Durham College is expanding its field-to-fork educational opportunities with the addition of the Barrett Centre of Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture (the Barrett Centre). The Barrett Centre will complement the college’s existing food, farming and horticulture programs. The vision for the centre, said the college in a release, is to “become an internationally recognized hub […] Read more
Tag Archives Sustainable agriculture — page 3
Durham College launches centre focusing on urban agriculture
The Barrett Centre for Innovation in Sustainable Urban Agriculture will offer enhanced research and training
USDA can steer farm aid money to fight climate change, Vilsack says
Reuters — The White House wants to tap a pool of funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC) to support on-farm efforts to fight climate change, Tom Vilsack, President Joe Biden’s nominee to run the USDA, said Tuesday. The Depression-era program of up to $30 billion in annual funding was tapped […] Read more
OMAFRA launches new AgMaps tool
The map helps farmers understand the water erosion potential of their fields
A new program involving Ontario’s Agricultural Information Atlas, commonly known as AgMaps, helps farmers determine the soil erosion potential of their fields. The water erosion potential map has been in the making for years. It takes advantage of information previously within the AgMaps portal and recently collected LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) remote survey data […] Read more
G2V Optics shows power of light with new ag technology
The company’s lighting can help grow high value, rare crops in indoor vertical farms
Glacier FarmMedia – A quickly growing Canadian tech company is set to expand its agricultural platform, using the power of light to help the industry diversify. G2V Optics is launching perihelion light systems, and planned to present it at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco on March 17-18, although the summit was cancelled […] Read more
Soil health measurement project seeks standard set of indicators
The North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements hopes to recommend scientifically sound indicators
Glacier FarmMedia – Soil health measurements can vary widely depending on management practices, show early results from a North American study. Paul Tracy, who manages the non-profit Soil Health Institute’s project to assess 31 indicators of soil health in all three countries, said agricultural and environmental interests are promoting lots of measurement systems and indicators. […] Read more
Could Ontario agriculture be a carbon sink?
Professor says it could be done today – if enough imagination and will is employed
Could agriculture be a net-zero carbon emitter, or even a carbon sink? According to Vern Osborne, professor of animal biosciences at the University of Guelph, the answer is yes — and it could be done today, with current technology. During a presentation at the Farms.com Precision Agriculture Conference in London, Osborne detailed the future of […] Read more
Hay and forage can help ease organic transition
A program in eastern Ontario aims to help farmers going through the three-year period before certification
Having a plan for making money from either hay or pasture can significantly ease the financial strain of transitioning from conventional to organic production. That was one message delivered by Semican seed company agronomist Valerie Yoder, during a presentation Jan. 25 at the annual Guelph Organic Conference. Why it matters: Certified organic crops offer a […] Read more
Paquette Farms wins conservation award
Farm uses minimal-impact tillage and pays attention to precision nutrient application
A dedication to low-soil-impact practices won Paquette Farms the 2019 Conservation Farm Award. The family was presented with the award at the Essex Soil and Crop Improvement Association (ESCIA) Annual Meeting in December. The award is presented each year to the farming operation which best displays conservation-minded farming practices from those nominated. The farms are […] Read more
Opinion: Corporate interest makes sustainability in agriculture tangible
Marketplace initiatives will sink or swim by virtue of consumer support
It didn’t take long for a young cattle rancher from Saskatchewan to capture the audience’s attention at the Canada 2020 National Forum on Agri-Food in Ottawa in the fall. “For me, the word ‘sustainability’ is synonymous with McDonald’s,” said Adrienne Ivey, who is part of a family corporation managing 3,000 beef cattle on a 10,000-acre […] Read more
Comment: Farmers as price makers instead of price takers
When their buyer said their produce was too expensive, this farm business changed the conversation
Farmers are conditioned to see themselves as price-takers. They take the price that is charged for their fertilizer and seed and they take the price that’s offered for their production. But as one of the speakers at the recent Summit on Climate Action in Food Systems in Kelowna illustrated, it’s possible to overcome the “lowest […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
