DUNDAS FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE (DFA)
  • Home
  • About DFA
    • Board Members
    • Constitution
    • Calendar of Events
    • Meeting Minutes
  • DFA News
  • Agricultural Hall of Fame
    • 2019 Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductions
    • 2017 Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductions
  • Pictures
    • DFA Pictures
    • Dundas Soil & Crop Pictures
  • Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
  • Partner Sites
  • Contact Us

DFA NEWS

News updates about DFA events and agriculture in Dundas County and Ontario.

Fall agenda fills up with political priorities

10/20/2014

0 Comments

 
By Mark Wales, President, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

Ontario politicians are heading back to the legislature for the fall sitting, and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has a full lineup of work to accomplish with the 107 MPPs representing our province.

We’ll be meeting, consulting, partnering and working with government policymakers on behalf of the 37,000 farm family members we represent. Our theme for 2014 activities is Growing Ontario – and we’ll be reinforcing the contributions of the agri-food industry in providing food, fibre and jobs for the province. Our goal of growing agriculture and agri-food aligns well with the recently published mandates of Ministers.

Climate change is on everyone’s mind and impacts agriculture more than any other industry.  Growing our farm businesses will depend on our ability to cope with climate changes. The OFA is establishing a position to review with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to address mitigation of climate change causes and adapting to the impacts. We will be at the table when climate change policies are discussed and developed to ensure agriculture’s beneficial role and its adaptation needs are recognized.

Farmland preservation is always a priority. From the proposed Rouge National Urban Park, and the planned reviews of the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine and Niagara Escarpment plans, we must preserve our most productive land for agriculture production. We can’t grow, thrive and innovate on a shrinking land base.

The farm and agri-food industry’s ability to grow successfully depends greatly on competitive input costs. This includes access to competitive energy including natural gas and electricity.  OFA is working towards both through important changes to the Long Term Energy Policy to affect electricity rates as well as expanding access to natural gas.   

We’ve had success in expanding natural gas infrastructure across rural Ontario and applaud the government’s announcement of loans and small grants for natural gas infrastructure.  The clear benefits of rural natural gas in growing our farm and agri-food economy will be used to plan further expansion of the gas network.  We know that affordable energy for rural Ontario is key to help our industry meet the Premier’s challenge of creating 120,000 more jobs by 2020. And we’ll work with rural municipalities that are interested in natural gas as a component of economic development.

 

Many factors can and will contribute to success in farming and the agri-food industry. Access to a skilled workforce is quickly becoming an important factor in limiting our ability to grow. There are already two to three jobs available for each agriculture graduate. 

Damage done by trespassers and lost productivity due to invasive species or poorly constructed regulations may sound minor but they do affect our ability to sustain and grow our farming businesses and the agri-food sector. OFA will be addressing these and many other issues with the Ontario government as we work collaboratively on a business environment that enables us to keep growing Ontario.  

The OFA has a full legislative agenda this fall. Watch for continued updates and information on these issues affecting Ontario’s agri-food industry.

 

-30-

For more information, contact:

Mark Wales
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-773-6706


Neil Currie
General Manager
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883 


0 Comments

    Archives

    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About DFA
    • Board Members
    • Constitution
    • Calendar of Events
    • Meeting Minutes
  • DFA News
  • Agricultural Hall of Fame
    • 2019 Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductions
    • 2017 Agricultural Hall of Fame Inductions
  • Pictures
    • DFA Pictures
    • Dundas Soil & Crop Pictures
  • Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA)
  • Partner Sites
  • Contact Us