A new look at the environmental factors around declining bumblebee populations and ranges points to a less-than-usual suspect: fungicides. “Insecticides work; they kill insects. Fungicides have been largely overlooked because they are not targeted for insects, but fungicides may not be quite as benign — toward bumblebees — as we once thought,” Scott McArt, assistant […] Read more
U.S. study links bumblebee declines to fungicide use
Big four topics remain constant in latest Real Dirt on Farming
The latest edition of the Real Dirt on Farming is out, and it continues to be a printed copy success story in a digital world. There are more than three million copies of the agriculture information resource in print and the demand doesn’t appear to be dropping. Farm & Food Care Ontario creates the publication […] Read more
Seventy-seven per cent of crops harvested, soil moisture conditions improve
Alberta crop conditions as of October 10
Reading Time: 2 minutes Harvest is complete in the Southern Region and nearly complete in the Central Region, while the northern regions in the province are still in mid-harvest. This past spring, the northern regions had some challenges with the harvesting of over-wintered crops which led to late seeding. As well, for these regions, rain, combined with snow and […] Read more
Seed potato opportunities in Thailand
Application deadline is Oct. 13
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta seed potato companies are invited to participate in a market development mission to Thailand from Nov. 19-27. It will include stops in Bangkok, Chiang Rai, and Chiang Mai, to meet with importers, distributors and potential customers as well as touring local potato farm operations. This is the first development mission focused on seed potato […] Read more
La Nina could return cold, snowy tradition to Prairies
CNS Canada — The world’s major weather forecasters predict a slightly better than 50 per cent chance that a La Nina weather pattern will occur this fall and winter. Most Prairie farmers could see good things happening if the system does materialize, because La Nina systems tend to bring what many people think of as […] Read more
Metro in ‘advanced’ talks to buy Jean Coutu chain
One of Eastern Canada’s major players in the grocery sector is in “advanced discussions” to take up one of the region’s major drugstore chains. Montreal-based Metro Inc. announced Tuesday it’s in “exclusive” talks with the Jean Coutu Group on the possibilities of a cash-and-stock takeover valued in some reports at around $4.5 billion. A non-binding […] Read more
The U.K. packs a lot of agriculture into a small space
British farmers need to get along with neighbouring communities, cut greenhouse emissions, and fend off cheap foreign competition
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s an area steeped in history and culture that is also a breadbasket of diverse agriculture. The United Kingdom is home to 214,000 farms, which nearly mirrors Canada’s 205,000 farms, although the average size is 142 hectares (or about half the size of the average Canadian operation). And though the farms may be the same […] Read more
China delays deadline for implementing food import rules
Beijing | Reuters — China plans to delay a deadline for implementing new food import regulations by two years until October 2019, a senior EU official said on Tuesday, following a lobbying effort by Europe and the U.S. amid concerns about disruption to trade. The extension comes just days before the new rules, which are […] Read more
Philippines’ Jollibee eyes deals to grow
Manila/Singapore | Reuters — Filipino billionaire Tony Tan Caktiong, who has built Jollibee Foods Corp. into a near-4,000 store purveyor of sweet-style spaghetti, burgers and fried chicken, is looking to buy existing brands in mature markets to help fuel future growth. Dominant at home, where Jollibee has 1,000 eponymous stores welcoming diners with its smiling […] Read more
Alberta, feds back Lethbridge potato processing plant
The federal and Alberta governments are set to cover over $22 million in costs related to the construction of Cavendish Farms’ new potato processing plant at Lethbridge. The two levels of government on Monday announced $20 million for the City of Lethbridge for related municipal infrastructure developments, through the federal/provincial Clean Water and Wastewater Fund […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
