Reading Time: < 1 minute The federal government is investing $7.2 million in a hub for agri-food at the Western Fair District in London. The hub is called The Grove and is located in the buildings that once held events like the London Farm Show, across the street from the AgriPlex. Why it matters: Southern Ontario agriculture hasn’t had as many […] Read more
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London agri-food hub gets funding
The Grove, located at Western Fair, aims to help agriculture and food businesses
Bluewater Pipe-Soleno deal brings together family businesses
Bluewater Pipe to continue to operate as it has previously
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two of the original families of farm tile in Canada have come together in a deal that keeps the companies in independent ownership. Soleno, owned by the Poirier family and based in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., has purchased majority ownership in Bluewater Pipe, based in Huron Park, Ont. Bluewater Pipe was founded by Tony Kime, and he […] Read more
Editorial: Stop worrying about off-farm income
Supplementing farm income some way is now the normal practice
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s that time the agriculture stops worrying about off-farm income. The amount of income earned in a farming family but not made from the farm operation has been discussed often for decades. The main reason we know about off-farm income is it is measured and reported by Statistics Canada. With about 98 per cent of […] Read more
New Ontario Agricultural Conference goes virtual
The conference replaces three usual winter in-person conferences
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ontario’s newest agricultural conference will bring back favourites of the conferences it is replacing. The Ontario Agricultural Conference is an online event Jan. 6 and 7 that has grown out of the SouthWest Agricultural Conference, the Eastern Ontario Crop Conference and involves the Heartland and Golden Horsehoe soil and crop improvement associations. “We’ve been successful […] Read more
Editorial: 2020’s losses and gains
Reading Time: 3 minutes I’m not big on end of year summaries, but with 2020 a year whose end will be celebrated (albeit not with crowds of people), it’s worth looking at what we’ve learned, what we’ve lost and what we’ve gained. This will be a year that historians and average people will look back on for the next […] Read more
Strategy created for 2021 planting worker protection
The government and industry collaborated on the detailed strategy for farm workers
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Ontario horticulture sector has been the hardest hit of agriculture sectors by COVID-19, but it has a plan in place to help reduce risk from the virus when foreign workers arrive for 2021 planting. OMAFRA and producer groups came together to create a 35-point plan that outlines areas of responsibility and direction to help […] Read more
Editorial: New technology showing up in COVID vaccines
mRNA vaccines could be more effective and efficient
Reading Time: 3 minutes Humans can be incredibly innovative, but it often takes a crisis to make that happen. There are technologies or simply process changes that people know about but haven’t had the impetus to implement, whether because of human or technological barriers. A good example is the mRNA vaccines which quickly have become the leading candidates for […] Read more
Forcing dairy data to tell useful stories
Sports teams have taken old stats and reinterpreted them — and dairy farms can do the same
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sports teams have seen a data revolution in which common statistics known for years have been reinterpreted into new metrics that have led to significant changes in how games are played. The dairy sector should see the same sort of revolution, says Jeff Bewley, dairy analytics and innovation scientist with Holstein USA, an organization that […] Read more
Syngenta maintains WBC trait advantage
Reading Time: < 1 minute Syngenta’s NK seed brand continues to expand its corn offerings, including more hybrids with its Viptera trait — the only one effective against western bean cutworm. Western bean cutworm is the insect pest considered to be the most economically harmful to Ontario’s corn crop and companies are scrambling to get the Viptera trait into their […] Read more
Investments continue to drive Syngenta growth
Company leaders say helping farmers manage risks will build relationships into the future
Reading Time: 3 minutes The contrast in agriculture between Canada and the United States was made obvious during a summary of the year in agriculture by Syngenta’s North American leadership. “In Canada overall, the weather was better than average, after we had a couple of challenging years,” said Trevor Heck, president of Syngenta Canada during a recent Syngenta media […] Read more
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