Health Canada has issued a long-awaited clarification on how it will regulate different forms of plant breeding, including newer gene-editing methods. Genetically modified crops are deemed “novel” under Canada’s regulatory framework, requiring an expensive multi-year safety review before being approved for sale, but there was uncertainty about whether gene-edited crops would also be treated as… Read More
Canada is standing by its proposed solution regarding dairy tariff-rate quotas under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), as U.S. dairy groups continue to pressure the White House to escalate the matter. Earlier this week, U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai said Canada’s changes didn’t go far enough, and the proposed solution was a disappointment. Jim Wiesemeyer, with Pro… Read More
Weather is the one subject we just can’t help but talk about. As I sit here in southern Alberta and look out at the rain drops — albeit, not large amounts of it, but hey it’s rain — finally pitter-pattering against the window, I’m thinking about rainy-day traditions. On our farm, since we do live… Read More
It’s been a wild week in the wheat markets, with lots of trading action and news stories driving the markets. Chaos, says Jon Driedger of Leftfield Commodities Research, is one way to describe it — starting off with last week’s United States Department of Agriculture report. “That was a friendly report for wheat. We go… Read More
Bill C-234 took a step forward on Wednesday, as the House of Commons voted in favour of it at second reading, sending it to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food for review. The private member’s bill brought forward by Conservative MP Ben Lobb would amend the federal government’s carbon pricing legislation to provide an… Read More
In ideal conditions, the recommendation is to roll pea acres shortly after seeding. But what happens when a portion of the Prairie’s pulse growing acres are facing extreme drought? Jack Payne, agronomy solutions manager with South Country Co-op Ltd, says some growers may opt to roll later — because if you roll right after the… Read More
It’s mid-May, but you almost wouldn’t know it by looking at seeding progress in Manitoba and parts of Saskatchewan. Super-dry Alberta and suddenly-warm Ontario bookend the seeding and planting progress and average things out (what does average really tell us, anyway?). On this episode of Wheat Pete’s Word, host Peter Johnson brings us up to… Read More
The Chinese government has lifted restrictions on imports of canola from Canada’s two largest exporters that dated back to March 2019. Richardson and Viterra were banned from shipping canola seed to China more than three years ago. Both companies are listed as approved for exporting canola to China in a government document that was published… Read More
Positioning of the right crop protection products in the right region for the right timeframe is an annual logistics challenge. For the 2022 season, anticipated delivery snags and supply chain pinch points were managed as well as could be expected, but extreme conditions in Western Canada, and persistent manufacturer issues have suppliers and retailers working… Read More
Crop insurance deadlines may be looming, but the rush to get corn seed in the ground when it’s late in the planting window and soil conditions are wet can also cause problems, such as poor root development, later in the growing season. Sidewall compaction in the furrow is a common consequence of planting into wet… Read More
After Canada defended its standpoint on dairy tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), the U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, has released a statement further articulating the country’s “disappointment” with Canada’s unwillingness to make further changes to the TRQs. “The United States is deeply disappointed by Canada’s announcement today regarding its dairy tariff-rate quotas,” says Tai. “Our top priority remains… Read More
Syngenta Canada has announced it will sell Envita in Canada for the 2023 growing season. Envita is a nitrogen-fixing bacteria product for non-legume crops, including corn, canola, cereals, soybeans and potatoes. The liquid product, developed by Azotic Technologies, is applied in-furrow or as a foliar treatment, and performs similarly to n-fixing bacteria with legume and pulse crops, through a… Read More
Welcome to another episode of The Agronomists! For this episode, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Warren Ward with the Canola Council of Canada, and RealAgriculture resident agronomist, Peter “Wheat Pete” Johnson. The topic of discussion today is starter fertilizer — of course with some other colourful tidbits thrown in there as well. The story… Read More
If your idea of a beneficial insect is one that sits back and waits for dinner to crawl on by, you’ve likely never heard about the secret lives of lacewings. Green lacewings are nothing short of ferocious, and, as Dr. Tyler Wist of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada explains, they’re more like aphid-hunting lions than laid-back… Read More
Trade tensions are on the rise as some groups are calling on the U.S. government to impose retaliatory tariffs in response to Canada’s handling of dairy tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) under the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA/CUSMA). The call on the U.S. government comes from the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF)… Read More
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