Agriculture & Rural Economic Development Newsletter
July 2021 | Volume 10, Issue 4
In This Issue:
  • Made in Durham: Shirley's Country Clutter continues to wear Beaverton on its sleeve
  • Grown in Durham: Mighty Harvest Produce sees vertical growth continue in Oshawa
  • Durham Region Business Count
  • COVID-19 business re-opening toolkit
  • Douglas E. Williams inducted into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame
  • My Uxbridge Downtown
  • Downtowns of Durham
  • Durham is Home Collection
  • Update on broadband in Durham
  • Save the date for the Durham Farm Connections' Triple A Event: Celebrate Ag Gala
  • Shop Durham Region Online Marketplace
  • New Federal Agricultural Policy Framework under development
  • Durham Farm Connections Barn Quilt Trail
  • What's in Season in Durham Region?
  • Ontario increasing provincial support to AgriStability programs
  • Canada Community Revitalization Fund
  • Virtual Program to Raise Ontario Food Investment & Trade (PROFIT)
  • 2021 Hazelnut Farm Tour in Uxbridge  
  • Facebook Live tours with Durham Region Farmers
Made in Durham: Shirley's Country Clutter continues to wear Beaverton on its sleeve
Shirley’s Country Clutter has been a staple of downtown Beaverton since 1996. Since purchasing the store in 2017, owners Jane Trollope and Darrin Ward have shown their community pride in many ways. From the stores collection of Beaverton and Lake Simcoe inspired products to their various charitable partnerships, Jane and Darrin are the embodiment of community ambassadors.

The store offers a wide variety of products, including local apparel, home décor, health and wellness products, books, puzzles, and so much more. They are excited to announce that they will serve as Brock Township’s pick-up location for Omemee’s Mickaël's Café.

As the Province of Ontario continues to reopen, Shirley’s Country Clutter is excited to welcome customers back into their store (in accordance with public health regulations). Customers can also shop online and choose between pick-up or delivery options!
Grown in Durham: Mighty Harvest Produce sees vertical growth continue in Oshawa
Join us in welcoming Mighty Harvest Produce to our local food community. Mighty Harvest Produce is an indoor vertical farm located in Oshawa that focuses on growing fresh, high-quality leafy greens and herbs. Mighty Harvest is committed to sustainability and supplying the community with local food in all seasons of the year. This is a step towards reducing the need to import leafy greens from other countries out of season. Mighty Harvest Produce can be found at their storefront in Oshawa, at the Whitby Farmers’ Market, Brooklin Farmers’ Market, Willowtree Farm, Pingle’s Farm Market, and even delivered to your home if you live within the Whitby to Bowmanville area.

Learn more about Mighty Harvest Produce.
Durham Region Business Count
The Durham Region Business Count is back and in full swing. The Business Count is an annual survey of every business in the Region of Durham whose data helps inform a myriad of regional projects and decisions. As a result of the pandemic, the program has shifted from in-person to primarily over the phone and email. Surveyors are currently reaching out to businesses across Durham Region. Home-based businesses and farms are encouraged to complete the business count online as these businesses can be difficult for our surveyors to identify.

COVID-19 business re-opening toolkit
The Durham Region Health Department provides sector specific toolkits to provide guidance to businesses and organizations to prepare for re-opening in accordance with the direction from the Province of Ontario. Information is available for retail, restaurants and food services, camps, outdoor gatherings, the agri-food sector and more.

Learn more about COVID-19 guidance and advice for businesses and organizations in Durham Region.
Douglas E. Williams inducted into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame
We would like to congratulate the Rickard family of Clarington on the induction of their father/ father in-law/grandfather, Doug Williams into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame. This is a great accomplishment that we are so happy to recognize. Doug was exemplary of what leadership is in agriculture. He devoted his career to supporting the horticultural sector through his contributions towards the creation of Foodland Ontario, serving as Chairman of the Ontario Food Terminal, and his work to market and create fair pricing for food producers in the province, which are just a few of his many accomplishments. Doug’s actions and dedication to agriculture are a true legacy.

