Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA) executive director Doug Miller is stepping down after 15 years with the organization, marking the end of a tenure defined by transformation, modernization, and rising urgency around Canada’s seed system. In this interview following his departure announcement, Miller reflects on his career and warns of the mounting challenges facing Canada’s... Read More
Category: Research
By Elisabeta Lika and Tyler McCann In a week when the Prime Minister said that a country that cannot feed itself has few options, it was tough to see Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) cut staff, close research centres, and shrink R&D spending. Public R&D is often the unsung hero of the adaptation and innovation... Read More
Details are starting to emerge on the impact of the Carney government's cost-cutting measures within Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). AAFC is closing three research and development centres – Guelph (ON), Quebec City (QC), and Lacombe (AB) – and four satellite research farms – Nappan (NS), Scott (SK), Indian Head (SK) and Portage la Prairie... Read More
After confirmation of imminent staffing cuts at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) yesterday, today news broke of multiple AAFC research facilities being shut down. Social media posts on Jan. 22 claim that sites including the AAFC Lacombe Research and Development Centre at Lacombe, Alta., and the Nappan Experimental Farm/AAFC Nappan Research Farm in Cumberland County,... Read More
The Final Mile is six-part podcast series brought to you by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR). In line with RDAR's goal of moving farm-ready innovation into the hands of Albertan producers to create a stronger, more efficient, more profitable, and more sustainable agriculture industry for the province, The Final Mile will feature a leading industry... Read More
Identifying crop stress before visual symptoms appear remains a challenge in agriculture, particularly when issues develop below the soil surface. At Canola Week in Saskatoon, RealAgriculture spoke with Norm Janssen, business development lead for North America with Vivent Biosignals, about how plants respond to their environment through electrical signals. Vivent Biosignals is a Swiss-based company... Read More
Choosing traits for new canola varieties goes well beyond yield, with breeders balancing disease resistance, lodging tolerance, maturity, and other agronomic needs that vary by farm and region. That approach was the focus of a conversation at Canola Week in Saskatoon, where RealAgriculture spoke with Jed Christianson, Bayer’s product design canola lead, about how Bayer... Read More
For more than 30 years the Innovative Farmers Association of Ontario (IFAO) was a fixture of Ontario's agricultural landscape as the organization worked to enable and inspire farmers to test new practices and pursue healthier soils. In November, IFAO announced that its members and board of directors had voted to wrap up the organization and... Read More
Traditional plant breeding is still the foundation of bean variety development, but the ability to analyze massive amounts of data is revolutionizing how new varieties are identified and developed to meet grower and market needs. On this episode of RealAgriculture Edible Bean School, University of Guelph assistant professor Dr. Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi shares how new... Read More
There’s growing interest in how cover crops influence soil health and their role in managing diseases, but the biological mechanisms driving those plant-soil-interactions is still a work in progress. Understanding underground interactions is part of new research exploring how different cover crop groups shape the soil microbiome and affect disease pressure in subsequent crops. Dr.... Read More