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Ontario Pork has taken the lead in working with farmers, retailers and processors to determine the level of marbling consumers want, evaluate different swine genetics and feeding regimens and assess the quality and consistency of carcasses. 
Crops like corn, wheat and soybeans are starting to replace traditional petroleum-based ingredients in these new bio-products, making them easier on the environment and lessening our dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. They’re also creating new market opportunities for farmers. Imagine a world where pavement doesn’t disintegrate and potholes don’t exist. Imagine a product that can reduce the negative environmental impact of asphalt, cut costs for cash-strapped municipalities and offer new market opportunities for farmers. Some might consider this a utopian dream, but thanks to a new asphalt preservation product, this dream could soon be a reality. The Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) has long been a popular program but when the annual cost-share funding for 2009 was fully allocated in just over two months, program representatives were both surprised and pleased at the demand. One of the things driving the uptake of cost-share is the awareness that is developed through the EFP process. Since the launch of the third edition of the EFP in 2005, more than 11,000 farm businesses have attended workshops, developed EFP action plans and had them deemed appropriate through peer review. The results are a more environmentally informed sector, eligible to apply for cost-share funding to support environmental improvements on farms. Continue reading Farmers’ environmental commitment evident in program funding demand
Yet millions of people around the world depend on corn as a staple of life - as food for themselves, as feed for their livestock and as a renewable fuel alternative. And that demand is only expected to grow in the decades to come. Continue reading New corn to be better for environment
The new Vineland Research and Commercialization Centre is what is evolving out of the old horticulture research station once run by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) at Vineland, bringing with it a new focus on industry-driven research, business development and commercialization. Continue reading Making a green industry greener The following column I wrote was published in the Guelph Mercury yesterday. We were sitting on the deck with the dog as I was musing about the topic of this month’s column. My husband jokingly suggested I write about the relationship between man and his dog. I laughed it off — what did that have to do with food, farming and farmers? Not much, but as I thought about it some more I did start to see some parallels between the strength of that relationship and the one between farmers and their land. Continue reading Spring, farmers and the lure of the land |   | ||||
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Consumers are looking for the full flavour of marbled pork and work is now underway to bring such products to the Ontario market.
As demand for “green” products increases, more and more technologies and opportunities for bio-based products are emerging alongside to meet those needs.
Corn uses too much water and too much fertilizer to produce, its critics often charge, making it a bad environmental choice.
It has a long and proud history – and now, seemingly, also an exciting future that may help make a green industry even greener by solving some major issues facing Canada’s horticultural sector.