Reuters — Heavy ground smoke clouded Hanson Vineyards in Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley for more than a week following a Labour Day windstorm that kicked up wildfires across the western United States. Jason Hanson expects his crews may only harvest five tons of grapes, including his Chardonnay and Gamay varieties, down from the 25 to […] Read more
Charred U.S. west’s ‘wet ashtray’ wine grapes left to birds
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
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
Prairies can expect far better harvest weather this fall
MarketsFarm — Prairie farmers are likely going have good weather over the next few weeks, according to Scott Kehler of Weatherlogics. “We got a pretty significant warm-up across most of the Prairies through to the end of September. It should be fairly warm and not too much in the way of precipitation,” he said. “At […] Read more
Pandemic has seen business — and challenges — soar for U-picks
Reading Time: 3 minutes U-pick operations across the country have seen a surge in business this year as people look for family-friendly, safe outings during the pandemic. But the season was not without its challenges. “The business has been busy,” said Leona Staples, who owns and operates The Jungle Farm near Red Deer with husband Blaine. Busy is good, […] Read more
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
New Brunswick returns ag minister, ag critic in election
Liberals' former ag minister among casualties
New Brunswick’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition ag critic are among those returning to the legislative assembly as the provincial Tories locked in a governing majority. As of 9 p.m. CT Monday, incumbent Premier Blaine Higgs’ Progressive Conservatives, who went into the vote with a 22-seat minority government, were elected in 27 of 49 ridings. […] Read more
Feds back autonomous weederbot’s Halifax manufacturer
ACOA funding to support field-level trials
The federal government’s economic development agency for Atlantic Canada is putting up money for a new round of on-the-ground tests of a self-guided field-weeding robot. Halifax MP Andy Fillmore on Wednesday announced a $550,000 repayable investment from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s (ACOA) Regional Economic Growth Through Innovation program for Halifax-based Nexus Robotics. Nexus, the […] Read more
La Nina present, 75 per cent chance seen through 2020 winter
Reuters — La Nina conditions were present in August, and have a 75 per cent chance of continuing through the Northern Hemisphere winter of 2020-21, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The La Nina pattern is characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. A borderline moderate La Nina event is […] Read more
Conservatives look to southern Ontario for new ag critic
O'Toole promotes deputy critic Lianne Rood to first chair
The federal Conservatives’ new leader has gone to the other side of Toronto to find his new critic for agriculture and agri-food. Lianne Rood, the rookie MP for the riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, was named Tuesday by fellow southern Ontario MP Erin O’Toole to replace southwestern Alberta MP John Barlow as the Conservatives’ shadow minister for […] Read more
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