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

Farmer mental health gets federal investment

Farmer mental health gets federal investment

The federal government is investing up to $1.08 million in activities aimed at supporting the mental health of Canadian farmers. The investment will be used by the Canadian Centre for Agricultural Wellbeing (CCAW) to support mental health literacy education for agriculture educators across the country, the development of a mental health toolkit to support the […] 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.

Port of Manila, Philippines. Photo: 	Tupungato/iStock/Getty Images

MacAulay opens Indo-Pacific ag office

Moment 'pivotal' for the hog sector, Canadian Pork Council says

The Canadian Pork Council joined federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay in Manila, Philippines, to open Canada's first Indo-Pacific agriculture office, it said today, calling the opening a "pivotal moment" for the Canadian pork sector.

AAFC tweaks crop supply/demand estimates in November report

Estimates hold for most exports

MarketsFarm — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has slightly adjusted its supply/demand estimates for November. AAFC published its latest Outlook for Principal Field Crops on Tuesday. Of Canada’s major crops, the department left the 2023-24 ending stocks for canola at one million tonnes and all wheat at 3.6 million, while all other reported crops were left […] Read more


On the morning of Dec. 30, the nearby January canola contract apparently hit a new all-time high.  Photo: File

Tightening canola stocks projected, AAFC says

Wheat, barley, oat, pea stocks also projected lower

MarketsFarm –– Canadian canola carryout supplies for the current marketing year will likely end up tighter than earlier expectations, according to updated supply/demand balance sheets from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) that account for recent production and stocks data from Statistics Canada. Canola ending stocks for 2023-24 are now forecast to tighten to only one […] Read more

Red clover was one of the cover crops examined in the AAFC study.

AAFC explores options for cover crops in organic rotation

Findings show some corn yields at Harrow plot were comparable with conventional

A recently completed study into organic cash crop rotations added support to those who believe the moldboard plow still has a place in southwestern Ontario agriculture. A team at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada’s Harrow research station will continue looking into alternative ways of terminating cover crops prior to corn. Why it matters: Many organic farmers […] Read more

File photo of a lentil crop before harvest in Saskatchewan. (Bobloblaw/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: AAFC trims production numbers

Lentil, chickpea prices up after report

MarketsFarm — Among the many revisions Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada made to its August supply and demand report on Friday were reductions in pulse output for 2023-24. Most of Canada’s pulses are grown on the Prairies, and in particular southern Alberta and western Saskatchewan, which happen to be the driest parts of the region, leading […] Read more


(Dave Bedard/File photo)

AAFC cuts production numbers on drought

Wheat production figures reduced, corn up

MarketsFarm — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada published its August outlook for principal field crops on Friday, with some notable changes. Production for several cereal, oilseed and pulse crop were reduced, leading to revisions in exports, domestic usage and ending stocks. The report pointed to drought in southern Alberta and western Saskatchewan for the downward move. […] Read more

Lawrence Macaulay, seen here in a 2018 photo, is taking the ag minister post for the second time. Photo: supplied/minister’s office.

Ag leaders welcome MacAulay’s appointment as AAFC Minister   

The minister’s new role was part of the Liberal government’s recent cabinet shuffle 

Industry leaders and organizations are welcoming the July 26 announcement that veteran MP Lawrence McAulay will be taking over the post of Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food–and wasting no time calling him to action. It is the P.E.I. MP’s second time in the role, having previously held it between 2015 and 2019. MacAulay took over […] Read more