OPVG News - January 2023

OPVG Newsletter

January 2023 Edition

FPMC confirms final Board positions

Congratulations to returning Board Chair Dave Hope, who has been renewed in this role for another two-year term by the Farm Products Marketing Commission. The Commission also appointed Adrien Pinsonneault to the Director position for District 1.

Here is your 2023 OPVG Board:

Chair: Dave Hope
District 1: Chris Stewart, Adrien Pinsonneault, Ryan Leclair, Ron VanDamme
District 2: Carl Merrick and Tracy Gubbels
District 3: Neil Reimer and Dan Froese

Negotiation update: onions and cucumbers

Onion negotiations for 2022 have concluded with an agreement on price and changes to sizes. The prices were established based on shipping month so please refer to your agreement. OPVG did not have an agreement in 2021 because of supply chain challenges (seed, etc.) but did negotiate an agreement for 2023. If you are an onion grower, you should have received information on these new agreements.

Negotiations have also concluded for hand picked cucumbers in the Chatham and Eastern stations, and agreements have been sent to growers. Final offers for machine picked cucumbers were exchanged and a grower vote was held on December 20, 2022, with a decision by growers to proceed to arbitration after reviewing the two prices offered.

If you have any questions, or did not receive an agreement, contact the OPVG office.

Membership matters for market data

We’re proud to represent the diverse and dynamic processing vegetable industry in Ontario since 1946. Our sector of Canadian agriculture contributes more than $98 million in gross annual sales from nine crops. We’re highlighting the ways we serve our industry in this newsletter feature, focusing on market data in this issue.

We compile information on production and consumer consumption for the processing vegetable industry. This information is shared with growers to assist with negotiations and crop planning – data on yield, contract and harvest, pricing, productivity and variety details, transportation logistics and information from other areas. OPVG advocates for and supports growers when issues arise such as contract level uncertainty, unharvested acreage, and understanding terms and conditions of negotiated agreements.

Bursary awards to be named at AGM

Our bursary committee has reviewed all the 2022 applications for OPVG’s three annual bursaries, and the selected students will be announced at the OPVG Annual General Meeting in March 2023. The bursaries include the Ken Epp Memorial Bursary, Jim Witson Memorial Bursary and the OPVG Industry Bursary.

OPVG’s bursary program started in 2001 to support students pursuing a career in the processing vegetable industry and encourage continued growth for this sector of Ontario’s agri-food economy. A total of $203,000 has been awarded in the past.

A heartfelt thanks to the bursary committee for reviewing all the applicants: David Robertson, Bayer Canada; Wilhelmina Waters, TD; Ken McEwan, University of Guelph; Elaine Roddy, OMAFRA; and Michael Denys and Carl Merrick; OPVG.