Ontario Grain Farmers Support New Provincial and Federal Canadian Agricultural Partnership
Long-Term Investments in Agriculture Innovation Vital to the Industry
GUELPH, ON (February 13, 2018) – Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers, congratulates Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay and Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Jeff Leal on the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP).
CAP will launch in early April 2018. This new five-year, $3 billion commitment by Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial governments will support Canada’s agri-food and agri-products sector and spur innovation in the sector.
Additionally, Ontario signed a bilateral agreement with the federal government for CAP that will support specialized research and projects that foster innovation and growth and funding to help farmers manage risks that threaten the viability of their farm, such as unpredictable weather or market volatility.
“Farmers across Canada are protecting our land, feeding our families, and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Grain Farmers of Ontario sees the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership as having good potential benefit for our farmer-members and partners in agriculture who are consistently looking for innovative ways to meet the needs of people across the globe, and growing healthy, sustainable crops,” said Markus Haerle, Chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario.
“We also want to congratulate the Province of Ontario for quickly becoming a leader in this partnership and building on successful programs like Growing Forward 2 in Ontario, and also acknowledging the need to invest in innovation and growth,” Haerle said. “We continue to advocate for strong business risk management programs that have the greatest benefit for Ontario grain farmers and look forward to working with the government as these programs take shape.”
The federal and provincial governments will be committing up to $1.5 billion to the Ontario agri-food sector: $1.1 billion for Business Risk Management funding and $417 million for strategic initiatives to help grow Ontario’s agri-food and agri-products sectors.
Grain Farmers of Ontario
Grain Farmers of Ontario is the province’s largest commodity organization, representing Ontario’s 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat farmers. The crops they grow cover 6 million acres of farm land across the province, generate over $2.5 billion in farm gate receipts, result in over $9 billion in economic output and are responsible for over 40,000 jobs in the province.
Contact:
Victoria Berry, Manager, Communications – (226) 820-6641; vberry@gfo.ca
Barry Senft, CEO – 1 (800) 265-0550; bsenft@gfo.ca
