Last week’s March Prospective Plantings report in the United States raised some eyebrows. It is uncertain whether Statistics Canada’s Principal Field Crop Areas report scheduled for release on April 24 will generate the same response. That is because there may not be a report on that date due to COVID-19 related challenges. “No final decision […] Read more
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Lower demand forces farmers to dump milk
Dairy farmers across Canada have been dumping raw milk because of market issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dairy…
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Sale of native prairie in Alberta causes alarm
A quarter of publicly owned native prairie grassland near Taber, Alta., was sold to SLM Spud farms March 31 amid…
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Promise of bio-pesticides: can they replace synthetic chemicals?
Scott Baerson has been trying to solve the same problem for more than two decades. The U.S. Department of Agriculture…
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Public urged to take steps to support truckers
The top executive at the Saskatoon Trucking Association has a message for Saskatchewan residents and business owners during the COVID-19…
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CFIA continues ‘aggressive’ regulatory
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing work on broad regulatory reviews and changes over the next year, according to…
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Federal changes could attract more workers to agricultural jobs
The federal government has introduced changes to help students looking for summer jobs find employment in agriculture. Prime Minister Justin…
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Stories from our other publications
Isolation needs complicate foreign labour rules
News of exemptions that allow temporary foreign workers to come to Canada was greeted with relief by agricultural sectors that require the additional labour. However, government restrictions surrounding control of COVID-19 spread are adding complexity and expense to the process. Foreign workers are allowed to travel to Canada and will be assessed at their port […] Read more
Expected durum jump may not materialize
Growers in the United States plan to reduce acreage by four percent, which is blamed on steep quality discounts
American durum growers are thumbing their noses at millers and pasta manufacturers. Growers told the U.S. Department of Agriculture they were going to cut acres by four percent to 1.29 million acres in 2020. Some people in the trade had been expecting a 50 to 80 percent increase in acres, said Jim Peterson, policy and […] Read more
Lower demand forces farmers to dump milk
Dairy farmers across Canada have been dumping raw milk because of market issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dairy Farmers of Canada said in a statement last week that the last thing anyone wants to see is milk being discarded, but the drop in demand for some products, as well as supply chain issues, […] Read more
Sale of native prairie in Alberta causes alarm
Potato grower who bought the government-owned land says deal done by the rules, but groups decry loss of grassland
A quarter of publicly owned native prairie grassland near Taber, Alta., was sold to SLM Spud farms March 31 amid concerns voiced by various groups about the need to preserve such land and despite prior government assertions that it would not sell public land. The quarter, located 29 kilometres east of the town near Sherburne […] Read more
Promise of bio-pesticides: can they replace synthetic chemicals?
Scott Baerson has been trying to solve the same problem for more than two decades. The U.S. Department of Agriculture molecular biologist, who works in Oxford, Mississippi, has been studying a unique bio-chemical that’s associated with sorghum. The roots of sorghum exude a chemical called sorgoleone, a natural herbicide that kills weeds and other vegetation […] Read more
Public urged to take steps to support truckers
Drivers face extraordinary circumstances as they work, including restaurant closures and lack of access to washrooms
The top executive at the Saskatoon Trucking Association has a message for Saskatchewan residents and business owners during the COVID-19 pandemic: be kind to truckers and help them out if you can. Susan Ewart told The Western Producer that truck drivers are facing extraordinary circumstances as they move products throughout the province. Restaurant closures mean […] Read more
CFIA continues ‘aggressive’ regulatory
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is continuing work on broad regulatory reviews and changes over the next year, according to its 2020-21 plan. In outlining its priorities for the year, the organization states it has an ambitious agenda for plant and animal regulations, “that moves away from the traditional prescriptive regulations of the past towards […] Read more
Federal changes could attract more workers to agricultural jobs
The federal government has introduced changes to help students looking for summer jobs find employment in agriculture. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program aimed at businesses with fewer than 50 employees that are delivering essential services. Businesses will have 100 percent of their employees’ salaries covered by the federal […] Read more
Tomato’s evolution took several turns
Researchers discover more to the vegetable’s development than the previously believed two-step evolutionary process
For decades it was thought that tomatoes became domesticated in a two-step process. This oversimplified view involved the transition of the small, wild blueberry-sized tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium L to an intermediate fruit and then to the fully domesticated, cultivated tomato. But there were missing links. Tomatoes are one of the world’s most consumed, highest valued […] Read more
