Cultivator offers an ag tech accelerator program for early-stage start-ups looking to expand their business models and products.

Ag tech accelerator connects start-ups with producers and business experts

Cultivator continues to expand its offerings to help ag tech founders flourish

The road to commercialization success for an agricultural innovation entrepreneur is neither short nor straight. It can be hard to find the necessary funding, overcome regulatory barriers, or access all the necessary skills and resources to go from idea to sellable product.  That’s where the Saskatchewan-based Cultivator, Canada’s first credit union-led tech incubator, is helping […] Read more

A Pandora sphinx moth, found near Kingsville, Ontario. This rather fetching moth is native to Ontario’s Carolinian zone, and maintains fairly healthy populations in the region.

Entomologist says insects are cool. Here’s why we should care

AAFC entomologist Lauren Des Marteaux works on Living Labs project about insects and agriculture

Insects comprise the vast majority of animal life on earth. They are also a foundation of every terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem. But how much do we really know about Earth’s invertebrate world? A fair bit, according to Lauren Des Marteaux, entomologist with at Agriculture Agri-Food Canada’s Harrow Research Centre. Even then, our current understanding of […] Read more

The Common Ground Canada Network will tackle questions of how social factors intersect with sustainable agriculture. Photo: stevegeer/iStock/Getty Images

Teasing out the social angle of sustainable ag research

Recently funded network to bring together social scientists, agriculture and community groups

The federal government pledged the cash March 19 to launch the Common Ground Canada Network. The initiative will be led by Dalhousie University’s Karen Foster, Canada research chair in sustainable rural futures for Atlantic Canada.

“We do a great job in this country of coming up with amazing ideas.” But despite the fact taxpayers often fund the research which leads to those ideas, “we don’t do a good job of turning those ideas into patents.”

Universities collaborate on agriculture research

University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute and University of the Fraser Valley’s Food and Agriculture Institute sign MOU

The University of Guelph-based Arrell Food Institute has joined forces with the University of the Fraser Valley to collaborate on sustainable agriculture research, training and ag-tech startup incubation. Why it matters: Canada has a poor track record of moving university research into the marketplace. The two institutions recently announced they have signed a Memorandum of […] Read more


Agriculture can be a geopolitical lever and significant asset for Canada on the world stage.

Canadian agriculture’s impact can be greater here and globally

Government and business need to fund the sector beyond the current focus on carbon

A focus on carbon as the major driver of change in the agriculture and food system is too narrow and excludes other major issues in the sector. A panel of agriculture thinkers and researchers pointed to water demand, biodiversity, productivity and economic and social sustainability as areas that are neglected due to the single-minded focus […] Read more

Chris Pertschy from Timac Agro Canada explains the company’s trial plots using a range of biostimulants, enhanced fertilizers and other crop health products at the Discovery Farm Woodstock.

Demonstration site brings field-scale testing to research

For first time, Discovery Farm Woodstock research projects opened for viewing

Expansion to 330 acres from the original 100-acre parcel, purchased from the Ontario government in 2020, has allowed Glacier FarmMedia to build the research-focused Discovery Farm Woodstock. With numerous partnerships finalized and research plots and trial studies underway, the 2023 edition of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show was the first opportunity for Discovery Farm Woodstock leaders […] Read more

The west side of Ottawa’s Central Experimental farm.

Ottawa redevelopment could negatively affect agriculture research

Shade from the proposed buildings could affect prime soil area

Critics say a proposed redevelopment near Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm will have a negative impact on the facility’s future. Though the redevelopment would not encroach on farmland, it would replace one eight-storey building on a neighbouring lot with two others, at 16 and 27 storeys respectively. The building proposal was approved by the city’s planning […] Read more


Efforts in order to adapt to climate change are important, but losing an emphasis on agricultural productivity could have dire human consequences.

Opinion: Keep balance in research funding

Many ingredients went into the mix that resulted in the extraordinary success of agriculture in feeding a growing population. There’s the ability of farmers to constantly learn and increase their management skills. There are also vast improvements in technology – mechanical, digital and biological – that have come from researchers in both private companies and […] Read more

Closeup of a herd of Hereford cattle grazing in a Saskatchewan pasture.

Opinion: Communicating livestock research results

Economy, environment and food security are all part of the research story consumers need to hear from the livestock sector

There is a lot of research going on in Canada related to the big issues facing the livestock sector. This type of research needs to be highly focused which means that outcomes often are as well. Resulting news stories tend to use simple metrics, such as greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross product, which […] Read more