The Ontario government announced it’s investing up to $2 million over two years in the Fertilizer Accelerating Solutions & Technology Challenge. This funding will support made-in-Ontario solutions to increase the availability of fertilizer options, alternatives and technology to farmers in the province. The goal of the challenge is to “incent agri-businesses and industry to research, […] Read more
Made-in-Ontario fertilizer solutions to receive funding
Editorial: Let’s be careful not to greenwash regenerative
Food companies like to use descriptors such as “non-GMO”, “gluten-free”, “humane certified” and numerous others to try and differentiate their products in the marketplace. These often follow consumer trends, usually initiated by lobbyists for environmental, animal welfare, nutrition and health groups. They can also be considered greenwashing when they are used incorrectly, or fraudulently. The […] Read more
Giving feeder cattle an extra push on feed intake
Feed pusher common to dairy farms has potential for beef feedlot
A robotic technology common on Ontario dairy farms is showing promise for helping beef feedlot operators increase feed intake in their cows. A one-year trial using a feed pusher in a feedlot setting has just wrapped up in the province and results show that the technology could be valuable to producers, allowing them to reduce […] Read more
Opinion: Different approach, same goal
Like their Canadian counterparts, U.S. farmers will soon have more funding available to adopt climate-friendly production practices. But unlike Canada, the U.S. is not adding to the federal deficit to fund its climate change initiatives. It is aiming to reduce its environmental footprint and decrease its deficit at the same time in a bid to […] Read more
Editorial: Feds won’t budge on climate goals
A new five-year agriculture policy framework was finalized during the federal-provincial agriculture ministers meeting last month in Saskatoon, and as expected, it includes a funding mechanism to help Canadian farmers deal with the effects of climate change. But many are questioning whether or not this new framework is sufficient for helping farmers for helping farmers […] Read more
Editorial: Food from space
The recent Canada-wide Rogers outage was a reminder for me of what life was like before the internet. Although it was a huge inconvenience (I wasn’t able to work at all that day), it was a trip down memory lane. It was nice to disconnect and not feel the need to check my email or […] Read more
Editorial: Big food investments growing in agriculture
Ten years ago, the news that a food company such as McCain Foods Ltd. purchased predictive crop technology company Resson would have raised a few eyebrows. Many may have wondered what a company known for its frozen French fries would want with a company that develops digital technology for farmers. But in recent years, such […] Read more
Linamar deal to acquire Salford closes
Purchase will help the tillage equipment manufacturer grow globally
Linamar’s purchase of the Salford Group has been finalized. Linamar, a Guelph-based industrial equipment and parts maker made the announcement June 3, and executives met with Salford Group staff and management five days later to tour the fertilizer application and tillage maker’s manufacturing plant in Salford. Linamar initially announced it had an agreement in place […] Read more
Editorial: Despite good intentions, FOP labels could do more harm than good
When Health Canada updated Canada’s Food Guide in January 2019, it was markedly different than previous guides. Unlike previous editions that focused on food ‘groups’ such as dairy, meat, grains, fat, vegetables and fruit, it categorizes food into nutritional categories such as ‘protein’ and ‘fibre’. Rather than dictating how many servings a citizen should consume […] Read more
Editorial: Preparing for the unknown
Until May 31, 1985 I really had no idea what a tornado was, or that wind could cause so much damage. Like most young children in Ontario, I was blissfully unaware – and untouched by – severe weather. Growing up in the Niagara Peninsula, until that point in my life I had only experienced bad […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
