(Guelph, ON) – With the completion of the Agricultural Adaptation Council’s (AAC) annual summer board meeting held in June, the AAC Board of Directors have approved more than $13.0 million for 152 projects under AAC’s new funding programs CanAdvance and the Canada-Ontario Research and Development (CORD) Program.

CanAdvance is funded under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program, and the CORD Program is funded under the Agricultural Policy Framework, an initiative of the federal-provincial-territorial governments.

“The AAC holds its summer board meeting at various locations across the province. This provides the AAC Board of Directors an excellent opportunity to see AAC funding at work, addressing industry issues, and allows us to identify through interaction with industry stakeholders the local, regional and provincial needs that exist in the agriculture and agri-food industry,” says Bob Bedggood, AAC Chair.

The AAC Board of Directors had the opportunity to visit Gencor Foods Inc., a project supported under the now closed CanAdapt program as part of a bus tour of AAC funded projects in the area. AAC’s support of the project, which came in the form of a $2,000,000 loan, assisted with the start-up of the producer owned, federally inspected facility to slaughter and process cull cows in Ontario.

The AAC Board also visited the newly established manufacturing plant for Think Plastics Inc. Under the CanAdapt program, Think Plastics Inc. received a grant of $42,390 to establish municipal collection sites for used plastic bale wrap from producers free of charge to be manufactured into innovative solid plastic alternative to lumber. As an enhancement to the CanAdapt project, Think Plastics Inc. also received support from the CanAdvance program in the form of a $200,000 loan to assist in the establishment of a new manufacturing facility, and a $30,000 grant to assist in the promotion and communication of this initiative.

“AAC is particularly proud of its support of these industry-led initiatives that are addressing and adapting to a substantial need within the beef processing industry, and producing new and innovative products from what has been traditionally an agricultural waste,” says Bedggood. “The bus tour provided an opportunity to see first-hand how the AAC’s funding is working to assist and advance the industry.”

The Agricultural Adaptation Council is a non-profit, grass roots coalition of 62 agricultural, agribusiness and rural organizations dedicated to providing financial resources to assist Ontario’s agriculture and agri-food industry remain profitable, grow and maintain its economic strength. The Agricultural Adaptation Council, based out of Guelph, is responsible for delivering the CanAdvance Program, which is funded under Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program, and the Canada-Ontario Research and Development Program, which is funded under the Agricultural Policy Framework, an initiative of the federal-provincial-territorial governments. For information on the AAC please contact the AAC at (519) 822-7554, or visit the website at www.adaptcouncil.org.

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For more information contact:

Nadine Buitenhuis, Communications Coordinator
Agricultural Adaptation Council
Phone: 519-822-7554
Fax: 519-822-6248
E-mail: nadine@adaptcouncil.org