Brooke Adams, Kyra Scott, Karlie Pluim and Rachel Von Holt were awarded first place in the graduate category for their non-alcoholic gin products that contain oat fibre.

Plant-based product development competition highlights student innovations

2022 Project SOY Plus winners announced at University of Guelph

Building material made of corn cobs, chips made of duckweed and grain, and a non-alcoholic oat fibre beverage, were each named top innovations at this year’s Project SOY (Sustainable Opportunities for You) Plus finale event at the University of Guelph on March 25. The interdisciplinary program, now in its 26th year, gives students the opportunity […] Read more

It’s long been a complaint of farmers about the amount of money they get for what they produce versus how retail prices behave at the grocery store.

Opinion: Is greed driving the beef industry to a legal showdown?

When it comes to price-fixing, the U.S. acts. Canada, not so much

A Quebec-based group is leading a class-action lawsuit aimed at major federally licensed beef packers. Cargill, JBS Foods, Tyson Foods and National Beef Packing are all accused of colluding and inflating beef prices since 2015. Consumers in Quebec who have been buying beef since 2015 can be part of the claim. The authorization application was […] Read more

A farm worker unloads Ukrainian-made fertilizer from a truck on April 5, 2022 to use on a wheat field near the village of Yakovlivka, outside Kharkiv, after it was hit by an aerial bombardment. (Photo: Reuters/Thomas Peter)

Farming behind the lines: Ukraine’s farmers sow amidst wreckage

Despite their best efforts, however, famine looms as war rages

In early April, Ukrainian soldiers expelled the Russian invaders from the northern regions of Ukraine: Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. The wounded enemy left, leaving behind burned-out war machines and the unburied corpses of his soldiers. However, the invaders managed to do a lot of damage. Many of you are probably aware of the atrocities […] Read more

Nurture Growth is proving to enhance growth in several trials with fruit and vegetable crops. Shown here is bok choy side by side – the smaller plant is untreated and the larger is treated with Nurture Growth.

Food waste put to use in formula to boost root growth, sugar content

Nurture Growth uses microbes from waste to let plants fix their own nitrogen

The power of rescued food waste is being harnessed to lessen farmers’ dependence on synthetic fertilizers. A bio-organic formula using food waste developed by Mississauga-based Nurture Growth that contains more than 20 microbes lets plants fix their own nitrogen and has been shown to boost yield and make plants more resilient. Why it matters: Under […] Read more

Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Changes to TFW program to expand worker availability

Workplace LMIAs now valid for 18 months

The federal government is boosting the availability of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to ag and other understaffed sectors under a list of policy changes announced Monday. Employment and Workforce Development Minister Carla Qualtrough announced what’s called the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Workforce Solutions Road Map, which the government said “marks the next step in […] Read more


The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says

Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat

Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more


(William_Potter/iStock/Getty Images)

G7 ag ministers urge end to food export curbs as prices surge

Nations warn against 'speculative behaviour'

Hamburg | Reuters — Global food exporting countries should not restrict food exports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut world supplies, agriculture ministers of the G7 group of nations said on Friday. The impact on markets escalated this week as a growing list of food producing countries restricted exports, keeping vital supplies within their borders. […] Read more


10 agri-food start-ups, including four from Ontario, are participants in the first Canadian cohort of THRIVE by SVG Ventures.

New accelerator helps agri-food start-ups THRIVE

Silicon Valley-based investor platform announces its first cohort in Canada

The new THRIVE Canada Accelerator has unveiled the participants in its first cohort for Canadian agri-food innovation start-ups. It’s led by SVG Ventures | THRIVE, a leading global investment platform headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley that has been helping start-up founders and entrepreneurs around the world since 2010.  Why it matters: Producing more with less […] Read more

File photo of a Loblaw-owned Real Canadian Superstore location in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Loblaw beats estimates for quarterly revenue

Reuters — Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos. beat market estimates for quarterly revenue on Thursday, as demand for groceries and other essential items stayed strong. The pandemic-led trend of cooking at home has sustained even as COVID curbs have eased, continuing to help sales at grocery stores that benefited during last year’s lockdowns. Companies such as […] Read more