Ontario farmers raise concerns of dwindling farmland at rural expo

Oct 02, 2024

Several Ontario farmers raised concerns on Tuesday about dwindling farmland across the province as politicians of all stripes gather at an annual rural and agricultural expo.

Ontario politicians descended upon Lindsay, Ont., as part of their yearly pilgrimage to the International Plowing Match.

Several farmers from the Waterloo region said they are concerned with a massive land assembly of prime farmland in the area that is cloaked in non-disclosure agreements and threats of expropriation.

The Region of Waterloo has said it is trying to assemble a supersite in an effort to lure a massive manufacturing plant. The province is funding the land assembly, but has said they do not have any companies lined up for the site.

Alfred Lowrick, who lives next to the target site, said the entire process has shown a lack of respect to farmers, in addition to the threat of losing 770 acres of prime farmland in southwestern Ontario.

"We don't understand why all of a sudden it came out of the blue," said Lowrick, a spokesperson for the grassroots group, Fight for Farmland.

Click here to see more...

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.