The University of Guelph has launched a new online magazine,
Fare Share, to highlight faculty and student research and opinions about
agriculture policy.
Alan Ker, chairman of the Department of Food, Agriculture
and Resource Economics, says “in this bi-yearly newsletter, you’ll find out
facts and trends in Ontario agriculture.”
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| Alfons Weersink |
In the initial issue, Alfons Weersink and Kenneth Poon
provide a much different view of the most recent census on agriculture,
detailing that the number of commercial-scale farms increased by 2.5 per cent,
not the media’s approach which highlighted the decline in the total number of
farms.
“The story thus far —
the number of farms is falling and a significant portion are so small as to
not even be considered a farm for tax purposes — seems to support the belief
that agriculture is a dying profession,” they write. “But let’s look deeper . .
.” to find that 46,000 farms had revenues of more than $250,000.
If expenses take 80 per cent, that leaves $50,000 per year
for those farm families.
And the number of these farms has increased by 2.5 per cent
since the previous census four years earlier.
There are other articles about basis for corn and soybeans
and about whether to sell or store at harvest time.
The website is at fare.uoguelph.ca .
