The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has announced Dr. Phyllis Shand as the 2021 AMSA Industry & Organizational Leadership Award recipient. Shand is a professor of meat and food science in the department of food and bioproduct sciences at the University of Saskatchewan whose research program focuses on physicochemical, biochemical, and functional aspects of muscle… Read More

In the uncertainty of a national carbon strategy and how a carbon offset system will work, farmers’ contributions to sequestration and carbon emission mitigation efforts are frequently minimized. It seems the more knowledge there is about the exact amount of carbon sequestered in agricultural land, the more power farmers may have in lobbying for exemptions… Read More

Saskatchewan’s push towards developing value-added processing industries has been accelerating in recent years. Just this year, three canola crush plants have either been announced as new builds or expansions. But canola isn’t the only agri-processing moving ahead, as Red Leaf Pulp recently announced its plans to build a wheat straw-based pulp mill at Regina, Sask…. Read More

The recently announced Bill C-290, the Soil Conservation Act, has many steps to pass through before becoming an act. The premise of the bill — supporting efforts to create a national soil health strategy, that soil is the foundation for sustainable food production, enhanced biodiversity, cleaner air and water, and are at the root of… Read More

One concern this spring is whether or not there’s enough moisture to get a crop going, but another common springtime concern is that of compaction. Compaction is a risk every time you drive on a field, but the severity of compaction depends on where soil moisture is in the soil profile. “You can’t compact a… Read More

If you’ve grown peas, lentils, or any other pulse crop for a while, there may be background levels of rhizobia in your fields. However, it’s still important to use a “fresh” inoculant when you seed. “Inoculants are the rhizobial products that provide the right species of rhizobia for the right crop,” says Sherrilyn Phelps, agronomy… Read More

Croptimistic Technology, based at Naicam, Sask., has been awarded a U.S. patent for their proprietary SWAT Box technology. The SWAT Box is an autonomous soil electrical conductivity and elevation mapping hardware system. It collects the data used to create SWAT maps, a variable rate zone management system. “Our team was successful in developing an easy-to-use… Read More

The federal government announced its draft regulations for a national carbon offset framework, and while the kinks still need to be worked out, the first protocol that is intended to proceed is for soil organic carbon. As such, I’ve been working to lay out what this may entail and why carbon sequestration may not be… Read More

HALO Air Ambulance, based out of Medicine Hat, Alta., is drumming up funding through its first annual lottery. The prizes this year include standard early bird prizes of cash, but the final prize is a little different than a car or a showhome. On offer for the grand prize is $50,000 or the equivalent value… Read More