The future of canola is more than just seed, oil, & meal Across the prairies, fields of golden yellow flowers bloom throughout July. This eye-catching crop, canola, is grown in most Western Canadian crop rotations. The roughly 20 million tonnes of canola produced each year contribute, on average, over $26 Read more…
What would it take to start farming on your own in 2020? In an industry born on family, tradition, and generational transfer, many farmers have the good fortune to enter an already established farm operation or to receive assistance in establishing their own. Yet, even with assistance, new farmers face Read more…
Over the last quarter-century, farmers have been working hard to adopt innovative and sustainable practices for their economic and environmental benefits. Two notable shifts in management practices include the widespread adoption of zero-tillage and the removal of summerfallow in crop rotations, both of which contribute to increased carbon sequestration. Yet, Read more…
Farmers are proud to be landowners, establishing and growing farms that can be passed on through generations. The concept of growing crops on your own soil ignites feelings of pride, community, and tradition. Many farmers also consider land investment to be their retirement fund. However, in a recent Western Producer Read more…
You’ve probably seen Burger King’s latest marketing video featuring Wal-Mart yodeler Mason Ramsey singing about methane emissions from cow farts and burps. The ad promotes Burger King’s “Cows Menu” consisting of beef from cows fed lemon-grass leaves, which some research suggests decreases methane emissions. I must admit, the song is Read more…
Canada has one of the best food safety and risk assessment systems in the world. In the Conference Board of Canada’s 2014 food safety rankings, Canada placed first out of 17 comparable countries. Unsurprisingly, public opinion research conducted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) shows that Canadians have confidence in Read more…
As an essential service, this spring farmers enter a season of more uncertainties than normal In the last few weeks, the Covid-19 crisis has impacted every segment of Canada’s economy. A month ago, on March 25, the Government of Saskatchewan released their list of essential services that can continue operation Read more…
As the trend towards urbanization continues, the Canadian agriculture industry faces increasing concerns about the disconnect between consumers and food production. In 2016, only 19% of Canadians lived in rural communities, dropping from 46% over the past one hundred years. The disconnect from agriculture has caused many consumers to become Read more…
After years of varietal development, the most promising varieties are selected to begin the process of registering them for commercial use. Under Canadian legislation, the Seeds Act and Seeds Regulations govern the testing, inspection, quality, and sale of all seeds. This legislation ensures that all seeds, whether imported or developed domestically, are proven to be safe for production and consumption before they reach the fields of Canadian farmers. In this final blog of the #LabtoField series, we explore how newly developed crop varieties become registered seed for use in Canada.
This is the eighth of a series of #LabToField blogs that will explain the yearly cycle of variety development. Click here to read Part 1: Phytotrons, Part 2: Agriculture Greenhouses, Part 3: The U of S Seed Lab, Part 4: Seeding, Part 5: Data Collection, Part 6: Harvest, or Part Read more…