When most people hear the term biotechnology they think GMOs. It’s important to know that biotechnology is much more than just GMOs because understanding this helps us to understand how scientists are helping to provide food for the seven billion people on the planet. In this episode of the Wheat School, Dr. Harpinder Randawa, research scientist with… Read More
Search Results for: biotechnology
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled its GMO labeling law laying out the minimum labeling requirements for food companies and retailers set to go into effect at the start of 2020, with a mandatory compliance date set for the beginning of 2022. As part of the standard, the USDA has created a… Read More
AgScape, an Ontario charity focused on farm and food education, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to train new teacher graduates, as part of its Teacher Ambassador Program, to deliver free food and agriculture lessons in schools across Ontario. The organization has a goal of equipping a “school bus load” of Ontario Certified Teachers with… Read More
Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food has returned from his roughly two-week trip to China. The trip was to strengthen trade relations and increase market access. Lawrence MacAulay headed overseas to also attend and lead Canada’s delegation to the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai. There, more than 100,000 people visited the Canadian pavilion… Read More
Some people are a part of an industry when if first starts. Others are a significant part of the establishment of an industry. Still others are able to bring new participants into an industry and mentor them into even higher achievements. Very few people do all of these things and also are able to explain… Read More
The joke in Saskatoon is that you come for the weather, but stay because you can’t get a flight out. Kidding aside, Saskatoon is actually a hub of biotech research and development with findings and products with the potential to benefit farmers all over the world. Because of this, Global Biotech Week is an event… Read More
The 25-year-old trade deal known as NAFTA is no more. As of Sunday night, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement know as USMCA was born. So what does this mean for producers? Let us break it down for you… Increased market access for American dairy farmers So far, market access into the Canadian dairy sector has been… Read More
A professor from the University of Saskatchewan and his Master’s student are causing quite a stir ‘Down Under’ due to some startling revelations contained in a paper published by the two earlier this year. The paper explores the economic and environmental consequences of a moratorium that effectively banned all use of genetically modified (GM) canola… Read More
The federal environment minister made a rare and unpublicized visit to a grain farm in Manitoba on Thursday. Minister Catherine McKenna dropped in at Curtis McRae’s farm north of Winnipeg near St. Andrews on her way back from a funding announcement for Lake Winnipeg in Gimli. A film crew arrived about an hour before the… Read More
A ruling by the European Union’s (EU) top court states that food produced by a series of new biotechnology breeding techniques, such as CRISPR, should be considered genetically modified organisms (GMO). This ruling means the specific food or food ingredient resulting from these gene-editing techniques falls under the EU’s strict regulations and restrictions on GMO. Any… Read More
The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame has announced its slate of inductees for 2018. “We had a tremendous response from the industry with a record of 11 nominations put forward, and have selected five outstanding agricultural ambassadors,” says Hall of Fame Association president Guy Charbonneau. “This year’s inductees exemplify the leadership and vision that continues to… Read More
The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) was created to “help deliver transformative innovation to agriculture in both the developed and the developing world.” Every second year, the Saskatoon-based organization hosts the Emerging Technologies for Global Food Security Conference, and this year I was on hand to take it all in. On the agenda was… Read More
Ag-West Bio will receive $1.7 million per year over the next five years from the federal and provincial governments through the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Saskatchewan Ag Minister Lyle Stewart announced the funding — totalling $8.5 million — to support the development of the ag biotechnology sector in Saskatchewan… Read More
Update: The CFIA has confirmed the discovery of several GM wheat plants in southern Alberta. Here’s the updated story. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be holding a technical briefing this afternoon to provide information on a case of an unapproved biotech plant product being found in Alberta. The agency describes it as “an… Read More
While consumer opinion is split on the health and safety of food and food ingredients derived from genetic modification (GMOs), the majority of Canadians support labeling foods that contain GMOs, according to a recent survey by Dalhousie University. Researchers at the university, led by Sylvain Charlebois, surveyed 1,046 Canadians in an effort to measure “attitudes… Read More