FedNor funding announced in support of agricultural initiatives

Projects in Cochrane and Hearst among the beneficiaries

The Daily Press
Aug 12, 2020  •  August 12, 2020  •  1 minute read

Agricultural projects in Cochrane and Hearst are among the beneficiaries of a federal funding announcement made Wednesday.

The Ministry of Economic Development announced it is investing more than $3 million, through FedNor, to help Northern Ontario’s agri-food sector innovate, grow and create jobs.

The funding will support 13 initiatives across the North.

The Town of Cochrane is receiving $600,986 in FedNor funding to construct a grain handling and storage facility at the community multi-modal site to support the expansion of the region’s agricultural sector and to service farms in that part of Cochrane District.

The Town of Hearst is receiving $63,000 to hire an intern to assist with research to determine obstacles to livestock farming expansion along the Highway 11 North region.

The 13 projects receiving funding also included ones in Sudbury, Nickel Belt, Nipissing-Timiskaming, Sault Ste. Marie and Kenora.

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The Ministry of Economic Development and Official Languages, which made the funding announcement, stated in a release “Canada’s farmers and agri-food producers have been hit hard by COVID-19” and the government is “committed to giving them the tools they need to be part of our economic recovery and emerge from it stronger and more competitive than before. Innovation is essential to making this a reality.”

The initiatives being supported with this funding “will help farmers and producers boost profits with new, modern equipment and value-added products, while increasing exports and expanding to new markets thanks to recent trade agreements,” the ministry stated in its release.

“It will also assist them in becoming more efficient by increasing capacity and field yields, adopting new technologies and improving data collection and analysis.”

The funding is also intended to “support research to better understand which plants can thrive in the challenging climate of Northern Ontario.”