Sows are leaving farms long before they reach the stage of profitability, says Dr. Billy Flowers, one of North America’s best-known sow reproduction experts. Flowers, a professor at North Carolina […] Read more
Sow longevity impacts start before they are born
Gilts born as part of small litters are much more likely to develop into productive sows
Replacing U.S. imports of organic soybeans unlikely
The rapid growth of U.S. organic livestock production has resulted in massive imports of soymeal
American organic soybean imports, especially as meal, continue to dwarf import of other organic crops. In fact, if American farmers tried to grow that many soybeans to make into meal, […] Read more
Processing tomato export numbers debated
Where are all the tomatoes going?
The processing tomato market was upended in 2013 when Heinz, the province’s largest processor left. The health of the sector since is being hotly debated. Hardeman recently tweeted a graph […] Read more
More squeeze coming for tomato growers
Provincial government wants open marketing considered for processing vegetables
Ontario’s processing vegetable growers are being hit by more re-organization and uncertainty from government regulators. The provincial government and the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (OFPMC) is now pushing for […] Read more
Editorial: We are one year old
Happy birthday to us! Thank you for the vast amount of support and encouragement we’ve received at Farmtario during our first year. We couldn’t have done it without our readers, […] Read more
Traceability making its mark on food systems
From “fingerprinting” beef to blockchain technology that expose organic fraud, traceability systems are becoming more common in the food supply chain
You could call it traceability with a capital T. It’s taking various forms, but the notion of tracking ingredients from field to fork is sweeping through the food system thanks […] Read more
TESA winner matches cover crops with cow herd
Steve Sickle rotationally grazes his cows and calves on pasture, but uses cover crops at the end of the season
Steve and Amanda Sickle of Brant County ended up in the beef cow business when they realized a rolling part of a farm they’d turned from pasture to crops was […] Read more
Finding investors for agriculture technology
Agriculture hasn’t attracted the venture capital in Canada to help move local companies to global status, but that could be changing
There’s been a lack of investors willing to be patient with agriculture technology companies. Malcolm Campbell, vice president of research at the University of Guelph says that’s true especially around […] Read more
New poultry trade show announced
The Canadian Poultry Xpo is scheduled in Stratford in November 2020
Ontario’s agriculture trade show schedule is getting more crowded with the launch of a new poultry show. ROI Event Management, which runs the Canadian Dairy Xpo (CDX), announced a new […] Read more
Hatching new technology
Can organizations, business and universities come together to create a more efficient incubator of ag tech in Ontario?
Like many long-time players in Ontario’s agriculture innovation space, Dave Smardon is well aware that the space is crowded, efforts are fragmented and innovators are starved for funding. The CEO […] Read more