WINCHESTER — The loose-knit grassroots movement that shut down food terminals this year and handed out cheese and ice cream on Parliament Hill on Canada Day is launching a new protest.

About 20 farmers met at the Country Kitchen restaurant to agree to spread the word to the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs to shut down trails on farm properties this winter if the federal and provincial governments don’t agree on a risk management program by Nov. 15.

Last year, the Quebec farmers shut down their snowmobile trails over a municipal tax issue "and they got what they wanted in two weeks," said North Gower crop farmer Dwight Foster. He added that farmers in the Ontario Federation of Agriculture are meeting across the province to endorse the plan.

Foster also said that each sector of farming needs its own risk management program. As it stands, hog and cattle farmers are happy with low corn prices as it means feed is cheap, reflecting how fractured the farm community is, he said.

The grassroots group of grains and oilseeds farmers that initiated the trail embargo idea have at least six leaders east of Toronto: Bruce Pearce, John Doner, Joe Hickson, Dwight Foster, John Vanderspank and Jean-Marie Menard.

With continued pressure, the federal government will likely agree to a risk management program, said Vanderspank, noting that Ontario farmers have asked for a $600 million program, shared with the province. Producers would cover $100 million.

The market now pays out $300 an acre for corn, said Vanderspank, adding the risk management program would provide another $100 an acre to meet the breakeven point of $400 an acre.