mechanic high clearance

Agriculture education evolves to fit modern needs

Colleges are offering shorter courses in regional settings to help fill the need for practical skills

Colleges are offering shorter courses in regional settings to help fill the need for practical skills

Post-secondary agriculture education in Ontario is diversifying to meet the labour and skill needs of the industry. Shorter, concentrated offerings are expected to help fill the need for more employees in agriculture. Why it matters: Agriculture education options for practical training have been limited, especially in the regions where potential farm workers live. Much has […] Read more

Telus has launched what it hopes to be a global player in agriculture technology.

Telus turns its gaze to farm country

Company moves to establish better connectivity for free-flowing data – from the farm to consumer plates

Tech giant Telus now has an agriculture division focused on increasing food security, safety, and productivity. According to company representatives, part of achieving these overarching goals involves establishing better connectivity and promoting tech adoption on the farm. Why it matters: Rural internet access and the inability to efficiently share data between technologies continue to be […] Read more

Bioenterprise sets up northern agri-food technology hub

Bioenterprise is setting up a northern Ontario agri-food technology hub with funding from the federal government’s Fednor agency. The $588,744 will allow Bioenterprise Corporation to target investment in agri-food in Northern Ontario. The program will provide more than 40 businesses with access to tools and resources to start up, scale up and commercialize new products. […] Read more

Asian giant hornets have noticeably large orange heads and black eyes; worker hornets are about 3.5 cm in length; queens can be up to four to five cm in length, with a wingspan of four to seven cm. (B.C. Ministry of Agriculture)

Two more ‘murder hornets’ turn up on B.C. mainland

One nest found last month in neighbouring U.S. town

Beekeepers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley and Lower Mainland are asked to keep an eye out for so-called “murder hornets” after two were found in the region within a week. A single Asian giant hornet was found Saturday at Aldergrove, near the intersection of Fraser Highway and Highway 13 — about five km from where […] Read more

File photo of a farmed mink. (Konstantin Sokolov/iStock/Getty Images)

Coronavirus kills 15,000 U.S. mink

Affected states aren't planning to cull

Chicago | Reuters — More than 15,000 mink in the United States have died of the coronavirus since August, and authorities are keeping about a dozen farms under quarantine while they investigate the cases, state agriculture officials said. Global health officials are eying the animals as a potential risk for people after Denmark last week […] Read more


The growth in data in agriculture is being driven by many different new applications.

Artificial intelligence plays critical role behind the scenes in precision farming

Developing technology alongside farmers can mean a higher adoption rate

Artificial intelligence applications in agriculture continue to grow, driven by the increased demands of precision farming. This growth is due to increasing demand for agriculture produce, real-time livestock monitoring, and the need for enhanced decision making to optimize farm management. Other factors contributing to the rising interest in precision farming solutions are growing food demand […] Read more

A deal between the Canada and the U.K. will likely have to wait as U.K. negotiations continue.

Canada, U.K. trade deal progress in doubt

The U.K. will be out of the CETA agreement by the end of the year and status of talks is unknown

Glacier FarmMedia – As prospects of a trade deal between the United Kingdom and the European Union collapse, there is growing doubt a post-Brexit pact involving Canada can be completed by the end of the year. Why it matters: Trade between Canada and the U.K. has been governed by EU trade rules, and if no […] Read more

Grain shipments have continued to move around the world during the pandemic.

Trade moves influenced by COVID-19 around world

The WTO found more changes were made by G20 countries to facilitate than restrict trade

Glacier FarmMedia – The impact of COVID-19’s second wave is continuing to cause uncertainty in global trade markets, but more markets are opening than closing. According to the World Trade Organization, between October 2019 and May 2020, G20 economies implemented 154 new trade or related measures, finding 95 to be trade-facilitating and 59 as trade-restrictive. […] Read more


Rural internet access has limited economic opportunities on some farms.

Province ups investment in broadband and cellular service

An additional $680 million will be put into rural/northern digital infrastructure

The province is investing $1 billion to remove “Can you hear me now?” from the lexicon of rural and Northern Ontario residents. As part of the Ontario government’s 2020 budget released Nov. 5, an additional $680 million over six yeas was added to the existing $315 million in Up to Speed: Ontario’s Broadband and Cellular […] Read more

Questions of data replication are now being asked by those concerned about data ownership.

The power to delete yourself

Controlling copies of your data is the new challenge around data ownership

Questions around data ownership have been long discussed in and outside the agriculture sector – but are they even the right questions to ask? Some legal experts and tech developers certainly don’t think so. Instead, they argue we should be focused on questions of control and replication. Why it matters: Data ownership issues continue to […] Read more