The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs has published its new Guide to Vegetable Production in Ontario – Publication 839. A replacement for Publication 363, the new guide includes updated crop production and fertility guidelines, pest activity calendars, crop development stages, and images and information of pests, diseases, and disorders. Publication 363 also… Read More

Kubota expects to make fruit harvesting drones available to North American fruit farmers as early as 2025. The autonomous flying harvesters captured lots of attention at Agritechnica ’23 as the equipment manufacturer showed off the potential of its collaboration with technology developer Tevel. In this video interview with RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin, Kubota representative Sumit Joshi… Read More

Canada is a country of 40 million, and while we’re also an exporting nation, many crop types grown here are at such a small scale that the economics just don’t work to have a company go through the steps required to register a pesticide for use. That’s where the Minor Use program through the Pest… Read More

Cherry harvest has begun in the Okanagan Valley. Which, as Sukhpaul Bal, president of the B.C. Cherry Association, explains in this week’s Farmer Rapid Fire on RealAg Radio, is later than usual. The late harvest season is a result of a cooler spring, like most of Western Canada experienced. However, the heat has finally come, and it’s pushed… Read More

Changes have been made to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, announced earlier this week by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. The Program Workforce Solutions Road Map is an initiative that marks the next step in an ongoing effort to adjust and improve the TFW Program to ensure it continues to meet the… Read More

The Canadian Horticultural Council marked its 100th annual general meeting on Thursday with the unveiling of a new name and logo. The national organization, which represents more than 14 thousand fruit and vegetable farms who produce more than 120 different crops, has changed its name to the “Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada.” “As we… Read More

Edited: This story has been updated, including the headline, to reflect the public health district rescinding the original letter that blocked TFW movement into the health region until February 2, 2022. The Windsor Essex public health region has rescinded a statement invoking a section of the Reopening Ontario Act, 2020, to stop temporary foreign workers from… Read More

Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) has announced a significant project for Alberta’s greenhouse sector. The project between the Lethbridge College greenhouses, located at Brooks, Alta., and Sunterra Farms Greenhouses Ltd, located at Acme, Alta., aims to “optimize the growing conditions for pre-commercial and commercial-scale production of strawberries and tomatoes on the vine, and boost Alberta’s crop… Read More

Unbelievably hot temperatures recently hit parts of B.C., the Pacific Northwest, and into California, injuring fruit and trees alike. Glen Lucas, general manager for the B.C. Fruit Growers Association based at Kelowna, B.C., recently joined Shaun Haney to talk about how orchards are affected by the recent heatwave. “The first thing that was of note… Read More

Farmers in Ontario’s vegetable- and fruit-rich Simcoe area took to the streets on Tuesday, in a show of solidarity and protest of the health region’s Section 22 order. Organized by local asparagus farmer Frank Schonberger, the protest was to bring awareness to the plight of farmers in the area who are struggling to meet the… Read More

Each year, Canadian farms and orchards grow an abundance of fruit and vegetables for both local and export markets. From peaches and pears, to broccoli and asparagus, to processing tomatoes and cucumbers, Canada’s horticultural industry plays a vital role in producing local, fresh food for millions. Many of these farms employ seasonal workers, temporary foreign… Read More

At first glance, it appeared that seasonal and temporary foreign workers coming to Canada would flow relatively unimpeded, save for the pre-flight COVID-19 test. However, last week’s federal announcement of more stringent quarantine measures and additional costs is possibly a new stumbling block, in the path to getting thousands of people here to work on… Read More

As of this week, the Ontario government is expanding its workplace safety COVID-19-compliance blitz to more businesses, including farms. The campaign began last week focused on big-box retail stores. More than 300 provincial officers will now be focusing on retail, restaurants providing take-out, gas stations, and farms, among other essential businesses. Officers will enter businesses to… Read More

 

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