2027 Board Member Elections

This year’s Board Member election will once again follow the same hybrid model that was used in 2026. This structure allows members the option to vote electronically at District Meetings or online until voting closes. The Board has appointed Bev DeVries as the Returning Officer for Board Member elections.

Growers eligible to vote will be receiving information in late October about elections for open Board Member positions via email. There are four positions available for the 2027 elections, with each term lasting two years.

The following Board member positions are open for election:

District 1: Adrien Pinsonneault, Eric Allaer

District 2: Larry Cowan

District 3: Neil Reimer

Serving on the Board is a great opportunity to:

• Represent fellow growers and contribute to industry leadership
• Gain insight into emerging opportunities and industry trends
• Build relationships with growers, processors, and industry partners
• Leave a lasting impact on the future success of Ontario's processing vegetable sector

If you would consider running for a Board position and would like more information, please contact your local Board representative or the OPVG office.

Welcome to Fall!

Vegetable harvest is well underway across Nortera, with a very busy harvest season and strong crop availability across all growing areas

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Sweet Corn – 70% Harvested

Sweet corn harvest has been very busy over the past month, with yields generally around budget and excellent field quality.

We have experienced some agronomic challenges over the last couple of weeks, including Crown Rot (pictured right) and Gibberella Ear Rot, and Ear Worm which have prevented harvest in some fields. Weather permitting, sweet corn harvest is expected to continue until approximately October 20.

Green Beans – 70% Harvested

Green bean harvest has also progressed well, with approximately 70% of the total acres harvested.

The crop has experienced some challenging conditions over the past month, including extreme heat and humidity, which have contributed to maturity and disease concerns in some fields. Despite these challenges, yields have been very strong and are above budget in most areas. Harvest is expected to continue through mid-October, weather permitting.

Lima Beans – 50% Harvested

Lima beans have had a very strong season, with high yields being reported across most fields. We have experienced some ongoing challenges with mould and weeds; however, overall bean quality has remained excellent.

Fall Crops – Carrots, Squash, Turnip & Brussels Sprouts

As we move toward the end of our main season, the Ontario Agriculture Team continues to connect with our fall growers to monitor crop conditions and ensure fields are ready for harvest. Overall, the fall crops are looking very good, and we are looking forward to getting into the fall harvest once our main crops are completed.

Research Farm

On September 29, the Ontario Agriculture Team met with seed suppliers and toured the sweet corn trials at the Research Farm. It was an excellent day with many opportunities to learn, share information and review new varieties and trials for the future.

Reminder to All Growers

Please continue to ensure that all pesticide and nutrient reports have been submitted for your fields. If you need any support or have questions, please reach out to a member of the Nortera Agriculture Team.

Provided by Jennifer Thompson on 10/01/2026

Feedback for Upcoming Negotiations

Grower input is very helpful during the negotiation process and the negotiating teams value your feedback.

• What are your thoughts regarding pricing for 2027?
• What issues did you encounter during the season that the committee should be aware of?
• Are there any terms and conditions you feel should be addressed?

Please send your feedback to the OPVG office at [email protected].

Promotion/Marketing Update

OPVG launched a province wide in-store marketing campaign designed to promote Ontario-grown processing vegetables at the point of purchase.

Beginning September 30, 2026, and running through October 31, 2026, the campaign features a combination of in-store audio advertisements and digital kiosk displays in approximately 1700 different grocery stores across the province. Participating retail partners include Sobeys, Walmart, Metro, and Food Basics, providing significant reach to Ontario consumers during a key marketing period.

The campaign is designed to engage shoppers while they are actively making purchasing decisions, reinforcing the quality and nutritional value of processed vegetables. Audio messages played throughout stores will encourage consumers to choose local and support our farm families by looking for the Product of Canada label, while digital kiosk displays will further enhance awareness.

Look out for the campaign in participating stores throughout October!

Ontario Agriculture Week is a time to recognize and celebrate the people who grow, harvest, and process the food that feeds our communities. Each year, during the first full week of October, we take the opportunity to highlight the vital role agriculture plays in our province’s economy.

Ontario’s farms provide an incredible diversity of fresh, high-quality products and behind each harvest are dedicated farmers and farm families who work tirelessly to care for the land and strengthen our local food system. For processing vegetable growers, the beans, peas, corn, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables grown in Ontario are part of a sustainable, locally rooted food supply that supports jobs, communities, and food security.

Show your support for Ontario’s food sector by using the hashtag #ONTAgWeek and #LoveONFood across your social media platforms.

If you’re a processing pea grower in Ontario, you probably know there isn’t a lot of agronomic information available on how to optimize crop nutrition for your crop. So how do you evaluate the foliar nutrition and biostimulant products on the market for improving crop health and yield, and building stress tolerance?

Nortera wanted to help provide some insights for growers and has been conducting multi-year field trials to evaluate the impact that commercially available products have on processing pea yields.

“Strong agronomic decisions should be made on more than one year of data, so we are repeating these tests across multiple sites and years,” says Dan Oliver, CCA with Nortera who led the trials. “We now have three years data to make confident recommendations to growers on the use of these products.”

In 2025, they evaluated Priaxor, Alpine K20-S + BioMag, Fertileader Vital, Manziphos DX + Magical Max, X-Cyte, Megafol and BioLiNE Gold. Products were tests at an early planted site at Tupperville and late planted site at Glanworth. The trial was repeated in 2026.

Here’s what they found:

• The Glanworth site was under extreme heat stress in 2025 and 2026 with poor plant vigour from other environmental conditions.
• Results suggest there is an average 5-15% yield advantage from applying biostimulants and foliar nutrition products under stressful conditions at early bloom timing.
• Priaxor provided the most consistently positive yield response.

Read the research report Pea yield response to foliar nutrients, biostimulants, fungicides.

OPVG office hours

8:00 am – 4:00 pm 

Monday to Friday

519.681.1875 [email protected]