OFA Commentary: November 23, 2017
By Debra Pretty-Straathof, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture Debunking myths about mental health in agriculture was a hot topic at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA) recent annual general meeting. The workshop, Down on the Farm: Myths & Reality of Mental Health in Agriculture, was delivered by the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services to a packed room of OFA members at the annual meeting. Mental health is an important topic, especially in agriculture where many famers often work alone or with family members. Our industry is unique due to the countless and often uncontrollable stressors farmers face every day. Weather, commodity prices and equipment failure are just the tip of the iceberg. Mental health impacts all of us and the stigma still runs deep. A recent study on the mental health of Canadian farmers found 35% of them report feelings of depression. OFA’s workshop helped participants understand why it’s so important to talk about mental health more openly and discuss how the illness can impact farmers. Unfortunately, stigma and attitudes surrounding mental health are still huge barriers, especially in the workplace and in agriculture, making it difficult for those struggling with their mental health or caring for someone who is. The workshop addressed nine myths including ‘farmers don’t get depressed’, ‘mental health is an excuse for poor behaviour’ and ‘personality flaws cause mental health’. We all have so much to learn about mental health and how it can impact us in agriculture. The fact that many rural communities lack services to help remains a serious problem. We all have a responsibility to ourselves and each other to foster a greater understanding of mental health, how we can help and where to go for help. Visit www.thinkmentalhealth.ca to learn more about mental illness and awareness in Ontario workplaces, including agriculture. Thank you to those who attended OFA’s workshop – our wellbeing includes mind and body health. As farmers, we often pride ourselves in the long hours we work, our strength, our entrepreneurial spirit and our resilience. Mental wellbeing begins with starting a conversation, and watching out for each other. For more information, contact: Debra Pretty-Straathof Director Ontario Federation of Agriculture 613-371-8840 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883
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Guelph, ON [November 21, 2017] – More than 400 agricultural representatives met in Toronto this week to discuss the issues and opportunities facing farmers and rural Ontario, and the investments and policies needed to support growth in the agri-food sector, at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA) annual general meeting
Keith Currie, a Collingwood-area hay and sweet corn farmer, was acclaimed as OFA president, returning for his second one-year leadership term for OFA’s 37,000 farm members. “There are tremendous opportunities and plenty to look forward to in Ontario agriculture right now,” says Keith Currie, OFA president. “We talked a lot about the need to distribute economic development across rural and urban areas – a concept that will benefit growth and prosperity for the entire province, and strengthen our rural communities. Based on the level of member feedback and engagement at this year’s annual meeting, we have a clear and positive direction to advocate with government for the infrastructure needed to make this a reality.” OFA launched the organization’s political campaign for the 2018 provincial election Producing Prosperity at the annual meeting. The election campaign illustrates why distributed economic development is necessary for rural Ontario to grow and prosper, and offers solutions to boost the province’s economy and stimulate rural Ontario’s communities. The campaign was also the theme of OFA’s annual meeting, including the topic of the keynote speaker, grassroots member discussions and questions to guest speakers, including representatives of Ontario’s political parties. Peggy Brekveld, a northern Ontario dairy farmer, was acclaimed as Director at Large for a three-year term. Brekveld and Mark Reusser were also acclaimed to the vice president positions. Drew Spoelstra was also acclaimed as the fourth executive member. New to the OFA board of directors is Director at Large, Jackie Kelly-Pemberton, from Dundas County who joins the board after winning the Zone11 election. OFA’s Board of Directors is made up of 18 positions representing regions across Ontario. For the second year, OFA awarded bursaries to three secondary school students pursuing education and a future career in agriculture. Three 2017 winners were announced at OFA’s annual meeting – Julie French from Peel, Emily Potter of Temiskaming and Cassie Allen from Prescott. Each bursary winner was awarded $2,000. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 37,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, the OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer. -30- For more information: Keith Currie President Ontario Federation of Agriculture 705-441-3362 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883 By Bruce Buttar, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
