OPVG Hosts the Minister of Ag

OPVG Board members, local growers, and representatives from Weil's Food Processing welcomed the Minister of Agriculture, the Honorable Trevor Jones for a farm tour at Lycoland Farms in Leamington. The tour was an excellent opportunity to show Minister Jones the scale and importance of Ontario's processing vegetable sector.

Discussions focused on the need for increased research support at Ridgetown College and OPVG's desire for the establishment of the Horticulture Research Centre of Excellence, that includes a dedicated applied research and diagnostic facility at the college. The group emphasized several pressures on the sector such as trade disruptions, competition from other jurisdictions, and rising costs. This investment will help Ontario growers stay competitive and strengthen our domestic food system.

Thank you to Lycoland Farms, Weil's Processing, and the growers who helped make this farm tour happen. OPVG also extends our appreciation to Minister Jones and his team for taking the time to learn more about our industry, and hear directly from growers and processors about the opportunities and challenges facing the Ontario processing vegetable sector.

Sweet Corn – 26% Harvested

Harvest is progressing steadily, with yields currently above budget and good overall quality. Monitoring for disease pressure continues has not been a concern to date. The crop is being well protected.

Green Beans – 35% Harvested

Harvest is progressing well, with high yields and good overall crop quality. Please continue to monitor your crop closely and coordinate with the agronomy team as needed regarding spray applications.

Lima Beans

Harvest is scheduled to begin September 1st. Please continue to monitor your crop closely and coordinate with the agronomy team as needed regarding spray applications.

For All Growers

As we move into some wetter conditions, please ensure you are available during harvest to provide support when needed and to keep the roads clear of mud when requested. Safety remains our top priority.

If you still have any outstanding pesticide and nutrient records, please enter them into Agro One or contact your local representative for support.

Overall Crop Outlook

For all crops, we are very happy with the productivity of the crop so far this season and are expecting to meet all of our pack requirements as we move forward. We are hoping for favourable weather into later September and early October, as we will continue to be busy with harvest as the crop progresses.

Provided by Jennifer Thompson on 08/31/2026

OPVG submitted a letter to the Competition Bureau expressing strong support for Nortera's proposed acquisition of the Green Giant and Le Sieur brands in Canada from B&G Foods.

In its submission, OPVG stressed the importance of the transaction. It was emphasized that approval of the acquisition would help preserve Canadian processing capacity, maintain stable demand for Canadian-grown vegetables, and protect jobs throughout the agricultural supply chain.

The letter also noted concerns that without the transaction, ownership of the brands could shift to a foreign buyer, potentially leading to production being moved outside Canada and reducing opportunities for Canadian growers.

At a time when Canadian farmers are facing increasing pressure from lower-priced imports, OPVG believes this transaction would strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of Canada's processing vegetable sector.

OPVG has encouraged the Competition Bureau to consider the benefits to growers, processors, rural communities, and consumers as part of its review of the proposed acquisition.

Nortera has worked with Agricorp to change how assignments are applied for Nortera-contracted crops. Beginning with the 2026 crop year, assignments will only be added when a seed-cost claim is payable. No longer applying assignments to all customers will reduce issues related to jointly payable cheques as well as improve the efficiency of processing and paying claims.

Agricorp will issue an updated Coverage Confirmation when an assignment is added.

Seed-cost claims will continue to be issued by cheque, payable jointly to the customer and Nortera. Cheques will continue to be mailed to Nortera given the assignment on the crop. When customers receive the cheque, they should promptly endorse and return to Nortera to avoid delays. If seed cost cheques are mistakenly cashed by the customer, then Nortera will invoice you for the seed.  

For more information, please contact Agricorp at 1-888-247-4999.

OPVG Chair Dave Hope was recently featured in The Grower, highlighting the organization's efforts to strengthen Ontario's $162 million processing vegetable sector. A key focus of OPVG's message is the need for greater investment in research that directly addresses the challenges and opportunities facing growers.

Dave emphasized OPVG's support for establishing a Centre of Excellence for Vegetable Research at Ridgetown College, noting the important role it has played in supporting Ontario agriculture and the need for continued innovation to keep growers competitive. He noted that farmers depend on research that delivers practical, on-farm solutions and that long-term success will require strong partnerships between government, industry, and the research community.

Read the full article HERE.

There isn’t a lot of agronomic information for processing snap bean growers to access about optimizing crop nutrition. And many growers have questioned the value of applying these products after a herbicide in hopes of helping the crop outgrow any herbicide injury.

Nortera evaluated commercially available foliar nutrition and biostimulant products during the 2025 season to compare the impact on crop yield. Two different sites compared eight treatment options – an early planted site at Tupperville and a late planting site near Glanworth – and all treatments were followed by a post-emergent (Reflex) herbicide application.

They evaluated Priaxor, Alpine K20-S + BioMag, Fertileader Vital, Truphos Platinum + Alexin, Bioforge, Megafol and BioLiNE Gold. Most products were foliar nutrient supplements. Some contained seaweed extracts or other organic acids.

Here’s what they found:

• Crop tissue samples taken during the trial suggested boron, copper and magnesium levels were low but there were no significant yield increases with products tested that included these micronutrients.
• In the early planting site, untreated plots (without Reflex) yielded the highest. “We know the crop can face a yield penalty due to the need to metabolize the herbicide. This penalty can be large under certain conditions,” says Dan Oliver, CCA with Nortera who led the snap bean research trial.
• In the later planted site, all treatment plots yielded better than Reflex-only treated plots – the opposite of the early planted site. “These results could be related to the fact that growing conditions were very stressful at the later planted site with poor crop vigour, when products were applied,” says Oliver.
• The project continued in 2026 and will likely be repeated in future years to vet new products that come to market.

“There is mutual benefit for Nortera and snap bean growers in Ontario to ensure we make agronomically sound decisions to remain sustainable in an increasingly competitive frozen and canned vegetable market,” says Oliver. “This research is the foundation of good decision making.”

Read the full research report Snap bean yield response to foliar nutrients, biostimulants, fungicides.

OPVG office hours

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Monday to Friday

519.681.1875 opvg@opvg.org