All of us have bad days at work, good days at work and then there are awesome days at work. Today it is clear that Dave Hansen had a great day at work. Not only did Gerry Ritz hold his Agricultural Growth Act press conference at the Canterra Seeds office but the inclusion of UPOV91... Read More
Category: Research
The ability to measure, track and vary inputs and other agronomic data far exceeds most people's comfort level with data analysis. And if you're all, whoa, what the heck is she talking about? You've made my point. Any new(ish) equipment comes with the fantastic built-in capability to track what its doing, and as farmers add... Read More
Lots to discuss this week on the Ontario Agronomy Geeks. The guests this week are Steve Denys, VP Sales and Marketing Pride Seeds, Peter Johnson, Wheat Specialist OMAFRA, and St. Thomas based farmer Peter Gredig. We hope that you enjoy the first edition of the Ontario Agronomy Geeks, where we discussed the corn and soybean... Read More
Changes to Canada's variety registration system and staying competitive and innovative were hot topics at this week's Canadian Seed Trade Association semi-annual meeting. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz was on hand at the CSTA semi-annual meeting to announce a $100,000 worth of funding for the seed industry, but after that announcement the discussion turned to... Read More
Pass the peachy strawberries and purple lettuce, would you? If you asked me a couple of weeks ago, what light meant to plants, I would say simply, "life." But, after my discussion with Kevin Folta, associate professor at the University of Florida, light has become as fascinating as the very plants that depend on it.... Read More
Did you know seeding corn following canola can result in a competitive disadvantage to the corn (with limited herbicide options) AND phosphate availability issues? Or, that even northern parts of the Prairie Provinces are successfully growing grain corn? Last week, I attended a corn harvest demonstration in North Battleford, where I was able to talk... Read More
After watching the throne speech yesterday I quickly remembered back to a conversation that I had with Gerry Ritz back in January at Farmtech regarding Canada implementing UPOV 91. (Canada's plant breeder's rights system is currently based on the 1978 convention). On several occasions Minister Ritz was very confident Canada would conform to the UPOV... Read More
Research is often seen as an investment in new technology development, in whirring instruments or the roar of equipment. That might make it easy to forget that new technology results from new knowledge. And knowledge is key to preserving and advancing modern family farms. That reminder comes courtesy of Mildmay, ON dairy farmer Ralph Dietrich.... Read More
This week Calgary is hosting ABIC 2013 which is a global conference on food and agricultural biotechnology. I had the chance to sit down with Jim Wispinski, President of Dow AgroSciences Canada, and discuss the panel that he moderated about the past and future impacts of biotechnology agribusiness and farmers. If you cannot hear the... Read More
Ever since I was a kid, everything "futuristic", in books and TV pointed to automation as the pinnacle of what the future would hold. From the Jetsons and their automatic sidewalks and dishwashers to my personal favourite, the old "Science International - What Will They Think of Next" tv show, automation was the future of... Read More