​Access to reliable high speed internet is necessary no matter where you live. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has been advocating for this basic necessity for rural Ontarians and welcomes the recent ruling by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) that broadband access internet service is now considered a basic telecommunications service for all Canadians.
 
The funding announcement of up to $750 million over five years in addition to existing government programs to extend services to rural and remote areas will go a long way to bring rural residents, farms and businesses the basic telecommunications services necessary to participate in today’s digital economy. The CRTC also ruled that broadband internet with download speeds of at least 50 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 10 Mbps will now be considered a “basic telecom service.”
 
OFA has been addressing the need for reliable, high speed broadband with government for a number of years. “Broadband internet access is a fundamental necessity for conducting business today, no matter where you are located,” says Keith Currie, OFA President. “The previous $180 million of provincial and federal funding for SouthWestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) was a start and this CRTC ruling will secure the extension of high speed internet across rural Ontario.”
 
The CRTC reports 82 per cent of Canadians already have access to high download and upload speeds, but aren’t common in rural and northern areas. Access to this essential business service will enable economic development in rural Ontario.  A stronger rural economy will also serve to alleviate housing and infrastructure challenges facing urban Ontario centres by attracting young families to communities outside of major urban Ontario cities.
 
“The CRTC’s ruling to deliver this vital infrastructure service will grow our farms, communities, and  provincial economy while providing equal educational opportunities to our next generation,” says Currie. “OFA looks forward to working with government in 2017 to deliver the high speed access to rural Ontarians and formalize this investment as an infrastructure essential.”
 
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 36,000 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.
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For more information:
 
Keith Currie
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
705-441-3362
 
Neil Currie
General Manager
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883
 

As the snow flies, the temperatures drop and the holiday season approaches, it’s a good time to reflect on this year that is wrapping up. For the Ontario agriculture industry, it’s been a year of challenges and opportunities. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has advocated on many critical issues to continue to push for the policies and activities that will help our 36,000 farm members operate profitable and sustainable farm businesses.
There has been a lot of activity on energy. Rising electricity costs are putting many of our members in very challenging situations. OFA has been meeting with the provincial government to explain that our members are at a competitive disadvantage because of the price of this important farm input. We’ve continued to push for natural gas expansion throughout Ontario as one opportunity to alleviate long-term energy costs. By now, we hope you’ve heard about our partnership with wardens across Ontario to strengthen our voice for a rural natural gas investment.
Under the energy banner, we’ve made some important progress on stray voltage with OFA’s participation in a new initiative to address and resolve this trouble challenge that has haunted livestock producers for years.
OFA also provided a formal submission with our ideas and requirements for the province’s next Long-Term Energy Plan – to maintain a reliable supply of clean, affordable energy. 
Climate change is another important issue for all Canadians that OFA has been working on to ensure agriculture has opportunities to be part of the long-term solutions, and is recognized for the environmental initiatives that already take place on most Ontario farms.
Maintaining productive relationships with politicians and policymakers continues to be a key function of OFA. In 2016, we seized several opportunities to engage with government to keep agriculture top of mind. We invite politicians to experience a working farm at our annual Field Day event, and at other county federation activities.  We also take every opportunity to meet with them at Queen’s Park at events and caucus meetings. Keeping an open path for constructive communications with government is key to OFA’s advocacy work, and it means we all need to look for opportunities to have a conversation about what matters to Ontario agriculture.
2016 marked a very special anniversary for OFA as we celebrated 80 years of serving Ontario agriculture. We are energized and optimistic as we head into a new year with a mission of Farms and Food Forever. This new direction reflects the evolving goals of the organization as we advocate for the needs of our farms and the food we produce.
As 2016 comes to a close, we hope you find time to relax and enjoy the company of friends and family. Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from OFA.
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For more information contact:
 
Keith Currie
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
705-441-3362
keith.currie@ofa.on.ca
 
Neil Currie
General Manager
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883 
neil.currie@ofa.on.ca
​

