Glacier FarmMedia – The chief executive officer of the Agri-Food Innovation Council (AIC) has said the technology to replace fossil fuels with alternative sources isn’t yet scalable. Serge Buy told the standing committee on agriculture recently that examples of farmers using biomass to dry grain are just that, and only larger farms with bigger, healthier […] Read more
News — page 251
Farm scale viability of fossil fuel alternatives questioned
Testimony continues on whether farmers should be exempt from carbon pricing on more fuels
The way we talk about digital agriculture obscures interests behind it, says author
Facebook users pay for use with data. Farmers pay with data and for using it
Glacier FarmMedia – Treating farm data as though it’s a natural resource or comes ‘from on high’ makes it harder to see the forces that shape and profit from it, contends a new book. “In agriculture, just like in other contexts… there are really powerful interests behind the collection of data and the use and […] Read more
Agro-terrorism threats continue to increase
The line between activism and extremism is crossed once illegal activities begin to affect farmers and the supply chain
Glacier FarmMedia – Threats to the North American agricultural supply chain can come from a range of bad actors – from international terrorist groups to domestic extremists to organized crime to corporate or academic espionage. The threat landscape has increased over the past 20 years, according to Andrew Rose, a strategic adviser to food and […] Read more
Activist gets new post at University of Guelph
Migrant worker proponent first activist-in-residence
Gabriel Allahdua, a migrant worker activist, is the University of Guelph’s first activist-in-residence at its Grounded and Engagement Theory Lab (GET Lab). “It’s an emerging approach in our areas of study, and our goal is to advance it,” said Monique Deveaux in a U of G release. “We hope to foster community, knowledge sharing and […] Read more
Economic impact and funding shortfall of RMP/SDRM programs
The Ontario Agriculture Sustainability Coalition (OASC) released results of a new study examining the economic impact that Ontario’s Risk Management Program (RMP) and Self-Directed Risk Management Program (SDRM) have on Ontario farms, farm production and the broader Ontario economy. Highlights of the study include: Every dollar spent on RMP/SDRM leads to $2.01 – $3.60 return […] Read more
Western Fair District develops food and ag-product hub
Organization matches District’s Accelerator and Incubator programs to production space for developing companies
There’s a lot of construction at the Western Fair District, all in efforts to spur more made-in-Ontario innovation in food and agricultural products. The Grove (formerly known as The Progress Building) is in the midst of renovations designed to give new food companies, as well as those in the pre-commercialization stage, a space to work […] Read more
COFS co-founder Doug Wagner retires
Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show president was also instrumental in launching western Canada’s Ag in Motion
It may have seemed like a conventional progression as Doug Wagner worked his way through a career in promoting agricultural innovation but, as he prepared to retire on Oct. 31, he was struck by comments from one colleague who pointed out how unconventional it actually is. After moving from a post-University of Guelph job with […] Read more
Editorial: Animal welfare legal tactics
The biggest pork market in the U.S. could no longer be accessible to Canadian pork producers if a ballot initiative, known as Proposition 12, becomes law. Proposition 12 was part of the state of California’s general election ballot in 2018. Also known as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it aims to establish new […] Read more
Fertilizer: The long view
For Ontario, spring fertilizer to stay expensive. Internationally, the global nitrogen supply tightens
Supply is tight but flowing and the product is costly but available. Given current domestic and international realities, the same is likely to be said about fertilizer in spring 2023. Making specific predictions about the markets for fertilizer is difficult, particularly for nitrogen, but there are ways to improve supply chain resiliency. Russel Hurst, executive […] Read more
Could nitrogen shortage put food security at risk?
Tightening nitrogen fertilizer supplies raise alarm
Glacier FarmMedia – The head of the world’s leading fertilizer company is worried that food production will falter as nitrogen fertilizer supplies tighten. “We are deeply concerned about the state of global agriculture,” Svein Tore Holsether, president of Yara International, said during the company’s third quarter 2022 conference call. Fertilizer supplies are being squeezed as […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
