Greenhouse technology for organic microgreens
Greenbelt Microgreens will receive $640,585 in federal funding to upgrade a 3.5 acre greenhouse facility with state-of-the-art technology.
The goal is to enable producers to increase local production for Canadian certified organic microgreens.
The new full-spectrum greenhouse will have an Acrylite roofing material, which is new to North America. It improves light penetration to increase the health and quality of plants.
The greenhouse will also feature a soil and fertilizing line specifically designed for microgreens, and a multiple variety seeding machine for microgreens, which is unique to Greenbelt Greenhouse Ltd.
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Microgreens are young seedlings of edible vegetables and herbs harvested within 14 days of their germination stage, such as basil, beets and cilantro.
These innovations will help produce high quality organic lettuce and microgreens year round.
Eighty percent of the organic produce in Canada is imported.
Stock growers get U.S. grant
The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association has received a $200,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for grasslands conservation projects.
The association is collaborating with the South of the Divide Conservation Action Program Inc. on the projects.
The goal is to preserve existing grasslands and expand habitat on land that is no longer in its original state in the Great Plains ecosystem of the United States and Canada.
Participating producers will implement grazing management strategies, control invasive species, prepare seeding beds, control weeds and seed and establish native feedstock plants.
The association will develop and implement four habitat management areas and four habitat restoration areas on 4,000 acres of native grasslands.
It will reduce invasive species on 100 acres of native grasslands and restore habitat on 500 acres of previously disturbed grasslands.
The grant will be matched by Species At Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands, which is a program of the federal environment department.
4-H announces video contest
National winners of the third annual Proud to Bee a 4-Her Video Contest were recently announced.
Sponsored by 4-H Canada and Syngenta Canada, contestants were asked in November to create a short video demonstrating their pride in being a part of the 4-H program.
About 3,800 votes were cast during the online public voting period.
The winning entry received a GoPro HERO5 camera, while the first and second runner-up entries each received an Apple iPad Mini 2. The remaining top 10 entries received a selfie stick.
The winning videos are at youtube.com/4HCanada.
Winning video entries from first to 10th place were:
- The Pas Helping Hands, 4-H Manitoba
- Aidan Tully, 4-H Manitoba
- Colton Skori, 4-H Alberta
- Comox Valley 4-H Calf Club, 4-H British Columbia
- Boots N Bridles 4-H Club, 4-H British Columbia
- Irishtown 4-H Club, 4-H New Brunswick
- Caroline Carpenter, 4-H New Brunswick
- 4-W 4-H Club, 4-H Alberta
- Hillmond 4-H Beef Club, 4-H Saskatchewan
- Jocelyn Kerr, 4-H British Columbia
Angus association posts record registrations
Members of the Canadian Angus Association registered a record 62,414 purebred Angus calves in 2016.
The previous record was set in 2008 with 61,578 registered calves followed by 60,034 calves in 2015.
Registrations in 2016 rose four percent from 2015. The number of members also grew five percent from 2015 to 2,346 active members.
Tag sales were the second-highest in the program’s history with 278,010 .
