The first-of-its-kind Local Food Act has passed third reading and will become Ontario law. Third time’s a charm for Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey, who has had a similar bill fail two times, once because of an election and the second time because of prorogation. Included in the bill are several points, but the focus is… Read More
Author: RealAgriculture News Team
A team effort of RealAgriculture's videographers and editorial staff to make sure that you have the latest in what is happening in agriculture.
By Michael Grant, Director, Research, Centre for Food in Canada This post first appeared here, and is re-posted here with permission. An upcoming report for The Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for Food in Canada argues that it is time for the Canadian dairy sector to transition from playing defence to playing offense. The notion… Read More
A three-year deal still needs to be ratified by workers, but Canadian National (CN) railway reports today that a tentative deal has been struck with the Teamsters union and a rail strike has been averted. The threatened strike would have crippled an already severely taxed logistics system trying to move the huge 2013 crop. As… Read More
If Manitoba farmers weren’t concerned enough about the arrival of clubroot in two canola fields this summer, perhaps the latest confirmation of clubroot galls found in a North Dakota canola field will serve as a wake up call. Of course, this also serves as a giant red flag for American canola growers as well. The… Read More
Modernizing Canada’s varietal registration system needed to happen — the removal of kernel visual distinguishability and the CWB’s monopoly in recent years has changed crop variety development in Canada. The registration system needs to evolve with it in order to stay current and competitive. Read More: Upov 91, Gerry Rits and Canada’s variety registration system… Read More
Farmers who banked on moving crop in September are running into road blocks left and right, even on the eve of November. A bumper crop across most crop kinds in all three Prairie Provinces is taxing Western Canada’s railway service and elevators are at or near capacity, even with huge piles of grain being stored… Read More
The ninth edition of an award winning calendar showcasing the photos and stories of 13 Ontario farmers and farm families was unveiled at a gala in Milton last night. The “Faces of Farming” calendar, featuring this year’s theme of Real Farmers with Real Heart, is produced annually to introduce the public to a few of… Read More
Cigi (more formally the Canadian International Grains Institute) is on the receiving end of a Canadian government commitment to the tune of $6.4 million to establish a Moroccan National Durum Technical Training Centre (DTTC) in Casablanca. According to a Cigi press release, funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) over the… Read More
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” While this business principle seems to apply more to hard numbers and bushels per acre, it applies just as perfectly to rangeland production. Beyond just grass tonnage or pounds of growth per acre, there are several other outputs of rangeland production that should be assessed, measured… Read More
This blog post is one I was hoping not to have to write. In Canada, there was recently an “investigative report” on the commercial egg industry. It developed after an animal activist group took undercover footage and passed an edited video to a television newsmagazine. The resulting 30 minute show was a black eye to… Read More
To say the hog industry in Canada has struggled in recent years would be kind. Consolidation, low to negative margins, labeling requirments from the U.S. and a moratorium in Manitoba have weighed heavily on the industry. So it’s not a surprise that Friday’s announcement of a signed Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the… Read More
The former Ontario government, headed up by Dalton McGuinty, pulled the rug out from under the horseracing industry this past spring in what can only be called a very premature effort to move slot machines to a Toronto-area casino (or so the most reputable theory goes). Just how premature was the move? Well, there is,… Read More
Langbank, Saskatchewan-based SeedHawk has been bought by its Swedish manufacturing partner Vaderstad, according to a press release. The company will maintain its head office and processing facility, home to 250 employees, at Langbank. “We see great potential in Seed Hawk. One of the keys to the North American market is local presence, and Tempo, our… Read More
As the growing season winds down, it’s time to think about the best parts of winter — planning for next season and conferences! (My version of “best” my differ from yours). One of the highlights of the conference season has to be FarmTech, where farmers are challenged to evaluate their current production practices and, perhaps,… Read More
The National Post is reporting that the comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) negotiations with the European Union have moved forward following Canada’s commitment to double cheese imports to 30,000 tonnes per year in exchange for added access to Europe’s beef and pork markets. The deal is not done of course, but, if the quoted… Read More