New members, shared goals: Building a stronger voice for Ontario agriculture

By Cathy Lennon, General Manager, Ontario Federation of Agriculture

At the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), we’re very proud of the fact that we represent farmers across the province. There are three general farm organizations in Ontario – groups like ours that represent farmers regardless of where they farm in the province or what they produce – and every year, farmers can choose which organization they would like to belong to.

OFA currently has about 38,000 members who are farms of all sizes and production types, from small market gardeners right through to large grain farmers trading grain on futures markets. This makes us unique among Ontario farm and agriculture organizations, as does the fact that we have members in every single corner of the province, making us truly representative of the diversity of our farming and food production.

There are several ways that farmers, farm businesses and agricultural organizations can hold a membership in the OFA. The most common membership options are the Farm Business Registration and Individual Farm Membership.

Less well known is that OFA’s membership also includes more than 30 Ontario commodity and agricultural organizations – from hazelnut growers to dairy farmers – who share our belief in the strength of partnerships and working together towards achieving common goals.

I’m proud to say that in recent months, we’ve been able to welcome three new commodity members to OFA: Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario, Ontario Goat and Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chick Commission.

Every new member brings new perspectives to the OFA that help us gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of our sector and the diverse needs of our members. While we value and respect their roles and the leadership they provide for their specific commodity or sector of agriculture, their membership in OFA gives the broader industry the opportunity to leverage collaboration and where it’s appropriate, especially on common priorities.