London | Reuters — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise US$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as […] Read more
World Food Program seeking billions within six months to avert famine
Pandemic may double hunger worldwide, agency says
Fertilizer use fuelling climate-warming nitrous oxide emissions, study says
London | Reuters — Rising use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is driving up global emissions of nitrous oxide, a lesser-known greenhouse gas, complicating efforts to limit climate change, scientists reported in a study on Wednesday. Most of the focus in curbing climate-warming gas emissions has focused on the most abundant, carbon dioxide, and one of the […] Read more
Study shows how U.S. farm landscapes could be reshaped by climate
Plains' wheat belt would see 'hollowing-out'
London | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Climate change could render swaths of agricultural land largely useless for farming in the U.S. South, and force Midwestern farmers to move corn and soybeans elsewhere as crop yields decline, researchers said on Monday. The profits of growing six key crops are set to fall by almost a third […] Read more
JBS vows to monitor whole cattle supply chain’s impact on Amazon
Packer plans to move against cattle 'laundering'
Sao Paulo | Reuters — JBS SA, the world’s top meatpacker, said Wednesday it plans to combat destruction in the Amazon by monitoring its entire supply chain for deforestation by 2025, as pressure mounts from environmentalists and investors. Brazilian meatpackers are facing increasing criticism that beef production is fueling deforestation in the Amazon, where cleared […] Read more
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
Making rotational grazing the norm would be a ‘win win,’ says study
If all of Alberta’s grasslands were rotational grazed, 1.2 million tonnes of carbon could be sequestered every year
Reading Time: 4 minutes Grazing your cattle just a little differently could be a win win for your operation and the environment, says a new study from the University of Alberta. “The idea is to evaluate alternative grazing systems to see which ones are best and which ones maximize the sequestration and storage of carbon,” said ecology professor, Mark […] Read more
Wheat in Whitehorse: How climate change helps feed Canada’s remote regions
Newfoundland and Labrador also pushing to expand arable land base
Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — After failing to grow wheat in the Yukon territory 15 years ago, farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve gave it another shot in 2017. Thanks to longer summers, he has reaped three straight harvests. This spring he plans to sow canola on his family’s 450-acre farm near Whitehorse, a city not much further from […] Read more
New Brunswick postpones pesticide use hearings
Deadline extended for written submissions
The New Brunswick government’s planned public hearings on the use of glyphosate and other pesticides are postponed, and more time is being granted for the public to file written briefs. The provincial legislature’s all-party standing committee on climate change and environmental stewardship on Feb. 5 announced it would hold hearings in Fredericton March 24-27 “on […] Read more
The complicated calculus of climate change
While Canadian farmers may see a longer growing season, there may be more pests and less rain
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farming and food production will be changed as a result of climate change — but the how is a complicated question. “Agriculture is a unique sector,” University of B.C. Professor Navin Ramankutty said earlier this month during this year’s edition of the Bentley Lecture in Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Alberta. “Agriculture is a […] Read more
Cashing in on carbon: It’s coming, says expert
Big multinationals are vowing to reduce their carbon footprint and this will create an opportunity for farmers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Alberta farmers lead the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions — they just don’t get paid for it, says an expert in the carbon-credit market. But that’s starting to change, said Jon Alcock, sustainability specialist at Viresco Solutions, a company that develops carbon credits and “carbon intensity scores.” “On a global scene, Alberta has been […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
