A massive turnover in the agricultural workforce caused by retiring baby boomers means the employment pipeline needs to be flowing more freely than ever. That’s the word from Scott MacDonald, insecticide marketing manager and horticulture lead for BASF. He says universities will be the key source for providing agriculture with new talent. “They’ll make a... Read More
Category: Features
Alongside its vineyard-weeding robot family member Ted; Little Oz the research robot; and market garden weeder Oz, Naïo Technologies now has a large-scale vegetable weeding robot hitting farm fields. Guided by RTK GPS, and a set of cameras to ensure it stays between rows, Dino is electrically driven, lighter than a tractor and requires no... Read More
The first time I read it, it seemed like some kind of sick joke. A man, convicted in the death of his son, was recently slated to speak about healthy living at a "wellness expo." Some backstory: David Stephan and his wife believed herbal treatments would cure their son’s meningitis. When they finally called 911,... Read More
Cattle markets have remained strong, although we saw a technical correction lower on the futures market this week. "Maybe we're getting a little numb to it, but futures markets continue to be extremely explosive whenever they tend to move. Up until this week, the market's been building to recent highs, but futures markets, led by... Read More
Calls abound for programs and leadership to help strengthen rural Canada, to make sure the voices of this country’s farmers are heard outside the farm gate, and to help urban people understand farmers’ crucial, daily role in feeding the world. The question is, who’s responsible for developing leaders? Maybe one answer to the leadership question... Read More
Though you may not be able to tell from the last week of quiet trading, it's been a busy month for the cattle markets. On January 31, the United States Department of Agriculture released its cattle inventory report for January 1, showing a one percent increase in all cattle and calves in the U.S. compared... Read More
Bayer and Bosch are working together on a three-year research collaboration to develop a precise spraying technology that will minimize herbicide use, while also mitigating against resistance development. The technology, called Smart Spraying, will see camera sensors identifying weeds, and precise herbicide application targeting them on a single pass, within a fraction of a second.... Read More
Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects of plowing land is the bumpy ride around the headlands that follows. That's where Kuhn's Vari-Master Smart Plow comes in. The Smart plow offers sectional control through an electro-hydraulic system which automatically raises and lowers individual bodies based on GPS positioning data, creating a straight furrow edge where... Read More
Let's get down to the nitty gritty on this week's top agronomy questions, shall we? Peter Johnson is back for this last January 2018 instalment of Wheat Pete's Word, and it's an action-packed episode. Out west, farmers have two main concerns — lack of moisture and lack of moisture. This brings up two questions in... Read More
Nominations are closing this week for two unique global food innovation awards — and there’s every reason to believe Canadian agriculture could produce a winner. The awards are the first Arrell Global Food Innovation Awards, from the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph. The institute was created from a $20-million donation from the... Read More