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Ontario invests $500K in grants in local agribusinesses

Ontario invests $500K in grants in local agribusinesses

Millar’s Farms was among the grant recipients

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Some Ontario agribusinesses are receiving provincial grants to help expand their businesses and operate more efficiently.

“We invest in the farm and the broader agriculture (and) food industry to allow these farm operations to be more competitive,” Jeff Leal, Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Minister Responsible for Small Business, said early this morning, according to Global News.

One of the grant recipients is Millar’s Farms in Peterborough County.

The sixth-generation egg farm received $6,000 from the provincial government and will put the money towards installing a new refrigeration unit and implementing a more efficient egg-loading system.

“The eggs will be handled by a front-end loader and go directly into the trailer. We try to make things more efficient and profitable in everything we do, so this is a new way of handling eggs,” Joyce Millar, who started the farm with her husband in 1950, told Farms.com today.

And despite only receiving a little more than 1 per cent of the total $500,000, the investment could go a long way.

Bonnie Clark, Joyce’s granddaughter and co-owner the farm, estimates the investment can result in an annual sales increase of about $36,000. And it puts infrastructure into place for the next generation of egg farmers.

“With the expansion, it gives our children the opportunity to continue this legacy and our grandchildren as well,” she told Global News.

The investment also shows the government understands the importance of agriculture to Ontario, Millar says.

“If you don’t have farmers, you don’t have food. Plain and simple,” she said.

A full list of recipients can be found on the Green Belt Fund website.


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