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Anita Stewart. (FoodDayCanada.ca)

Canadian food laureate Anita Stewart, 73

Guelph flags to be lowered for Food Day Canada founder

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Flags at the University of Guelph are to be flown at half-mast Tuesday in honour of Canadian food advocate Anita Stewart, who died Thursday in hospital in Hamilton. Stewart, 73, was the first person in the world to be conferred with the title of “food laureate,” as she was named by the University of Guelph […] Read more
(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

Foreign worker isolation support extended

Federal program extended alongside federal restrictions

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The federal program helping employers of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) cover the costs of isolating new workers for two weeks on their arrival in Canada has been extended through November. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Monday that the Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program will now run to Nov. 30, as the government […] Read more
Average sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Oct. 28, 2020 compared to 1981-2010 base period. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

WMO officially calls a La Nina winter

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MarketsFarm — A La Nina weather event has officially developed in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to continue into 2021, affecting temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns around the world, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global declaration of the La Nina event by the United Nations’ agency will be used by governments […] Read more
The coronavirus pandemic has seen more Canadians test their green thumbs and grow some of their own food.
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Home food grower numbers grow during pandemic

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Half of respondents to a survey on home food growing say they grow at least some sort of food. Almost 20 per cent report starting growing food at home this year, which explains the run on seeds this spring that meant challenges to the usual supply of seeds for home garden use. The Agri-Food Analytics […] Read more
Ursula van den Heuvel O’Neil farms in Lambton County and has for years worked to obtain payment for farmers missed by the Ontario Cattle, Hog and Horticulture Payment program.
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Long-term lessons from a problem program

A farmer worries that conditions that led to the OCHHP program could still be in place

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Some Ontario farmers who failed to get a payment from an OMAFRA program more than a decade ago are concerned that the reasons the program failed could be replicated in new programs with the same poor results. They continue a sometimes lonely fight in the courts and in the court of public opinion to get […] Read more
There are 50 workers employed at the GoodLeaf Farms facility in Guelph.
News

Automated Guelph vertical farm supplies retailers with local, leafy greens

The newly opened farm grows crops 40 to 50 per cent faster than traditional crops

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An automated vertical farm in south Guelph is now fully operational. GoodLeaf Farms has the capacity to produce 800,000 units of locally grown leafy greens for Ontario retailers — including Loblaw banners, Longo’s and Whole Foods — 12 months of the year. “It’s really unique for Canada that we can grow 365 days of the […] Read more
The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

World Food Program seeking billions within six months to avert famine

Pandemic may double hunger worldwide, agency says

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London | Reuters — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise US$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as […] Read more
News

Enzyme helps grafting among different plant species

Science Notes: Tobacco plant maintains grafts among many scions and rootstocks

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Grafting is a horticultural technique that joins plants together by means of tissue regeneration, combining desirable characteristics of both plants. Generally, grafts have been thought to be compatible only between the same or closely related species. However, scientists at Nagoya University and colleagues in Japan recently found that the tobacco plant Nicotiana benthamiana promotes adhesion […] Read more
(iStock/Getty Images Plus)
Crops

Second Seeds Canada merger vote to proceed sans CSGA

Seed Growers membership had voted against amalgamation deal

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A proposal to combine Canada’s seed industry groups into a single organization, to be dubbed Seeds Canada, will be subject to a new vote, this time with one less group on board. The Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA), Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA); Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada (CSAAC) and Canadian Seed Institute announced […] Read more

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