What would happen if Ontario went dry? It’s a question many are asking as a May 12 shutdown deadline, issued by the governor of Michigan earlier this year, looms for Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. The Line connects Ontario to Wisconsin via Sarnia, bringing hundreds of thousands of gallons of fossil fuels into the province each […] Read more
Tag Archives greenhouses — page 3
No solution yet to Line 5 shutdown
Oil pipeline ordered shut by Michigan governor could push Ontario agriculture into a crisis
Local governments hit greenhouse light pollution
Growing clusters of greenhouses light up the night sky, creating problems with neighbours
Updated Jan. 18, 2021 Municipalities in the major greenhouse-growing area of the province are clamping down on increasingly bright greenhouse lighting making night into day in the rural areas where they operate. The municipality of Leamington recently enacted a bylaw to stem and roll back light pollution emitted from the region’s sizeable and diverse greenhouse […] Read more
Ontario government looks to greenhouses in the north
The Ontario government is providing $16,500 to help the town of Rainy River conduct a greenhouse feasibility study. The study is expected to help identify the infrastructure required for a greenhouse facility, as well as assess the advantages of the greenhouse industry, such as increased variety and availability of produce, longer growing seasons, lower produce […] Read more
Automated Guelph vertical farm supplies retailers with local, leafy greens
The newly opened farm grows crops 40 to 50 per cent faster than traditional crops
An automated vertical farm in south Guelph is now fully operational. GoodLeaf Farms has the capacity to produce 800,000 units of locally grown leafy greens for Ontario retailers — including Loblaw banners, Longo’s and Whole Foods — 12 months of the year. “It’s really unique for Canada that we can grow 365 days of the […] Read more
Agricultural exemption dropped for boiler inspection
The change most affects greenhouse and mushroom growers and some syrup producers
Agricultural operations using boilers and pressure vessels have until March 1, 2021 to register their equipment with the arms-length provincial government agency the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), following the lifting of an exemption on July 17. The equipment will also now require TSSA inspections. Why it matters: TSSA registration and inspection adds another […] Read more
Canopy Growth to shut two B.C. greenhouses, cut 500 jobs
Niagara greenhouse plans also shelved
Reuters — Pot producer Canopy Growth Corp. said on Wednesday it plans to close two of its greenhouses in Aldergrove and Delta, B.C., cutting about 500 positions. The company also said it no longer plans to open a third greenhouse in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Canopy had said last month it aims to focus on reducing costs, […] Read more
Pushing back against pot
The rapid expansion of cannabis production in rural areas has prompted residents, farmers and municipalities to call for a slowdown in growth
Ontario’s rapidly growing cannabis production sector is facing a backlash after the addition of many new growing facilities has resulted in interim control bylaws from municipalities and the formation of local protest groups unhappy with smell and traffic. Why it matters: Cannabis production in Canada has grown quickly since legalization a year ago last October. […] Read more
Artificial intelligence could create efficiency and reliability in greenhouses
Canadian researchers say fewer managers are needed to run greenhouses with their system
Microsoft Research, with help from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, won the first Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge in 2018 with Project Sonoma — a system to operate greenhouses efficiently and reliably, while enabling greenhouse controls from remote areas. Wageningen University and Research, in Wageningen, Netherlands, and corporate sponsor Trencent challenged researchers, scientists and experts to build the […] Read more
Canadian greenhouse labor shortages worsened by growing cannabis producers
Ottawa | Reuters – Canada’s labor-strapped greenhouse vegetable and flower growers are ramping up efforts to keep and recruit more workers in the face of pressure from the country’s budding cannabis industry, farm groups say. “Many of the cannabis producers are very cash rich. They’ve got the resources to pay a very good wage,” said […] Read more
Greenhouse biosecurity will be key to keeping tomato pest out of Canada
Horticulture experts say biosecurity and vigilance can help keep tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus out of the country
Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV) continues to be found in more countries, but luckily Canada is not yet among them. Within the first few months of 2019, it transferred to Germany, Mexico and Italy. It has also been previously found in California, and the first outbreaks were found in Israel in 2014 and Jordan […] Read more
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