The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization hosted an international symposium in Rome last month on The Role of Agricultural Biotechnologies in Sustainable Food Systems and Nutrition. The FAO's goal for the event was to debate and exchange ideas on how biotech can benefit smallholder farmers — both in sustainability and nutrition — in the... Read More
Category: Podcasts
Ontario’s 2016 budget made many headlines last week – from free university tuition for low income families to a 4.3 cent climate-change-fighting gas tax, and even a lower-than-expected deficit. But what does it all mean for agriculture, farmers and rural Ontario? With some help from our RealAgriculture twitter followers, we peppered Ontario Agriculture, Food and... Read More
Update as of March 3, 2016: The landowners conducting the protest have "retreated" following a commitment, they say, from Manitoba Hydro to move equipment out and clean it. They're asking to have a third party, possibly the CFIA, ensure biosecurity protocol is followed. Spokesperson Jurgen Kohler says Hydro crews aren't meeting their own biosecurity standards,... Read More
Back in the winter of 2013-14 when Western Canada's grain industry was bogged down in a massive rail backlog, the upcoming review of the Canada Transportation Act was viewed as an opportunity to improve the way the rail system moves grain. The review process began in May of 2014 and the final report written by... Read More
Over the past few years, we've been inundated with media updates surrounding H5N1, Ebola, and now, Zika virus. But something we often overlook in all the coverage, is that many diseases — and in fact, all three of the aforementioned — are zoonotic. In other words, they can be passed between humans and animals. That... Read More
We have many traditions in agriculture. Skills and knowledge in the industry are passed on from generation to generation. This passing of the knowledge torch is one of the mechanisms that makes agriculture special. Sometimes our wisdom is built on the passing of legend. In this case, we're talking about rain happening ninety days after... Read More
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay announced a $1 million investment in genomic technologies for the cattle sector today. "Canada's beef sector contributes significantly to the country's economy," said Minister MacAulay. "Investments in genomic testing offer producers a science-based approach to improve the selection of beef breeds for improved productivity and quality." The funding... Read More
We’re seeing an early spring in many areas…what does it mean for winter wheat? The Chinese government looks to be putting up an obstacle to Canadian canola exports, and seed is going to be a major factor in determining how many pulse acres get planted on the prairies. As well, federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay... Read More
In this week’s Word, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture, covers everything from wheat evolution to fertility, alfalfa agronomy to a rather upsetting article... Have a question for Wheat Pete? Call 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at peter.johnson@bell.net. Highlights: Weather Dave Phillips predicting one of the ten warmest springs on record... Read More
The BIXS beef information platform has signed a deal with one of the biggest data-holders in Canada's beef industry. Cargill — one of the country's two largest beef packers — has agreed to provide beef carcass information to the rest of the supply chain through the online data exchange. "Carcass data has been a major... Read More