Reading Time: 3 minutes Just what is agriculture to youth who are looking at career choices? That was one of the questions asked by Nuffield Scholar Claire Peltzer, whose 2020 report focused on attracting youth into agriculture. The short answer is that agriculture is considered “farming” and does not include the existing plethora of career opportunities. The fields of […] Read more
Schoepp: We need to get past the perception that ag is ‘just farming’
The sector has to attract bright young people but first we need to get rid of old stereotypes
Venture capitalists urged to check out Alberta ag tech
Hempalta and Livestock Water Recycling are two companies featured on influential Top 50 list
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two Alberta companies — one making hemp products and the other recycling livestock manure — are among the most investable clean tech ventures in the country. Hempalta Inc. and Livestock Water Recycling, both headquartered in Calgary, are two of eight ag-focused technology companies on the 2022 Foresight 50 list. The list is compiled annually by […] Read more
‘High-speed’ internet is coming to rural areas — but the yardsticks have moved
Basic high speed will be fine for many, but farming is increasingly a business that needs serious bandwidth
Reading Time: 3 minutes Government’s definition of high-speed internet for rural areas isn’t all that high, especially for farmers taking advantage of new technology. The problem is that the provincial government’s minimum standard (50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 mbps for uploads) is the same baseline Ottawa set seven years ago, and a lot has changed since […] Read more
American Farm Bureau, Deere sign ‘right to repair’ memo
MOU to seek private-sector solutions
Chicago | Reuters — The American Farm Bureau Federation and machinery manufacturer Deere and Co. signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday that ensures farmers have the right to repair their own farm equipment or go to an independent technician. As the agriculture sector accelerates its adoption of technology, the reliance on high-tech machinery such […] Read more
China must raise self-reliance in ag tech, Xi says
Seed industry seen as weak link in food chain
Beijing | Reuters — President Xi Jinping wants China to accelerate efforts to achieve self-reliance in agricultural technology, identifying seed development and core equipment among areas to focus on, state media reported. The central leadership had said in 2020 that the country’s seed industry was a weak link in the food chain and needed to […] Read more
Ford hikes price of cheapest F-150 electric truck variant
Reuters — Ford Motor Co. has raised the price of the cheapest variant of its F-150 Lightning electric truck by nine per cent, to US$55,974, the company’s website showed on Thursday. The automaker has raised prices for its electric pickup trucks twice in a span of three months, as it navigates higher costs and supply […] Read more
NASA to conduct first global water survey from space
Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts
Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more
New MacDonald’s farm will need robots and other tech
Reading Time: < 1 minute Calgary high school students will get a chance to learn about agriculture – but not the Old MacDonald stereotype. “We are looking for students who are interested in robotics, technology, business and problem solving,” said Jay Steeves, dean of the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology at Olds College, which is partnering with the Calgary Board […] Read more
Huawei executive’s U.S. bank fraud charges to be dismissed
Charges remain against company itself
Reuters — U.S. prosecutors on Thursday asked a judge to dismiss bank fraud and other charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, whose 2018 arrest strained relations between the U.S. and China. Meng struck a deal with the prosecutors last year for the charges against her to be dismissed on […] Read more
U.S. EPA proposes revamp of biofuel program to include EVs
Mandated biofuel levels to rise through 2025
New York | Reuters — U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday unveiled a three-year proposal to expand the U.S. biofuels policy with bigger volume mandates and — for the first time — to include a pathway for electric vehicle manufacturers to generate lucrative credits. Biden wants to fight climate change by reducing fossil fuel […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