Thank you to the OFA membership for giving me a mandate to lead the organization in 2017. I’m honoured and energized to lead this 38,000 member strong organization into its 81st year as we work toward our ongoing mission to ensure Farms and Food Forever.
Teamwork matters most to me. It’s what makes every good farm, business and organization thrive. And it’s what I look forward to capitalizing on over the next year.
Relationships drive teamwork. OFA will focus on building and strengthening our relationship with commodities, industry, across the counties and with our non-agricultural allies, where appropriate, to achieve what we need for our industry and our members.
Our work in 2017 will include engaging with rural municipalities on several fronts. Simply put, OFA and our rural municipalities recognize the need for a serious public investment in rural Ontario. We all know how an investment in natural gas infrastructure will provide much-needed energy cost relief and new private investment in rural Ontario. There is also a continued need for investments in traditional rural infrastructure – the roads and bridges we need to operate competitive farm businesses. We also need to look out for rural Ontario’s social infrastructure, like sustaining rural schools, health care systems and sufficient broadband.
Generally, we will work with municipalities for appropriate provincial funding for municipalities.  This will address our current concern that financially strapped municipal councils will be very tempted to look at the recent increase in farm property assessments as a cure for budget woes.  We need to work collectively to ensure farmland does not bear a disproportionate share of property taxes.
OFA will continue building our relationships with our commodity partners throughout 2017 on issues that impact all of our farm operations. Collaboration on ways to reduce phosphorus runoff into watersheds will be a priority. We’ll look to create a more effective regulatory system. We will advocate for a workable and bankable risk management system in the next Ag Policy Framework. Underlying all this will be the credibility factor – our collective interest in improving public trust in the agriculture and food industry.
Agriculture is an exciting, challenging and changing industry. I know the OFA must continue to engage with the entire sector to effectively and successfully advocate for our members. I look forward to the weeks and months ahead, and all the important work we can do together.

For more information, contact:
 
Keith Currie
President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
705-441-3362
keith.currie@ofa.on.ca
 
Neil Currie
General Manager
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
519-821-8883 
neil.currie@ofa.on.ca
 

Guelph, ON – For the first time, all of Ontario’s major farm organizations, representing some 52,000 farms and 78,000 farmers, have come together to present a strong, united message to the province: freeze urban boundaries now to stop urban sprawl and protect farming in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH).
 
“The province needs to impose real boundaries on urban expansion, not more restrictions on farming,” says Keith Currie, President of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA). “Hard municipal growth boundaries must be part of the solution to supporting agriculture in the GGH so we don’t pave over the region’s farmland and displace more farm families and farming communities.”
 
OFA is joined by fifteen other agriculture organizations that are calling for stronger provincial leadership on farmland preservation, including the Ontario Farmland Trust (OFT), Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario (CCFO), National Farmers Union-Ontario, and the Golden Horseshoe Food & Farming Alliance.
 
The agriculture groups say that the province’s recently proposed changes to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe and Greenbelt Plan fail to protect the majority of farmers and farmlands in the region from ongoing and poorly-planned urban sprawl. They are concerned that the proposed new policy reinforces and enables status quo sprawl, making it difficult to see a future for local food and farming in the region.
 
“Nothing is more fundamental to protecting farmland and achieving the goals of the Growth Plan than freezing urban and rural settlement boundaries,” explains CFFO President Clarence Nywening. “This holds municipalities accountable to meeting their growth targets by using urban lands more efficiently and supporting denser, transit-oriented developments rather than allowing councils to be passive and complacent about sprawl.”
 
The province’s population growth projection of 4.5 million new  residents by 2041 is being used by developers to argue that more farmland should be designated for urban uses in the GGH. However, independent research by the Neptis Foundation and others shows that more land for urban development in the region is not needed, with an excess of 25 years’ worth of farmland already designated by municipalities to accommodate growth in both urban and rural settlement areas. An area of prime farmland 1.5 times the size of the City of Toronto is in the process of being converted to housing subdivisions, warehouses and strip malls.
 
Not just home to the best farmland in Canada, the Greater Golden Horseshoe is home to one of North America’s largest agricultural and agri-food industry clusters, with a unique diversity of primary farm production, food processing, food service, food distribution and retail that represents the fastest growing employment sector in Ontario and generates $12.3 billion in annual economic activity.
 
Citing the outpouring of public support for a larger provincial role in establishing firm urban boundaries and protecting agricultural land during the Coordinated Land Use Planning Review, Norm Ragetlie, Chair of the Ontario Farmland Trust, says that “We are at a unique moment in history where there is an opportunity for the province to demonstrate real leadership in growth planning by enacting meaningful limits on urban expansion. Everyone wins when we design better planned, healthier urban and rural communities, while also creating an environment for farming and the agri-food economy to remain prosperous, and working together to protect farmland forever.”
 
All groups calling for a freeze on urban boundary expansion include: the Ontario Farmland Trust, Ontario Federation of Agriculture, Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, National Farmers Union – Ontario, Golden Horseshoe Food & Farming Alliance, Sustain Ontario, Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society, Food & Water First, Farms at Work, FarmStart, Land Over Landings, Langford Conservancy, Sustainable Brant, and the Simcoe County Greenbelt Coalition.
 
 
For More Information Contact:
Matt Setzkorn, Manager, Land Programs & Policy
Ontario Farmland Trust
(519) 824-4120 ext. 52654
matt@ontariofarmlandtrust.ca 
www.ontariofarmlandtrust.ca
 
 
 
Keith Currie, President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
keith.currie@ofa.on.ca
http://www.ofa.on.ca/