McCain Foods hopes to promote alternative potato farming methods such as regenerative agriculture.

McCain builds farms to showcase sustainable practices

The company has committed to reducing the impact of its potato operations

Glacier Farmmedia – McCain Foods says it is building the farm of the future. The New Brunswick company announced in mid-July that it wants potato production to be more sustainable. To that end, McCain’s is establishing three Farms of the Future to learn how regenerative agriculture and innovation can work at scale in potato farming. […] Read more

Two and half decades after herbicide-resistant crops came onto the market, scientists have now adopted newer techniques to design crops.

Is the transgenic era over?

New genetic technologies, especially editing, could make genetic modification a rarely used tool

Glacier FarmMedia – The era of genetically modified crops may be over. Two and half decades after herbicide-resistant crops came onto the market, scientists have now adopted newer techniques to design crops. That’s because the new technologies are more efficient and partly because the strict regulations on GM crops have become a barrier to innovation. […] Read more


Turkey Farmers of Canada has donated an additional $80,000 to Kids Help Phone and 4-H Canada.

Turkey farmer donation helps young people

Kids Help Phone and 4-H Canada will be the beneficiaries

Glacier FarmMedia – COVID-19 has been a weird and stressful time for most Canadians. Social isolation and incessant news about the pandemic can affect people in different ways, particularly kids, who may not have someone to talk to. That’s why Turkey Farmers of Canada has donated an additional $80,000 to Kids Help Phone and 4-H […] Read more

Wheat is one of the crops that could benefit from approval of ACM941.

The long route to biological approval

Promising biological pesticide is 26 years in the development and approval process so far

Glacier FarmMedia – Allen Xue is a patient man. About 26 years ago Xue discovered a novel fungus on the lower leaf of a field pea plant, while he was working as a plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Morden, Man. Xue later learned the fungus, a strain of Clonostachys rosea called ACM941, […] Read more

Kristjan Hebert, of Moosomin, Sask., is still refining his idea, but the basic concept is a certification program for people who want to work on farms. Like an electrician or plumber, the worker would take training, become an apprentice on a farm and after enough hours on the job, be certified as a journeyman farmer.

Producer pitches journeyman farmer idea

Could farm workers be certified like electricians or plumbers?

Glacier FarmMedia – It seems appropriate to have a “light bulb” moment while talking to an electrician. That’s exactly what happened to Kristjan Hebert last summer when a couple of electricians were working at his farm near Moosomin, Sask. Hebert was quizzing the electricians about their profession and what it’s like being a journeyman electrician. […] Read more


European Union access for Canadian red meat remains elusive

European Union access for Canadian red meat remains elusive

EU imports of pork and beef are much higher than Canadian exports to Europew

Glacier FarmMedia – Canada is on pace to run a $150-million trade deficit in red meat with the European Union in 2019. In the first 10 months of 2019, Canada exported more pork and beef to the EU than in 2018. But the Europeans are also selling more red meat to Canada. Why it matters: […] Read more

Neonicotinoid insecticides are used on tens of millions of acres of cropland in Canada.

Health Canada delays decision on proposed neonic ban

The federal agency is reviewing new evidence compiled by Agriculture Canada and expects an ‘update’ in January

Glacier FarmMedia – Health Canada was expected to make its final decision on neonicotinoid pesticides in January, but indications are that it might not happen. Health Canada now said it will provide an “update” on the safety of so-called neonic crop protection products in January. Why it matters: Neonicotinoid pesticides are widely used in corn […] Read more

Agricultural exporters to Europe say the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement has not lived up to its promise, but they hope the technical barriers can be resolved.

CETA trade deal an exercise in frustration for ag exporters

In two years since adoption, Canadian exports to Europe have dropped

Glacier FarmMedia – This summer, French politicians spent many hours defending the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union. The French National Assembly ratified the trade deal in late July and politicians, at least those in the governing party, spoke in favour of the deal and the economic value to France. […] Read more


There’s more green in Ontario fields in the fall compared to the Prairies, a factor of more cover crop usage, and use of winter wheat.

Researcher grades on-farm soil management

Eastern Canadian farmers get high grades for soil health awareness, but low grades for increasing soil organic carbon

Glacier FarmMedia – The grades are in. Eastern Canadian farmers get high grades for their understanding of soil health and the rapidly growing use of cover crops, but low grades for increasing tillage which reduces soil carbon storage. Mario Tenuta, a University of Manitoba soil scientist, says eastern farmers get a B for adoption of […] Read more

Using a system called bee vectoring, the insects will deliver a fungus called Clonostachys rosea to prevent disease in a wide variety of crops.

Bees approved to deliver disease control

Ontario technology gets U.S. approval for bio-fungus delivery by bees

Glacier FarmMedia – Thirty years is a long time to wait. For John Sutton, the wait has been worth it because his novel idea from the late 1980s is finally coming to market. The United States Environmental Protection Agency recently approved a Canadian technology that uses bees to deliver a bio-control fungus that protects plants […] Read more