Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer plans more cost cuts, impairment charges

Pandemic now expected to hit crop science wing

Berlin | Reuters — German drugs and chemical company Bayer announced plans on Wednesday for more than 1.5 billion euros (C$2.34 billion) of cost cuts as of 2024 and said it would take impairment charges on its agricultural business as it battles with low commodity prices. Bayer said that the impact of the coronavirus on […] Read more

Lab trials of a manure-derived seed treatment have usually shown increased root growth (as seen on the right) as well as better resistance to environmental stressors.

Happy accident: Researchers discover promising new seed treatment

How it works is still a mystery, but new compound boosts germination, root development, and resistance

Reading Time: 5 minutes Good things generally don’t happen by accident in science — they’re the result of countless hours of trial and error, replication and peer review. However, University of Saskatchewan researchers may be looking at the closest thing to a scientific miracle: A natural seed treatment that increases germination in just about any crop you can name, […] Read more


(Jenifoto/iStock/Getty Images)

Feds pondering more self-reliance in Canada’s food

'Even if we are already in a good position, we can always do better,' Bibeau says

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau is looking for ways to make Canada’s food supply more autonomous. In an interview Thursday, Bibeau pointed to her minority Liberal government’s pledge in the throne speech to further support the food value chain. That could mean a review of food infrastructure across the country, according to Bibeau. Specifics aren’t yet […] Read more

Gov. Gen. Julie Payette looks on with Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance (l) and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as the Usher of the Black Rod Greg Peters leaves to summon the House of Commons to come listen to the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2020. (Adrian Wyld pool photo via Reuters)

Throne speech commits to rural broadband improvement

Rural health care, water management also on deck

The federal minority Liberal government is promising job creation, better rural internet access and a commitment to combating climate change in its newly revealed legislative plans. In an ambitious throne speech delivered Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s party committed itself to implementing universal child care and extending or enhancing many of the economic measures put […] Read more


(File photo by Allan Dawson)

Beef sector aims for new 2030 targets

Organizations involved in Canada's National Beef Strategy have announced new goals for the beef sector for the next decade

The Canadian beef industry has new benchmarks to reach for in the next decade. The organizations involved in Canada’s National Beef Strategy — the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canada Beef Breeds Council, Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef, The National Cattle Feeders’ Association, Canadian Meat Council and Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef have announced new 2030 […] Read more

Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2017, buying Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

FBN cuts yearly membership fee to zero

Ag e-commerce firm offers free accounts to farmers

E-marketplace Farmers Business Network (FBN) has disposed of the annual membership fee that allowed members access to its various buying groups and services. California-based FBN, which has operated in the U.S. since 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2017, announced Tuesday (Sept. 15) its farmer members may now have “access to a select range of […] Read more


Gerald Grand, a staff member at Agolin, a Swiss maker of feed additives based on botanical compounds, works on a mixture of components at Biere, Switzerland on Sept. 26, 2018. (Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

More food companies aim to wrangle cattle emissions

Nestle, Barry Callebaut trying out feed additives

Winnipeg | Reuters — Looking to improve milk production, California farmer John Verwey turned to a Swiss-made feed additive designed to make a cow more efficient while reducing methane emissions from cattle burps. The more a cow belches, the more it spends energy that could be used instead for milk production, Verwey reasoned. So two […] Read more



Morris’ Quantum Air Drill had its first public appearance at Canada’s Farm Progress Show and its formal launch at Ag in Motion in 2018. (Grainews photo by Scott Garvey)

Court approval sought for Morris Industries sale

Rite Way deal the 'highest and best offer received'

The court overseeing creditor protection for seeding equipment maker Morris Industries is being asked to approve a deal for the company’s sale to another Saskatchewan manufacturer. Calgary consultancy Alvarez and Marsal, the court-appointed monitor for Morris, said Tuesday in its latest report to Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon it recommends approval of a sale […] Read more

(Outdoorfarmshow.com)

Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show looks to lock in land base

GFM plans to buy research land for eastern Discovery Farm

As Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show goes digital this week, its operator is preparing to secure its real-world footprint in southern Ontario and put that real estate to year-round work. Glacier FarmMedia and the Ontario government on Tuesday announced their intent to work toward a land deal with the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO), which […] Read more