Drones equipped with advanced cameras and AI-powered analytics are helping plant breeders speed up crop development and better understand field variability. Dr. Steve Shirtliffe, professor in the department of plant sciences and director of the Nutrien Digital Agriculture Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, has been working with drones in the area of crop phenotyping... Read More
Category: Research
Corteva has unveiled the name of the seed and genetics business, previously referred to as SpinCo. When Corteva completes its previously-announced split later this year, the new company — which will house the Pioneer and Brevant seed brands — will be called Vylor, Inc. Corteva was formed in 2018 as the agriculture-focused subsidiary of DowDuPont…Read More
Rising colony losses and mounting economic pressure are putting Canada’s beekeeping sector under strain, with implications that stretch far beyond honey production. In this episode of the Final Mile podcast, host Shaun Haney speaks with Connie Phillips of the Alberta Beekeepers Commission and Dr. Shelley Hoover of the University of Lethbridge about the current state…Read More
For decades, public agricultural research in Canada helped build the sector we know today. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s network of research centres, satellite farms and labs, along with provincial institutions and universities, underpinned much of the innovation that farmers now see as standard: canola’s development, better forage and livestock systems, improved disease and pest management,... Read More
Farmers who pay commodity check-off or levy dollars that support research may be eligible for a federal tax credit through the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program. Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the SR&ED program encourages investment in research and development (R&D) by offering tax incentives for eligible work carried... Read More
Canada’s wheat breeding system has delivered strong returns for farmers for decades, but a new review suggests the current model is facing growing pressure and may require significant transformation to remain competitive. The report was commissioned by the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC), which consists of the three Prairie province wheat grower organizations – Alberta... Read More
As the Corn Belt expands north and west, what can long-term weather trends tell us about the future of wheat production the Northern Plains and Western Canada? For this Wheat School episode, Jochum Wiersma, small grains specialist with the University of Minnesota, shares what he's learned analyzing historical weather and crop data to better understand…Read More
Advances in remote sensing and digital imaging are helping researchers detect crop stress earlier and measure plant traits with a level of precision that traditional field scouting can’t match. Dr. Keshav Singh, remote sensing and phenomics lead with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lethbridge, Alta., is leading a program that uses drones and ground-based robotic... Read More
By Ron DePauw and Rob Graf Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) plan to close research stations across multiple provinces targets the very infrastructure that underpins Canada’s agricultural competitiveness while leaving the department’s growing administrative overhead largely untouched. No one disputes the need for fiscal discipline. But cutting front-line science that consistently delivers some of the... Read More
By Darcy Pawlik In hockey, when pressure mounts and the ice tightens, good teams don’t panic. They don’t dump the puck and hope someone else sorts it out. They make clean passes, keep possession, and stay in control of the play. Canadian agriculture is at one of those moments. Over the past several weeks, much... Read More