Learn more about Douglas Williams and watch his induction video.
My Uxbridge Downtown
Calling all Uxbridge residents! The Township of Uxbridge wants to hear from you. As part of the Uxbridge Downtown Revitalization project, the Township has developed a resident survey to help inform project activities. Not only will this survey shed light on current and future usage of the downtown, but it will also give residents the chance to help prioritize future actions, explain their likes and dislikes, and voice their concerns, ideas and opinions surrounding their downtown.

Downtowns of Durham
As the Province of Ontario continues to move through its reopening plan, it continues to be vitally important to support local. Downtowns of Durham is here to make it is as easy as possible to identify local options throughout Durham Region’s 14 downtowns. Whether you’re looking for a patio to enjoy or a place to get your haircut, Downtowns of Durham will help you find the perfect local gem. Browse the business inventory or skim through the ‘Stories’ tab for recent blog posts about some of Durham’s trendiest small businesses.
Durham is Home Collection
The pandemic has had a major impact on the tourism industry; from destinations and restaurants, to independent retailers and event facilities. As a component of recovery, Durham Tourism is pleased to launch the ‘Durham is Home Collection’. The vision is to foster interest in Durham Region’s many communities through a confident new form of community pride. We can all work together to tell our shared story of why Durham Region is a truly great place to live, work and play. By wearing our community, we can communicate to others that Durham is vibrant, diverse and caring.
 
We can all become ambassadors and support the locally-owned and operated tourism businesses of our region—helping to build back stronger.
 
To design the collection, Durham Tourism hosted 17 brainstorming sessions with 70 representatives from across the region. 139 concepts were proposed, and the debut collection features the most popular 22 icons. T-shirts, hoodies, and hats, as well as water bottles, tote bags, stemless glasses and campfire mugs are in the collection.
 
Update on broadband in Durham
The Region of Durham is working hard to make sure all residents are connected to fast and reliable broadband. Through the establishment of a Municipal Services Corporation, the Region envisions the creation of a Regional Broadband Network that will span about 700 kilometres to connect all of Durham’s rural hamlets to high-speed fibre optic internet. While completing this vision will take time, work is already beginning. The Pickering-Uxbridge Fibre Trunk project is set to begin construction in mid-2021 with an estimated completion date of December 2021. This project will extend fibre optic internet from north Pickering through the hamlets of Brougham, Claremont, Coppins Corners and Goodwood, extending through to the Uxbridge urban area.

In addition to work being done by the Region of Durham, multiple private Internet Service Providers (ISPs) including Bell, Rogers and Ruralwave have recently announced broadband expansions into a number of Durham’s rural areas—including Whitevale, Greenwood, Macedonian Village, Gamebridge Beach, Udora, Leaskdale, Newtonville, Newcastle, Manchester, among others. As a result, these communities should see improved service by the end of 2021.

Learn more about broadband improvements being made in Durham Region.
Save the date for the Durham Farm Connections' Triple A Event: Celebrate Ag Gala
Join us in celebrating all of the great things happening in Durham’s agriculture community at this year’s Celebrate Ag Gala. The event will take place virtually on October 28 via Zoom. This year’s gala will be a Triple A event with an exciting evening of awards, appetizers and an auction. Be sure to mark the date in your calendar, you won’t want to miss out on a great evening of celebrations! Stay tuned for more information coming soon by visiting the Durham Farm Connections website or Facebook page.
Shop Durham Region Online Marketplace
The Shop Durham Region (SDR) online marketplace was launched in January 2021 and has seen continued growth over its first six months. Now offering more than one thousand products from a variety of Durham-based businesses, this e-marketplace allows shoppers to purchase products from multiple businesses in a single transaction.
Whether a business has an existing online shop or is brand new to e-commerce, they can easily add up to 75 products to the marketplace and get discovered by new customers looking to support local. Completely free to join, the marketplace allows business owners to tap into e-commerce expertise and marketing support from the SDR team and its partners.

Interested businesses are encouraged to watch the Shop Durham Region onboarding video, produced by the Whitby BIA, to help answer any questions they may have before signing up. Further questions can be directed to the SDR team at info@shopdurhamregion.ca.

