When it comes to burger ads, it’s pretty tough to tell McDonald’s Quarter Pounder (top left) from the company’s new McPlant burger (top right). But is it confusing in the grocery store? While Impossible Foods calls its ground beef substitute “burger made from plants,” (bottom right) Beyond Meat uses beef and ‘plant based’ but also a steer logo (bottom left).

Some cattle producers have a beef with fake-meat labelling

Is it misleading to use words like burger and meat for veggie substitutes?

Reading Time: 6 minutes Plant-based protein. Simulated meat. Alternative protein. When it comes to labelling fake meat, what’s in a name? Well, it depends on who you ask. Some say using words like ‘burger’ or ‘sausage’ to describe vegetarian fare is misleading. “To me, it’s obvious we’re producing the best meat product, because everybody else wants to call theirs […] Read more

File photo of a rye field in Kazakhstan. (Stsmhn/iStock/Getty Images)

Beware of Kazakhs wanting to buy seed, agency says

Seed growers and farmers alike are being warned such sales breach breeders' rights rules

Western Canadian seed growers, seed retailers and commercial farmers are being urged not to sell seed to Kazakhs or their agents because it breaches plant breeders’ rights rules. “The basic fact is no Canadian breeder has given permission for their genetics to go to Kazakhstan,” Lorne Hadley, executive director of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, […] Read more


Agronomy update to carry on, but in a virtual setting

Reading Time: < 1 minute The province’s four big crop commissions are “working together to continue the legacy of Agronomy Update.” The annual conference, formerly put on by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, will be a virtual affair this winter. This year’s event will be held Jan. 19-20 and will feature “a slate of high-quality speakers on a range of interesting […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. puts duties on phosphate from Morocco, Russia

Reuters — The U.S. Department of Commerce said Tuesday it would set preliminary duties on phosphate fertilizer imports from Russia and Morocco, after launching an investigation to determine if producers in these countries were receiving unfair subsidies. The department set preliminary duties of 23.46 per cent on imports from Morocco’s OCP Group and other producers […] Read more

(Piyaset/iStock/Getty Images)

Farmers retrieve beans from Global Grain

That will cut the amount of security money needed to cover what farmers are owed

The Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) is still tallying how much farmers are owed by Global Grain Canada Ltd. at Plum Coulee, Man. for dry beans they delivered to the firm but weren’t paid for. However, the potential for farmers not getting what they are owed has been reduced, CGC spokesman Remi Gosselin said in an […] Read more


An ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer plant in Russia.

Fall fertilizer prices offer more good news for Prairie growers

Prices for urea, phosphate and anhydrous ammonia are all at the lower end of their normal range

Prices for urea, phosphate and anhydrous ammonia are all at the lower end of their normal range

Reading Time: 4 minutes Fertilizer prices have seen some ups and downs over the past six months, but the situation heading into winter looks favourable. “When we look at the overall input markets so far in 2020, we see that they’ve kind of eased up. For producers right now, that’s a pretty good spot to be in,” said Craig […] Read more

(Deere.ca)

Deere buys up ag software maker Harvest Profit

Software's integrations with non-Deere systems to continue

A North Dakota company whose software is used to help farmers gauge a crop’s profitability on a field-by-field basis will now run with the Deere. John Deere on Nov. 12 announced it has acquired Fargo-based Harvest Profit for an undisclosed sum. Harvest Profit — whose software was already integrated with the John Deere Operations Center […] Read more


Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel. (GGC video screengrab)

Grain Growers of Canada lobby Parliament Hill

Agriculture can help restart Canada's economy and the federal government help by addressing some issues, group says

Agriculture can help revitalize Canada’s post-COVID economy, but the federal government should clear the track for it. That means updating regulations to encourage technological innovation, improving market access for agricultural exports and recognizing farm practices that help the environment, Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) says. The organization, which represents 15 regional, provincial and national grain […] Read more