Industry told to start looking beyond traditional areas, including bigger cities and non-agricultural university education
About 68 percent of unemployed Canadians will not move to another province for a job. That number, which comes from a 2017 Statistics Canada survey, is a problem for industries that need labour, including the agricultural sector. Agricultural companies may need a different approach to solve the labour mobility problem, says Ryan Riese, national director […] Read moreNews
Website to help farmers compare crop yields
Agriculture Canada’s Canadian Crop Metrics tool contains information on drought classifications, frost risk, precipitation and weather forecasts
Farmers, analysts and the entire grain sector have a new one-stop shop for everything related to crop yields. Agriculture Canada recently released its new Canadian Crop Metrics tool available at www.agr.gc.ca/atlas/cropmetrics. “It allows the user to look at a specific region and generate reports, graphs and tables to compare current conditions to historical for 11 […] Read more
Federal high-speed internet initiative receives $750 million funding boost
Ottawa added $750 million to its Universal Broadband Fund Nov. 9 in a bid to speed up Canadians’ access to high-speed internet. Budget 2019 had allocated $1 billion to the fund, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how critical it is that Canadians in rural and remote areas get better […] Read more
Beekeepers see solid demand for honey
The pandemic complicates plans to import bees from overseas, while a new strain of foulbrood keeps producers on edge
The basics of supply and demand are at work in the Canadian honey business. Demand is up, along with the price, and supply is low. “Nationally, there’s very little honey available that I’m aware of and the price is very solid,” said Canadian Honey Council executive director Rod Scarlett. “There’s a really strong demand and […] Read more
Pork sector calls national agency a vital step
The new Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency will be funded with levies collected on imported hogs and meat
A new federal agency will use funds from a levy on imported pork to pay for research and promotion of the sector. On Nov. 5, federal agriculture minister Marie Claude Bibeau officially announced the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency (PRA). The Canadian Pork Council has floated the idea for nearly a […] Read more
Cargill adopts regenerative agriculture
Cargill has jumped on the regenerative ag bandwagon. In September, the Minneapolis company said it wants to increase the amount of land farmed with cover crops, reduced tillage and diverse crop rotations. “Cargill is supporting farmer-led efforts to adopt and implement regenerative ag practices and systems on 10 million acres of cropland in North America […] Read more
Company plans regenerative ag centre in B.C.
A Vancouver firm has come up with an ambitious plan that it hopes will drastically slash global synthetic pesticide use
The head of a Vancouver company has an ambitious but seemingly impossible goal. Karn Manhas, chief executive officer of Terramera, hopes to reduce “global synthetic pesticide load 80 percent by 2030,” according to the firm’s website. That is definitely ambitious, seeing how 2030 is only 10 years away and 80 percent is a massive number. […] Read more
Rare human swine flu case deemed low threat in Alberta
Influenza A (H1N2)v is linked to contact with pigs, and provincial officials continue their investigation into potential sources of the virus
A case of swine influenza contracted by a person in central Alberta is believed to be an isolated incident with low threat to either other people or to pigs. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, said Nov. 4 that it was the first reported case in Canada of a person getting this […] Read more
EU gene editing hostility called research obstacle
Some plant breeders say they are reluctant to use the technology to engineer new canola hybrids because of Europe’s stance on the practice
The distance from Brussels, Belgium, to Saskatoon, Sask., is 6,861 kilometres. It may be a third of the world away, but decisions in Brussels have an impact on canola growers in Saskatchewan. Some plant breeders are reluctant to use gene editing technology to engineer new and better canola hybrids because Europe is hostile to the […] Read more
Ag minister optimistic about export prospects
Marie-Claude Bibeau says an increasing middle class in Africa and Asia will increase demand for the food Canada grows
Minister of Agriculture Marie Claude Bibeau says Canadian agriculture will be the “powerhouse of the economy” as the country recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, pointing to specific opportunities for the industry to grow. During a virtual “fireside chat” at the International Economic Forum of the America’s Toronto event on Oct. 27, Bibeau expressed optimism over […] Read more
