GUELPH, Ontario April 1, 2014 Agricultural Adaptation Council News Release - Utilizing funds provided through Growing Forward 2 (GF2), the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) board of directors recently approved 23 projects, totaling over $1.9 million in funding, to benefit Ontario's agriculture, agri-food and agri-products industry.
"The uptake of the GF2 program in Ontario by Organizations and Collaborations is unprecedented." says Kristin Ego MacPhail, AAC Chair. "In particular, applicants are teaming up with others to approach projects as collaborations, which has promoted financial savings, sharing expertise, maximizing existing resources, and sharing the risk in new and untested projects. The AAC encourages potential applicants to consider the Collaborative component of GF2." Among the new projects:
- In collaboration with six lamb producers, Newmarket Meat Packers Ltd. will build a true value system with information flow to all of the partners - producers, processor and retailer. Producers will form an organization whereby production protocol information will be developed and shared with its members. This producer group will hire a field person that will coordinate year round production to meet the needs of a retailer. The field person will also liaise with retail staff and consumers to get feedback on the product and any suggestions on how to improve the product or the process of delivering the product to the consumer.
- In collaboration with the Grain Farmers of Ontario, Persall Fine Foods Inc. is increasing the availability of extra-virgin cold-pressed vegetable oils from Ontario oilseeds in the US market. To facilitate new export market growth opportunity realization, new processes, technologies, and systems (in the form of further processing equipment) must be adopted as part of process development by Persall Fine Foods production facility in Norfolk County. This business enterprise, a combination of technologies and product line, is unique in Canada.
- In collaboration with the Ontario Biomass Producer's Co-op, Switch Energy Corp. is setting up a complete processing line that takes scrap plastic collected from farms and processes the material into forms where it can be combined with biofibre and/or bio-based resins for compounding. Because of the agricultural source of the material, it is frequently contaminated with dirt and straw and therefore needs to be thoroughly washed, cleaned and dried before it can be flaked and ground to various levels of coarseness in powdered form. Once the line is installed and in operation, commercial scale samples will be provided to potential customers in different markets to support the development and expansion of the biocomposite sector in Ontario.
To date, the AAC board of directors, has approved 91 projects totaling over $8 million in GF2 funding for Ontario Organizations and Collaborations. For more information about the projects listed above, or for a complete list of GF2 projects, visit the AAC's website.
Organizations and Collaborations can continue to access funding through GF2 for:
Organizations and Collaborations can continue to access funding through GF2 for:
- Capacity Building through strategic planning, training, audits or assessments; and,
- Project Implementation for projects that focus on the environment and climate change, animal and plant health, market development, labour productivity enhancement, assurance systems, and business and leadership development.
GF2 is aimed at encouraging innovation, competitiveness and market development in Canada's agri-food and agri-products sector. The AAC assists in the delivery of GF2 in Ontario.
The AAC is based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, and is a leader in program delivery. The AAC is a not-for-profit organization that is made up of 68 Ontario agricultural, agri-food and rural organizations. The AAC board of directors reviews all applications and makes the final funding decisions.
Learn more about Growing Forward 2:
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