Northern Ontario, with its cooler growing conditions, is known to grow good quality forages and spring grains. However, the past three decades has seen a diversification and expansion of the cash crop sector in the north.
With fewer livestock farms in the north, resulting in fewer acres of forages being grown (less livestock, less feed required) and the expansion of overall farm acreage, producers have been looking at different crop alternatives. Continue reading Diversifying the Cash Crop Industry in Northern Ontario→
LaunchPad, a new Youth Activity and Technology Centre in Hanover, is a place where young people between the ages of 12 and 18 can explore the world through a wide range of activities – art, digital media, software, music, entrepreneurship, computer hardware, hands-on and just plain fun. Staff at the centre encourage the young people to see how their talents and innovative ideas can help them and their communities grow.
At LaunchPad, young people learn important skills that can improve their employability, and make new connections with employers and local leaders in their communities. The hope is that they’ll stay and work in the area after they graduate high school.
Ontario’s Business Retention + Expansion (BR+E) program received international recognition as an award winner for an innovative, effective and exemplary BR+E Program at the most recent Business Retention + Expansion International Conference (BREI), held in San Antonio, Texas on May 25th, 2016. This award recognizes Ontario’s achievements on a global scale. The provincial program was also a runner-up in the BR+E Project/Program Impact award category.
Succession planning is the process of passing important leadership roles to the next generation of members in an organization. Proper succession planning allows for the smooth transfer of responsibilities and tasks from existing members to the succeeding group. A succession plan is put in place to avoid scrambling before an annual meeting, trying to get a warm body in a seat at the board table. Different approaches as to how an organization can best transfer the required skills and knowledge to its upcoming members can be used; no single approach works for everyone.
Succession planning focuses on the jobs that are most crucial to the operations of the organization, and outlines how roles and responsibilities are to be handed down to the most qualified individuals. Often times, the individuals who take over lead roles do not have the same experience and knowledge that the current person in the position does, so succession planning helps to identify these gaps, and aid in the development of these successors. Continue reading Succession Planning Tips for Not-for-Profits→
Successful regional economic development planning achieved thanks to the “Train the Trainer” program developed by the Regional Economic Development Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
Vicki Lass, Agriculture and Rural Economic Development Advisor, presenting at the 2016 ORGA/ROMA annual conference
Gone are the days of planning in silos for the municipalities in Huron County. In 2014, the County began the challenging process of re-structuring their entire Economic Development department and also created an Economic Development Board comprised of leaders from across the business community. The first order of business was to develop a comprehensive strategic plan. Working together, all ten municipal partners and community representatives achieved economic development plans that are integrated county-wide.
In an age of patented crop varieties and technology use agreements, how does one put a value on the economic impact of a small, independent research station?
Driven by a belief that location specific research is important to the sustainability and advancement of the local and regional agricultural and agri related industries, the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Association has been managing the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station (TBARS) since 2003.
With its small plot work, TBARS seeks to improve the economics of local agriculture through crop diversification and improved soil and crop management adapted to the local environment. Building on relationships with researchers and suppliers in western Canada, eastern Canada and internationally, TBARS takes the risks to demonstrate what the possibilities could be for producers in the region. The detailed Annual Reports that are produced are sought after in many other jurisdictions.
Edible bean plots at TBARS
Long before soybeans became a major western crop, TBARS had shown local producers and the rest of Ontario that there were varieties that could thrive in the long daylight environment of northern latitudes. The dominant dairy industry was quick to capitalize on a homegrown protein source. More recently, chick peas, lentils and edible beans have been shown to produce economic yields at the station. Continue reading Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station→
The First Impressions Community Exchange program (FICE) facilitates an exchange between two communities who are looking for an unbiased “first impression” of a specific area of their community such as a downtown, tourism related infrastructure or an evaluation of their entire community.
The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence recognizes and celebrates the agri-food producers, processors, organizations and rural communities, who through their innovative ideas and projects are helping strengthen our communities, support a sustainable environment, create jobs and boost our economy.
The following are regional award recipients from Grey County, Perth County, Simcoe County, Waterloo Region and Wellington County.
Ontario recognizes and celebrates local agri-food innovators whose ideas and projects are strengthening the province’s agri-food sector.
Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister Jeff Leal, honoured local agri-food industry innovators recently for their resourcefulness and leadership that have inspired Ontario’s agricultural sector. The Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence highlights the provinces innovative individuals and organizations whose new ideas allow the people of our province to enjoy the benefits of new jobs and new products, all of which add to our growing economy.
The Premier’s Award was presented to VG Meats of Norfolk County.
For VG Meats, the best school uniform is a butcher’s apron. The folks over at VG Meats created an intuitive training program designed to teach the ins-and-outs of meat butchery. The innovation came about when they couldn’t find the skilled staff needed for the family’s processing and retail Continue reading Celebrating Agri-Food Innovation and Growth→
Regional Economic Development Branch blog focusing on agriculture and rural economic development for Ontario