For more information, visit the online marketplace.
New Federal Agricultural Policy Framework under development
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Neil Ellis, recently launched the federal consultation process for the Next Agricultural Policy Framework. The framework is a wide-ranging federal-provincial-territorial agreement that will replace the current five-year, $3 billion Canadian Agricultural Partnership, which expires on March 31, 2023.

Consultations begin this July and will continue through the spring of 2022. For updates on the consultations, summaries of the feedback received, and opportunities to contribute to the discussion, please visit the Next Agricultural Policy Framework throughout 2021 and 2022.
Durham Farm Connections Barn Quilt Trail
The Durham Farm Connections Heritage Committee is initiating a Barn Quilt Trail project in Durham Region. Durham Farm Connections is looking for participants to join in on the trail by creating an approximately 8’ x 8’ wooden quilt block to place on a barn or farm building that is visible from the road. The goal of the barn quilt trail is to celebrate our agriculture community and rural area by enhancing the countryside with art that has meaning to each farm and the farming community, while honouring our community’s rich agricultural history.

To learn more about the project or to participate in the trail, email info@DurhamFarmConnections.ca.
What's in Season in Durham Region?
Durham has lots of healthy, high-quality food grown on farms across the countryside. Find out what’s in season by checking out the Durham Farm Fresh ‘In Season’ guide. This allows viewers to check out what crops are coming into season over the summer months!

Ontario increasing provincial support to AgriStability programs
The Province is moving forward to provide an increase to the AgriStability compensation rate from 70 to 80 per cent retroactive to the 2020 growing season for the provincial share of the program. The Reference Margin Limit (RML) is also being removed. This change will further help farmers who have experienced large loss of income due to factors out of their control, and will result in approximately $25 million in increased support to Ontario farmers. Learn more.
Canada Community Revitalization Fund
The Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) is a federal program aimed at helping communities across Canada rebound from the effects of COVID-19 through community infrastructure projects. Not-for-profit organizations, charities, municipal and regional governments, and bodies providing infrastructure services to communities, are all eligible to apply for funding to help move infrastructure projects forward. Eligible projects include revitalizing downtown cores and main streets, reinventing outdoor spaces, creating green infrastructure, and improving accessibility of public spaces. Applications will be accepted over the next two years, but priority will be given to applicants who apply by July 23, 2021.
 
Follow us on Twitter!
For more frequent updates on Durham Region success stories, resources, local news, fun facts and more, follow @DurhamAgRural on Twitter. #DurhamAg #NorthDurham
Upcoming Events
For a full listing of events and webinars, visit InvestDurham/calendar.
Virtual Program to Raise Ontario Food Investment & Trade (PROFIT)
July 6 to August 17, 2021

The PROFIT workshop is designed to educate Ontario agri-food, and beverage producers and processors, on the compliance regulations and market requirements necessary to export products to the United States (U.S.). Learn more.
2021 Hazelnut Farm Tour in Uxbridge
Are you interested in learning more about hazelnut farming in Durham Region, or interested in starting your own hazelnut farm? Join the 2021 Hazelnut Farm Tour on July 24, hosted by the Ontario Hazelnut Association, at a hazelnut farm in Uxbridge. This is a great opportunity to learn and ask questions about all things hazelnut farming—but, spots are limited! If you are interested in attending, please register now through Eventbrite.
Facebook Live tours with Durham Region farmers
Throughout 2021, Durham Region farmers will offer behind-the-scenes virtual farm tours. Each tour will be hosted by a local farmer, sharing a beyond-the-farm-gate view of the different types of farms in Durham. The tours will be broadcast live from the Durham Farm Connections (DFC) Facebook page and will be available for on-demand viewing after the broadcast for a period of one week. 
 
Tours have been confirmed on many different types of farms, including beef cattle, maple syrup, egg, greenhouse, field crop, dairy, apple orchard, sheep, peas and strawberries, hay, herb (specialty tea), wheat, apple cider, field vegetables and fruit, and a flower farm.

DFC connects consumers, farmers and decision makers with opportunities to enhance knowledge, understanding and appreciation of agriculture and food in Durham Region; providing collaborative and innovative approaches to agricultural education.

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