Greg Judy attempts to rejuvenate streams on the farms he rents and buys.

Eye on Mother Nature pulls farm from brink

Diverse rotations, water management and attention to erosion restore environment, farm profitability

Mimicking nature has been key to a financial turnaround for Greg Judy and his family. The Missouri-based livestock farmer told a crowd gathered at an Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario […] Read more

Jack Bobo has communicated to the public about agriculture technology from within government and industry.

Sorting through science and food messaging

The challenges agriculture has in the acceptance of new technology by the public is a function of resistance to change

In many ways this is the best time in history for the production and safety of food. There are fewer greenhouse gases produced per bushel of corn, with significantly less […] Read more

Greenhouse operators will qualify for relief on 80 per cent of the cost of the carbon pricing for building heating and carbon dioxide production.

Carbon pricing system to include relief for farmers

Farm fuel for vehicles looks to be exempt, but barn heating and cooling may still require full payment

Farmers and rural residents will get breaks on what they’ll have to pay under a carbon pricing scheme announced by the federal government. But as of yet, those promises of […] Read more


Over 30 years, the active ingredient volume of herbicide applied on crops has declined in Ontario, mostly because glyphosate 
is applied at lower rates than the herbicides it replaces.

Glyphosate drives long-term herbicide changes

Ontario keeps track of detailed herbicide use every five years, which shows how the use of active ingredient has declined

A study of glyphosate use in Ontario shows the herbicide has created significant change in crop management. It shows that while corn and soybean acreage and yield have increased in […] Read more


The data can potentially be used to develop field risk assessment maps.

Mapping moisture from space

Data collected by orbiting satellites can potentially inform field and farm policy decisions

Canadian research is measuring soil moisture content from space. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change are involved in two projects designed to measure […] Read more

Some rice can grow metres-long quickly to stay above floodwaters.

Wild genetic adaptations can have many uses

Science Notes: A gene that helps rice grow taller in floods is a variant of rice genes used to rapidly increase yield

When floodwaters rise, some rice varieties rapidly grow taller to keep from drowning. A new study identifies the key gene responsible for the deep-water rice adaptation — SD1 (semidwarf 1). […] Read more