A top-down approach [to regenerative agriculture] can work, maybe, but it does have limitations. Some food and agriculture companies have realized that this movement should be handed back to farmers, says University of Washington geologist David Montgomery. | File photo

Regenerative agriculture resumes bottom-up approach

MINNEAPOLIS — In 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of artificial intelligence, David Montgomery was encouraging farmers and the agricultural industry to make a major shift. The University of Washington geologist and author of the book Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations was a regular speaker at farm conferences across North America. Related stories […] Read more

Mars was just one of many agriculture, food and ingredient companies that had vice-presidents and executives at the Reuters Transform Food & Agriculture conference, held Oct. 7-9 in Minneapolis. Representatives of Cargill, Bunge, Bayer, Nutrien, McCain Foods and General Mills all spoke at the event. | Screencap via mars.com

Sustainability has a problem

MINNEAPOLIS — Mars has a problem. Not the red planet, but the company. It’s one of the largest human and pet food companies in the world, posting $50 billion in revenue last year. Related stories in this issue: Global sales have been increasing, and this year the privately held company acquired the Kellogg’s line of […] Read more


Alberta plans to complete the twinning of Highway 3 between Medicine Hat and Lethbridge to attract more agri-food processing.  |  File photo

Province aims to create food corridor in southern Alberta

Invest Alberta has a mandate to attract food processors to the region and support the expansion of existing businesses

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A few years ago, when Jason Kenney was premier of Alberta, the provincial government conducted a study on investors. The government wanted to understand global investors, how they perceived Alberta and how those perceptions affect the province. The result was a wake-up call — global players don’t think about Alberta; it’s not […] Read more

Starting next year, Assiniboine Community College in Brandon will deliver training to certified crop advisers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan about soil health and conservation agriculture.  |  File photo

New program to provide master class on soil agronomy

WINNIPEG — Soil health has become such a large part of agriculture that it even has its own glossary of terms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published a list of soil health terminology, which includes things like “aggregate stability,” “soil respiration” and a tool called an amoozemeter. In addition to the amoozemeter, which measures […] Read more