Canadian grain, pulse and oilseed farmers now have access to a new digital platform that will allow them to place orders for a variety of crop inputs including seed, fertilizer, chemicals, micronutrients, inoculants and fungicides, to name just a few. Agro.Club is a new e-commerce site that allows farmers to search for products and place […] Read more
News
Black mustard genome breakthrough applauded
Researchers say the accomplishment will provide valuable information to advance breeding of oilseed mustard crop
Black mustard (Brassica nigra), commonly used as a cooking spice, is grown in India and is closely related to mustard and canola. Recently, an international team of researchers with the Plant Phenotyping and Imaging Research Centre (P21RC) at the University of Saskatchewan and Agriculture Canada decoded the full genome of the black mustard plant, which […] Read moreFour organizations rescue Seeds Canada merger plan
Seeds Canada — a proposed new organization representing stakeholders in the seed sector — will go ahead without the Canadian Seed Growers Association. Four seed industry organizations announced last week that they intend to proceed with plans to amalgamate and become a single entity. The Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA), the Canadian Plant Technology Agency […] Read more
Sask. cattle meetings will be held online
The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association has moved its fall meetings online. An Oct. 9 news release said the meetings were to start Oct. 19 but “the planning realities along with continued hotspots made the 11 meetings with people travelling across the province inadvisable.” Chair Arnold Balicki said he was disappointed but it was the safe thing […] Read more
Food system’s fragility, complexity revealed
Specialized supply chains where producers have only one outlet can cause significant problems when chain is disrupted
John Kowalchuk was worried about the most important farm labour he’s got: his own family. Because harvest demanded 100 percent of everybody’s available time, he fretted about what would happen if he or another family member went down with COVID-19. “You can lose two weeks (if you get infected) and during the busy season two […] Read moreAG Notes
Feds update Canada Brand As a result of COVID-19, the federal government is updating the Canada Brand platform. The refresh will include a modernized look, signature, messaging, and marketing products for the Canada Brand. The objective of the Canada Brand is to raise the profile of and help differentiate Canadian food products from the competition. […] Read more
COVID cases reported at Alta. potato plant
Eight cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among workers at the Cavendish Farms potato plant in Lethbridge. Chief medical officer Deena Hinshaw confirmed today that cases had been found at that facility, a $430 million frozen potato plant that opened a new facility in the city’s northeast quadrant slightly more than a year ago. “We […] Read more
Bats most common rabies carrier this year
Bats are the most frequent sufferers of rabies in western Canada, with 17 cases reported in British Columbia so far this year, four in Alberta and six in Saskatchewan. Those numbers are far less than Ontario’s figures, where 37 rabid bats have been identified so far in 2020, along with three raccoons and six skunks. […] Read more
Sask. cattle meetings go online
The Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association has moved its fall meetings online. An Oct. 9 news release said the meetings were to start Oct. 19 but “the planning realities along with continued hotspots made the 11 meetings with people travelling across the province inadvisable.” Chair Arnold Balicki said he was disappointed but it was the safe thing […] Read more
Manitoba bans moose hunt
Moose hunting is again banned in Manitoba. The province hoped to have a limited hunting season for moose this year, in the Duck and Porcupine Mountain regions, but the moose population hasn’t recovered sufficiently to withstand it. The government is also banning night hunting on private land, beginning Oct. 10, as part of the Wildlife […] Read more
