Reports of increased bee deaths in the spring of 2012 in areas of Ontario and Quebec were alarming, but, at the time, attributed at least in part to the unseasonably cool and wet spring. This past spring, however, had more average temperatures but also had a higher than average reported bee kills. What’s troublesome about… Read More
Category: Industry Issues
Ontario Premier and Minister of Agriculture Kathleen Wynne was on hand at Foodshare Toronto yesterday to announce that applications are now open for a new Local Food Fund. “Supporting local food does so much for Ontario. We are committed to working with our industry partners to increase the demand for local food, which will feed… Read More
Bees, as pollinators, are essential to food production worldwide. So when solid evidence of a link between corn planting and bee deaths in Ontario and Quebec was found, farmers and industry recognized the need to look into how to manage the risk of bee exposure to a particular insecticide class called neonicotinoids. As Steve Denys,… Read More
I’ve been thinking a lot about consumer awareness and needs, as the movement to “tell your [ag] story” continues to grow. I have concerns with some of the messages I’ve seen, and some I once felt compelled to give. I’ve heard again and again that consumers must be aware of where their food comes from…. Read More
Photo credit: Via Flickr, Paul Xymon Garcia, 2010 Thanks to automation and good management (and perhaps necessity), some producers can farm vast tracts of land themselves with minimal help. But not all farmers are so fortunate. Certain industries, fruit and vegetables for example, require an exceptional commitment to human resources – along with hard work… Read More
Is there a strong business case for another grain co-operative in Canada? Carl Casale thinks so, and as CEO of CHS, the largest co-operative in the United States, it’s probably an opinion worth some weight. In this episode of the RealLeaders series, Kim McConnell, founder of AdFarm, sits down with Casale to discuss not just… Read More
Owen Roberts is currently in Argentina, attending the IFAJ 2013 Congress. The photo above is courtesy Chuck Zimmerman. View the Flickr account here. Any export-intensive country for agriculture needs to be constantly tuned into global developments that influence what happens inside our own borders. Today, the search for those developments takes us to the backroads… Read More
Want to bury news? Send out your press release late on a Friday afternoon. You get bonus points if it’s the Friday before a long weekend, and the spokesperson most versed in the subject takes the next week as holidays (I call that the trifecta of bad news sharing). So, when I saw the Manitoba… Read More
I think every farmer is tired of reading about activists saying agriculture is making Canadians unhealthy, especially when the opposite is true. From what I read and hear, it’s sedentary lifestyles and poor dietary choices that are leading to alarming rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, not the crops and livestock that ultimately become… Read More
After a busy week of networking, mind mapping and proposing solutions to food insecurity at the Youth Ag Summit in Calgary, I am now preparing to leave for Australia to meet up with the Five Nations Beef Alliance. Who is that, now? Allow me to elaborate. Four of the world’s major beef producing nations –… Read More
As a result of the international Youth Ag Summit, hosted in Calgary, Alberta, a global committee on food security has been formed. The executive (pictured below) is comprised primarily of youth volunteers and will spear-head the continuation of the summit’s discussion around food security. As a part of the Summit’s agenda, delegates and mentors were… Read More
Editor’s note: This is a special guest editorial from Kim McConnell, founder of AdFarm. The following was shared with his team at AdFarm after a week at the Youth Ag Summit, held last week in Calgary. This past week, I had an opportunity to participate in an amazing experience. I moderated the week-long Global… Read More
When Bob Dylan appeared at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 playing an electric guitar, he was booed off the stage for being untrue to the genre. Ten years later, country awards named John Denver Entertainer of the Year – to the chagrin of presenter Charlie Rich (“Behind Closed Doors”), who, in front of millions… Read More
You’ve already heard a little bit about the Youth Ag Summit and my second Breakfast Television appearance (the first involving less talk, more dance). I have a little over an hour to try to drum together some of the happenings here at the summit, before we are shuffled back into presentations, sessions, breakout groups and networking…. Read More
What’s sure to be a career-shaping week for nearly 120 youth from across the world kicked off in Calgary yesterday, as the first-ever Youth Ag Summit got rolling in the city. Hosted by 4-H Canada and Bayer CropScience, the week-long event’s theme is “Feeding a Hungry Planet,” and each day delegates from 20 countries will… Read More