Insights and Stories of John Greig

Ontario minimum wage increases concern farmers

Jun. 1, 2017 at 6:35 pm CDT

Changes to the way labour is regulated and paid for in Ontario will have detrimental effects on farm profitability, say farm organizations. Premier Kathleen Wynne and Labour Minister Kevin Flynn announced the changes this week, outlining the proposed legislation after a review of the acts that govern labour in Ontario […]

Trust in agriculture increases with farm visits: survey

May. 30, 2017 at 7:38 pm CDT

By John Greig

Greig: Farmer trust key to big data’s future

May. 29, 2017 at 7:24 pm CDT

By John Greig

Greig: Late spring planting means more soybeans in Ontario

May. 26, 2017 at 4:57 pm CDT

By John Greig

Ontario’s dairy group names new GM

May. 23, 2017 at 5:43 pm CDT

By John Greig

Eggplant value chain project replaces most imports

May. 17, 2017 at 4:13 pm CDT

Canadian-grown eggplant and okra have replaced about 800,000 kg of imports over the past several years, creating a research-to-grower-to-market success story. The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre has played a central role helping with research and bringing together the parts of the industry needed to create a food chain success. […]

By John Greig

Greig: Animal welfare research focusing more on emotional states

May. 15, 2017 at 8:45 pm CDT

Animal welfare research is moving beyond identifying what keeps an animal healthy, to focus more on their state of being and their happiness. For years, farmers have justified the way they manage and house animals based on objective measures of their health: disease prevalence, growth rates and feed consumption. Consumer […]

By John Greig

Greig: Food fraud a challenge to whole food supply chain

May. 9, 2017 at 3:27 pm CDT

Farmers are used to the conversation about how to manage trust with consumers. Food companies are learning it too, and finding food fraud to be a significant concern. Food fraud “comes back to trust,” according to Renata McGuire of NSF Consulting and Technical Services. “Do I trust this brand?” McGuire, […]

By John Greig

Ontario budget seeks tax flexibility for on-farm processing

Apr. 28, 2017 at 2:29 pm CDT

The Ontario government has balanced its budget for the first time in since 2008 — but Thursday’s budget contained little news for agriculture and rural Ontario. Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget mostly highlighted agriculture programs that had already been announced, and maintains $100 million in funding for the provincial Risk […]

By John Greig

Ontario tomato farmers to get less on higher yields

Mar. 28, 2017 at 4:08 pm CDT

The agreement between Ontario growers and tomato processors for the 2017 growing season is expected to drop the price tomato farmers are paid as their yields increase. The agreement, announced last week, maintains the contracted tonnage of 2016 and follows the five-year pricing agreement set by growers and processors last […]

By John Greig