The federal government is moving toward establishing a national food policy that will revolve around four "pillars," but details on what it will look like beyond that have yet to be determined, according to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay. The minister launched consultations, including an online survey, on establishing a national food policy in a speech... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
City dwellers may not have much connection to the farm these days but there’s growing evidence that they value the agri-food industry’s ability to produce high-quality, safe food and create jobs. That’s the conclusion of an opinion poll commissioned by Grassroots Public Affairs. The survey of 676 residents in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) indicates... Read More
In this episode of Wheat Pete's Word, RealAg Agronomist Peter Johnson wonders why insects are such a problem already, seeing as it's been a wet year, and that usually means the fields are full of disease, not bugs. He also dives into crop progress — what sort of advances have been made in Ontario, as... Read More
If above average moisture continues through June, growers should start scouting early for northern corn leaf blight (NCLB). Rob Miller, BASF’s technical development manager for eastern Canada, says NCLB can appear as early as the 8-10 leaf stage in a wet season. Lesions appear on the lower leaves and move upwards, as the infection often... Read More
The U.S. anti-GMO activist organization that has targeted several dozen scientists and academics who have published research on the benefits of genetic engineering has set its sights on another researcher at the University of Saskatchewan. On May 18th, the school received a legal request from U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) to review emails sent by... Read More
What a difference a year makes. In 2016, Ontario’s cold and dry spring conditions produced plenty of available nitrogen for the emerging corn crop. But when you fast-forward to 2017, those cold soils are now waterlogged and the wet conditions mean there’s very little nitrogen available to the crop. The wet soil conditions have a... Read More
Are you looking to step up your fusarium control measures this spring? In this episode of RealAgriculture Wheat School, resident agronomist Peter Johnson reviews the basics of managing fusarium in Ontario’s wheat crop and also offers some tips on how growers can elevate their control efforts. For Johnson, effective fusarium control starts with the basics:... Read More
With the United States' exit from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the new administration says it's focusing on bilateral agreements instead of multilateral deals in its attempted execution of an "America first" ideology on all things, including trade. Now that President Trump has formally notified Congress of his desire to renegotiate NAFTA, the countdown has started... Read More
There's been a change in the top public servant role within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. As of Monday (May 29, 2017), Chris Forbes is the new Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. Forbes replaces Andrea Lyon, who has moved on to become the Deputy Clerk of the Privy Council and Associate Secretary to the Cabinet.... Read More
Consumers need to know where their food comes from. Why don’t we have more agriculture in the classroom? Those are recurring conversation themes and questions AgScape executive director Colleen Smith encounters every day. They’re challenges the Ontario agriculture industry has been grappling with since the Ag In The Classroom program was launched 25 years ago.... Read More