactions when visitors to Transitions Acres first encounter the horses. Sometimes they’ll stop in their tracks, mesmerized.

Some things just don’t seem like they would go well together, such as black currants and Norfolk County’s sandy loam soil, or school teachers and farming. However, for Vittoria’s Russel Blake, those four things have combined along with many learning experiences, and a constant willingness to evolve to formulate his career over the last 25 years.

When they moved to a small, Hartford-area acreage in 2008, newlyweds Nick and Hilary VanderHeide asked, “How can we make some money from this acreage?”

Agritourism Ontario (AO) Chief Executive Officer Kevin Vallier was permitted a quiet moment of celebration this past December on the one-year anniversary of provincial Bill 186, The Growing Agri-Tourism Act.

It was anything but a barrel of laughs. But a 50-gallon shipping container provided a welcome layer of protection as Hurricane Melissa destroyed Dwayne Demontagnac’s Black River-area, Jamaica house around him.

Potatoes are a staple for Canada’s agricultural industry. In 2024, there were over 127 million hundredweight of potatoes produced across the country.

Several months after settling into another location at the fairgrounds, most of the approximately 30 indoor vendors at the Simcoe Farmers’ Market report that they’re happy with the change.

Despite its name, the spotted lanternfly isn’t actually a fly. Moreover, while it may look like a moth, it doesn’t fall into that category, either. In truth, these insects are plant hoppers, more closely related to stink bugs or water bugs.