A graphic image of a drone hovering above a farm field with other autonomous vehicles working in it.

Moving ag tech forward requires co-ordination

Glacier FarmMedia – Canada is an agriculture exporting superpower, but it should also be a leader in agriculture technology, says a new report. Created by the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley, the report recommends four strategies to drive increased […] Read more

The author writes that Canada can serve as a gold standard for countries around the world by refining and strengthening its regulatory system and upholding science and risk-based decision-making. | File photo

The world needs more from Canada

As 2024 drew to a close, I reflected on the year and the conversations that dominated the grains sector in Canada and around the world. The highlights? Innovation, sustainability and the future of our global food systems. From climate-related challenges to geopolitical shifts, the need for forward-thinking approaches to agriculture and technology has never been […] Read more

Innovation experts worry that not enough long-term discovery and disruptive research work is being done with canola. | File photo

Canola research in Canada needs an ‘overhaul’

WINNIPEG — When Wilf Keller began working at Agriculture Canada in 1973, things were different in crop science. After earning his doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan, Keller joined a team of researchers with Agriculture Canada in Ottawa. In one of his first assignments, a manager asked him to solve a problem related to the […] Read more


Growth will thrive when connections are made, collaborations are struck and investors are found to put up the dollars needed to take a concept and make it reality, but there’s not enough of any of those things, according to speakers at Bioenterprise’s National Call to Action in Ottawa last fall. | Getty Images

Agriculture silo seen as a barrier to future investment

Glacier FarmMedia – The insular nature of Canadian agriculture is one of its biggest innovation challenges, said speakers at a recent ag event. Growth will thrive when connections are made, collaborations are struck and investors are found to put up the dollars needed to take a concept and make it reality, but there’s not enough […] Read more

"We know what we should be reporting and measuring to get a full view of sustainability," said Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, one of the project's partners, "but we know that we don't have good data for it." | Getty Images

Benchmarking helps pair innovation with profitability

The national Agri-Food Index brings agri-food value chain together, but data gap remains a challenge for upcoming year

With new environmental, social and governance disclosure regulations set to be released in 2025, organizations such as the National Index on Agri-Food Performance are leading the way for benchmarking and standard-setting in the Canadian ag sector. In 2024, the index moved past its initial pilot phase to launch the Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking. In 2025, […] Read more


In 2023, the federal and provincial governments signed a five-year, $3.5 billion funding agreement called the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (SCAP). The new partnership, previously called the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, made climate change a research priority. Including for AgriScience Cluster projects. | Getty Images

Fed funding for ag research is ‘ideological,’ says Tory MP

In the second week of November, the Agri-food Innovation Council invited MP Warren Steinley to talk about agricultural research and innovation in Canada. During a webinar, Steinley was asked about the government’s funding priorities and how much it dedicates to climate change research within agriculture. “I think this is an ideological position this government has. […] Read more

Protein Industries Canada director Dave Donnan, left, Heidi Dutton of Sunnydale Foods and Lovingly Made, Tyler McCann of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute and Murad Al-Katib of AGT Foods take the stage during a panel discussion at the 2024 Protein Industries Canada conference.  |  Janelle Rudolph photo

Ag productivity hampered by policy: speakers

Panelists warn that if Canada doesn’t find ways to make itself attractive to agri-food businesses, other countries will

Glacier FarmMedia – Agriculture and the agri-food sector can be a powerful tool for Canada both economically and geopolitcally. That’s according to Jack Mintz, economist and president’s fellow at the University of Calgary’s Public Policy Institute. Agriculture is a high-productivity sector with great strategic opportunities on the world stage, he told attendees of the Protein […] Read more

American presidents make decisions on trade, environment and agriculture and food, often setting agendas with consequences felt around the world and even on your farm. | Getty Images

Trump would likely affect agriculture more than Harris

Either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will become, arguably, the most powerful person in the world come Inauguration Day Jan. 20. American presidents make decisions on trade, environment and agriculture and food, often setting agendas with consequences felt around the world and even on your farm. Canadians don’t vote in American elections, but it is […] Read more


The infield separator designed and built at Rosengren Farms at Midale, Sask. separates intercrops right at the field.  |  Karen Briere photo

Innovation in intercropping saves time

Infield separator allows crops to be sorted before leaving the field to simplify both on-farm storage and sales

MIDALE, Sask. — The long winter’s work of separating mixed crops is getting easier on Rosengren Farms. Colin Rosengren has been intercropping for 20 years and staff used to spend months cleaning and separating grain after harvest. So, he designed and built an infield separating system to do exactly what it says: separate each crop […] Read more

Climate shocks affect output for farmers and fishermen with 300 million people on the African continent short of food. | Getty Images

Africans fight hunger with innovation

Glacier FarmMedia – JOHANNESBURG — Growing up in rural Nigeria, Adaeze Akpagbula spent her school years baby-sitting her family’s chicks through the night, adjusting the coal heater, food and water needed to keep the poultry, and the family income, alive. Despite her best efforts, unpredictable temperatures, humidity and air quality changes led to the deaths […] Read more