Ontario leads country in agricultural exports

Gary Sliworsky
Ag. Rep.

Ontario Agriculture Week took place from October 3 to 9, 2005. Here are some Ontario Agri-Food Facts…..did you know?
More than 200 commodities are produced in Ontario including fruits, vegetables, livestock, dairy, poultry, grains and oilseeds.
There are approximately 56,000 farms in Ontario and each farmer produces enough food to feed 120 people every year! These farms have more than $8 billion in cash receipts - that’s approximately one quarter of all farm revenue in Canada.
More than half of Canada’s prime agricultural land is in Ontario.
Ontario’s agri-food industry contributes more than $30 billion to the provincial economy annually, and employs more than 650,000 people.
Approximately 3,700 food and beverage processors are located in Ontario.
Ontario leads the country in agri-food exports. In 2004, we shipped $8.6 billion in agri-food products around the world. Exports to the U.S. totaled $7.4 billion in 2004.
The province accounts for more than 40 per cent of Canadian food and beverage industry shipments.
Agriculture is more than food to eat. Cloth and textiles begin in the barnyard as wool and in the field with hemp. Hemp, an experimental crop, is also used to make paper and a variety of industrial products.
Ontario’s greenhouse sector represents half of the country’s greenhouse industry. In 2004 the value of greenhouse plant production was approximately $1 billion.
Corn is processed into road de-icers, windshield washer fluid, ethanol fuel, soap, toothpaste, paint, varnish and sparkplugs to name a few.
Ontario is a world leader in food technology research and development with more than 75 per cent of agri-food exports being value-added.
Farmers in the province have reduced their pesticide use by more than 50 per cent in the last two decades.
More than 27,000 have participated in an Environment Farm Planning workshop.

Dates to Remember
Oct. 22 – RR Federation of Agriculture Annual meeting and dinner, 6:00 p.m. Stratton.