Applications are now open for a federally-administered $35 million emergency on-farm support fund to help limit the impacts of COVID-19 on farms and on-farm workers. Aimed at farm workplaces and […] Read more
Apples

Federal program to protect farms, workers from COVID-19 underway
'Highest-risk' farming operations to get priority, Bibeau says

New Brunswick returns ag minister, ag critic in election
Liberals' former ag minister among casualties
New Brunswick’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition ag critic are among those returning to the legislative assembly as the provincial Tories locked in a governing majority. As of 9 p.m. […] Read more

Vineland refines test for apple quality
New measurement standards may be necessary for adoption
Measuring friction might be the best way to determine apple quality, says a new project from the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. Tribology, the science of wear, friction, and lubrication, […] Read more

Feds line up projects for surplus food program
NGOs backed to gather, distribute 12 million kg of food
The federal government has lined up eight projects to source and distribute perishable produce, meat, eggs and seafood piling up across Canada due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of […] Read more

OFVGA recommending on-farm COVID-19 testing
Farmer group concerned about temporary workers moving among farms
The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) is recommending that all essential agri-food employees on Ontario farms get tested for COVID-19, as the virus continues to stubbornly spread on […] Read more

Federal surplus food program now taking applications
Qualified NGOs sought to move, distribute perishables to 'populations in need'
A federal program to get food to those who need it, using stockpiles of perishables created by the COVID-19-related shutdown of the dining sector, is now taking applications. The $50 […] Read more

Beneficial bacteria found to boost crop yields, increase drought tolerance
Ontario-developed product still coming to market, will be applied as liquid
A Canadian crop nutrition company is using Trent University research into yield-boosting microbes to bring a new bioinoculant to market. Toronto-based NutriAg Ltd. and biology professor Dr. Neil Emery have […] Read more

Sheep pastures expanded into orchards, woodlots
Norfolk County producers were winners of sheep pasture award
Adding hay and sheep to the output from land that continues as an apple orchard certainly seems like an idea with merit. Add to that the pasturing of sheep and […] Read more

Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs
Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed
Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, […] Read more

Canadian, U.S. farms face crop losses on foreign worker delays
Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Mandatory coronavirus quarantines of seasonal foreign workers in Canada could hurt that country’s fruit and vegetable output this year, and travel problems related to the pandemic […] Read more