When OFA delegates from across the province gather in Toronto for the organization’s annual general meeting, they’ll be focused on how to create greater prosperity across Ontario’s agri-food sector. The 2017 annual event is themed Producing Prosperity for Ontario to draw attention to the concept of distributing the province’s economic development beyond big urban centres. From Sunday, November 19 through Tuesday, November 21, OFA will host regional delegates, industry stakeholders and the broader agricultural community in Toronto. AGM highlights include discussions on how agriculture and rural communities can contribute and share in the economic development for the province, and the infrastructure support that is needed to realize these opportunities. Agricultural Economist David Freshwater will deliver the keynote address based on his recent Foresight Paper Growth Beyond Cities: Place-Based Rural Development Policy in Ontario that was commissioned and released by the Rural Ontario Institute earlier in November. OFA will use the occasion to gather grassroots input on several key issues impacting OFA members. And five breakout workshops are being offered on The Barton Report, OFA’s 2018 Provincial Election Campaign, Speak Up Team, Natural Heritage and Agriculture, and Mental Health in Agriculture. In the lead up to the provincial election in 2018, representatives of Ontario political parties will address meeting attendees on Tuesday November 21, including Minister Leal, PC leader Patrick Brown, NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner. OFA’s annual event will be held, once again, in conjunction with the Ontario Young Farmers’ Forum to promote networking and idea sharing between the two organizations. The Harvest Gala takes place on Monday evening, November 20. And the popular silent auction will raise funds to support an ongoing OFA bursary and the AgriSkills abroad program. Pre-registration is required, and a full agenda and registration details are available at ofa.on.ca, including a conference app for downloading. OFA looks forward to hosting Ontario agriculture to facilitate ideas, promote dialogue and encourage innovation for our sector. -30- For more information, contact: Bruce Buttar Director Ontario Federation of Agriculture 905-373-6175 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883 Guelph, ON [November 16, 2017] – Small business tax cuts and a reaffirmation of the fast-tracked minimum wage hike were highlights of Ontario’s fall economic statement released on November 14, 2017. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) notes three elements of the economic statement that are most relevant and have the most potential impact on our 37,000 farm members.
The province confirmed its intention to increase the minimum wage to $14 per hour on January 1, 2018 and $15 per hour in 2019. OFA is extremely disappointed in the government’s decisions to clearly not consider the impact this swift shift will have on farmers and small businesses across the province. The province did announce additional support for the horticulture sector as one of the commodities that will be hardest hit by increases to minimum wage – committing $60 million over a two-year period through the Self-Directed Risk Management (SDRM) program. Municipalities have been given the flexibility to determine how small-scale, on-farm processing activities are assessed for the value-added property tax. The change could be good news for value added and commercial farm operations, now that municipalities can tax the first $50,000 of assessed value on “qualifying” operations at a rate that’s 75% lower than the commercial or industrial tax rate that currently applies. “The government has heard from the farm community that the minimum wage increases were too much, too soon and they have responded for the fruit and vegetable sector,” says OFA President Keith Currie. “They have also heard OFA’s message of providing property tax relief for on-farm value added activities.” Ontario’s small business corporate tax will be reduced, as previously announced, from 4.5% to 3.5%. Coupled with the announcement that the federal small business tax rate will drop from 10.5% to 9% by 2019, incorporated farm businesses (representing about 25% of all farm businesses) will be able to reinvest additional after-tax dollars to expand their business. The Ontario government also announced $124 million over three years to support jobs for youth, defined as ages 15 to 29. An employer with less than 100 employees, including farm operations, could receive a $1,000 incentive for hiring a young worker, and $1,000 for retaining that worker for six months. “We will continue to push for legislation and programs that will build prosperity for all Ontarians, including our farms and rural communities,” says Currie. “We’ll be focusing our messaging in the lead up to next spring’s provincial election on the issues that will have significant impact on the long-term, overall health of the Ontario economy. And our agri-food sector is at the top of that list.” The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 37,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, the OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer. -30- For more information: Keith Currie President Ontario Federation of Agriculture 705-441-3362 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883 OFA Commentary: November 10, 2017
