SHAWN BRENN & GORDON STOCK 

As we leave summer behind us, September means full-blown harvest mode for most fruit and vegetable growers. The last few months have been busy on our farms, and in our orchards, vineyards and greenhouses – and although we’ve been busy farming, the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) has also been active on the advocacy front. 

Some issues in our sector are big and attention-getting — such as protecting the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program or pushing back on costly trade barriers — because they have such far-reaching and dramatic impacts on our businesses. Others aren’t as directly significant, but they still affect our ability to farm successfully. That’s why our advocacy is multi-faceted and as board and staff, we’re involved in continuous and often behind-the-scenes work to keep decision-makers aware of our sector’s needs. 

We came through both a provincial and a federal election this year and we’ve been busy connecting with new ministers to ensure they and their teams know our sector and what our needs are. That includes attending special events such as funding announcements where we have unique opportunities to speak face to face with ministers and MPPs outside of an office or meeting room. These are in addition to our regular advocacy events, such as our Queen’s Park Day every fall, where we engage broadly with MPPs and their staff from all major parties. 

A major opportunity for government relations comes every summer in the form of preparation for the meetings of federal-provincial-territorial (FPT) ministers of agriculture. This year, the event was set for Winnipeg in July but moved online at the last minute due to forest fires in Manitoba. An in-person gathering has been rescheduled for September.

To help Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and agribusiness, Trevor Jones, prepare for the meetings, we provided a detailed written submission of our sector’s needs on safety nets and crop protection, attended an industry round table to provide input, and met with the Minister to discuss our priorities. 

We highlighted our business risk management (BRM)-related asks, which include enhancements to the Agri-Stability program, and a more permanent increase to the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program loans for growers. 

We also continue to push to restore the capacity and output of the federal Minor Use Program (MUP). This is a crucial initiative of the Pest Management Centre (PMC) designed to address the unique pest management needs of farmers who grow minor crops, such as most fruits and vegetables. Annually, growers of minor use crops can prioritize pest and disease problems they would like MUP to research, but federal funding hasn’t kept up with need, resulting in fewer projects funded each year. 

The OFVGA team also works on a wide range of other issues. Here are a few highlights. 

Environment and Conservation: Environmental Compliance Approvals have been an ongoing issue with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks for several years and progress towards resolution has been frustratingly slow. In August, however, while attending a funding announcement in the Holland Marsh, we were able to spend some time discussing the issue with Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Trevor Jones, Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Todd McCarthy and local MPP and Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney. 

We’ve also responded to the provincial government’s consultation on challenges in the modernized Blue Box program and the federal government’s consultation on implementing a federal plastics registry to make sure our concerns about increased costs for growers without meaningful environmental benefit are brought to light.

SPUD Unit: A study to help develop a plan for the future of the SPUD (Superior Plant Upgrading and Distribution) Unit in New Liskeard is expected to get underway in late summer/early fall. OFVGA has been actively engaged in renewal efforts for this facility with OMAFA and University of Guelph for more than two years. 

The SPUD Unit supports farmers and the wider agriculture and food industry by offering testing for plant diseases and providing a stock of healthy plants to commercial growers of crops such as potatoes, raspberries, strawberries, garlic and asparagus across the province.

Foodland Ontario: OFVGA continues to encourage OMAFA to focus on renewal of the Foodland Ontario program so that it can meet the needs of growers while engaging Ontarians in ways that will help raise awareness of the size, scope and strength of Ontario agriculture and what it means to the provincial economy.

We work with a wide range of partners provincially and nationally to help our advocacy in support of grower needs. After all, there is strength in collaboration, but even with partners, there’s no denying that progress can sometimes be much slower than we would like. OFVGA remains committed, however, to continuing to move issues forward and taking every opportunity for discussion, meeting and networking – it all contributes to the long-term success and sustainability of our sector.