File photo of a small greenhouse operation in Quebec. Greenhouse crop producers will be among the specific beneficiaries of a new federal pilot program for temporary foreign workers. (ManonAllard/E+/Getty Images)

Agriculture foreign workers get new path to residency

Updated, July 15 — The federal government has announced a pilot program that will make it easier for farms and food companies to maintain workers they recruit from around the world. Ahmed Hussen, minister for immigration, refugees and citizenship, announced the program Friday at Maple Leaf Foods in Mississauga. Why it matters: There’s a labour […] Read more

Terry Aberhart discusses variable-rate fertilizer application in comparison to flat-rate application in a hard red spring wheat crop in a 2012 video. (AberhartFarms.com via YouTube)

Variable rate application good for soil, farmers’ bottom lines

MarketsFarm — For Saskatchewan farmer Terry Aberhart and research scientist Alan Moulin, variable rate (VR) application is a no-brainer. In representing Sure Growth Solutions Inc. at the Global Cash Crop Conference in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Aberhart explained the cost savings farmers can achieve by applying different amounts of fertilizer. “The mentality is, if you want […] Read more

(FatCamera/iStock/Getty Images)

Grow facilities now required up front for new cannabis producers

Growers and processors seeking federal licenses to produce and/or process cannabis in Canada will now have to have their proposed sites “fully built” before they even apply. Health Canada announced Wednesday that the change takes effect immediately, saying it would better line up the cannabis sector with the approach the department already follows for approvals […] Read more

(Screengrab from Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation video via YouTube)

Ontario watershed study shows overapplication of phosphorus

Farmers in one Huron County, Ont. watershed are applying almost exactly the nitrogen needed by their crops, but more than 30 per cent more phosphorus than is needed. University of Guelph researchers reached the conclusions by analyzing multiple years of data collected by the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority during in-person interviews with farmers in the […] Read more