By Don McCabe, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture A new provincial soil health strategy has been announced to maintain soil health and sustainability in Ontario. A draft form of New Horizons: Ontario’s Draft Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation, document focuses on improving soil health for the long term, and is now open for public comment and review until the end of the year. The soil strategy builds on the extensive soil health work of many Ontario farmers, farm agricultural organizations, ongoing research and OMAFRA initiatives. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) was actively involved in the development of this strategy and we’re pleased to see that feedback from Ontario farmers, the Indigenous community and other interested groups was considered in this new soil health strategy. OFA is encouraging its members to share their thoughts and feedback on the draft strategy. Your input will help guide the development of a final Soil Health and Conservation Strategy for Ontario, which will be released in spring 2018. Visit www.ontario.ca/soil for more information on open house meetings and how to provide your comments on New Horizons: Ontario’s Draft Agricultural Soil Health and Conservation document. The consultation period is open until December 30, 2017. The new soil strategy was developed in collaboration with Ontario’s agricultural sector and is designed to guide provincial efforts and investments to ensure we are meeting necessary objectives to improve and maintain healthy soils. The strategy is designed to reinvigorate collective efforts to have healthy, productive soil for generations, while supporting long-term profitability for farmers. The strategy is also intended to foster a shift in the way we think about soil, and the approach we take in caring for the soil. Healthy soils are always a priority for Ontario farmers. OFA believes soil health and resilience, soil conservation and sustainability, cover crops and organic matter are all critical factors in the sustainability of our agricultural system. The draft soil health strategy is part of a larger process to develop a final soil strategy – a long-term framework for 2018 to 2030 that will guide soil health action, research, investments and activities for decades. Soil is critical to our farm productivity, our biodiversity and our success in producing food for the future. We all have a role to play in maintaining and improving soil health. OFA encourages all Ontario farmers to review the draft soil strategy and provide your feedback on this essential resource. For more information, contact: Don McCabe Director Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-331-6175 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883 By Larry Davis, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Last year many Ontario farmers and landowners were shocked by the 2016 Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) assessments that saw farmland values increase by an average 65% over a four-year period. Ontario farmers had already dealt with similar increases in the previous round of MPAC assessments in 2012. These increases in farmland values, coupled with significantly lower residential and commercial classification increases will lead to farmers shouldering an astonishingly higher portion of local property taxes unless action is taken at the county level. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has been advocating for fair farmland tax rates across Ontario. The newly assessed values are being phased in equally over a four-year period (2017-2020). As assessment values go up, property tax bills rise unless specific action is taken to adjust the property tax formula. The formula provides that farmland property taxes will be set at an amount up to 25% of the residential property rate. This flexibility in setting farm property tax rates is necessary. It exists to allow municipalities to deal with the uneven increases in farmland value. The two most widely held principles of property tax fairness are the ability to pay principle and the benefit principle. The benefit principle states that those who use more services should pay a higher tax rate. The sharp increase in farmland values and resulting tax increases mean farmers will be paying more property tax than ever before, while consuming the same level of services as they always have. Neither the ability to pay or the benefit principle justify such a steep increase in property tax burden for Ontario farmers. The increase in assessment and property taxes that Ontario farmers face is not reflective of a farmer’s ability to pay more tax. While assessment values are increasing by 65%, net farm income is not. If farm tax bills continue to increase, farmers will be shouldering excessive property tax burdens. Municipalities across the province are already starting their 2018 budget discussions. Now is the time for all county and regional federations to work with their county and single-tier municipalities to adjust the farm tax ratio in their areas accordingly. OFA is available to provide any member or county federation with analysis upon request to help build a case for fair farm tax ratios. While MPAC is responsible for the farmland property assessments, the farm tax ratio is the responsibility of each county or single-tier municipal government. OFA encourages all members to thoroughly review and understand their farmland property assessments, the impacts the new value will have to their farms and tax rates, and address the tax ratio issue with their local county or single-tier municipality. Ontario farmers should be proud of our valuable land and farm businesses, but will not and cannot shoulder unnecessary tax burdens. For more information, contact: Larry Davis Director Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-758-7693 Neil Currie General Manager Ontario Federation of Agriculture 519-821-8883 |
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