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
Feds back autonomous weederbot’s Halifax manufacturer
ACOA funding to support field-level trials
Agco to buy GrainViz system’s Winnipeg developer
System due out in limited release this fall
U.S. farm machinery firm Agco has set up a deal to buy its Winnipeg partner in the development of the GSI GrainViz grain monitoring system. Georgia-based Agco announced Friday it now has an agreement to acquire 151 Research, with which it had signed an “exclusive technology partnership” back in December 2018 to develop the GrainViz […] Read more
Hail claims about average
Reading Time: < 1 minute So far, it’s been an average season when it comes to hail damage, says the Canadian Crop Hail Association. There have been more than 10,000 claims this year, the association said in an Aug. 31 release. Alberta has about one-quarter of those claims. “Claims filed in Alberta are currently close to last year’s numbers, but […] Read more
Bibeau not considering closing AgriInvest accounts
Minister wouldn't order farmers to pull funds
Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau is not considering ordering producers to withdraw from their AgriInvest accounts. “Not in this way. All the options are on the table for the future, but I’ve never considered asking them to withdraw, to empty their accounts, to face COVID-19,” she said in an interview Friday. Bibeau had previously expressed […] Read more
The lowdown on wild oat resistance
Reading Time: < 1 minute Currently, 69 per cent of wild oats on the Prairies have some type of herbicide resistance, and there are limited control options if the weed has developed both Group 1 and 2 resistance. In light of this, the Resistant Wild Oat Action Committee is working to develop increased awareness, beginning with a series of infographics. […] Read more
COVID-19 means harvest will be ‘especially challenging’
You need all hands on deck, but what if someone shows symptoms of a cold or flu?
Reading Time: 4 minutes This year’s harvest is not going to be a normal one — and farmers and their families need to make adjustments accordingly, says the executive director of AgSafe Alberta. “It’s a significant challenge on farms because we’re looking at a cropping season that could last from now until November, so we have to manage people […] Read more
Dreyfus reportedly in talks to sell stake to Abu Dhabi’s ADQ
Reuters — Commodity trader Louis Dreyfus Corp. is in talks to sell a stake to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. For the privately held company, which has been facing a challenging business environment, bringing external investors would be a first in its 169-year […] Read more
Seed groups weigh options as CSGA rejects merger
Grower group's membership calls nay on Seeds Canada amalgamation
The boards of five national seed sector groups planning a major merger are considering their next move after a less-than-unanimous vote on the proposal. Members of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency (CPTA), Commercial Seed Analysts Association of Canada (CSAAC), Canadian Seed Growers’ Association (CSGA), Canadian Seed Institute (CSI) and Canadian Seed Trade Association (CSTA) had […] Read more
Syngenta says IPO ‘on track’
Ag chem firm books higher first-half profit
Zurich | Reuters — Agricultural chemical maker Syngenta posted higher first-half profit and sales on Thursday, helped by maintaining supplies to farmers and controlling costs during the coronavirus outbreak, and said it was on track to complete its public listing by mid-2022. The Swiss company, bought by state-owned ChemChina for $43 billion in 2017, posted […] Read more
No repeat of the ‘harvest from hell,’ says weather forecaster
Reading Time: < 1 minute The fall harvest season will be somewhat wetter than normal but nothing like last year, according to AccuWeather. There is also a low risk for an early freeze, meteorologist and Canada weather expert Brett Anderson said in the company’s fall forecast on Aug. 14. “The latest signals favour most regions having a low risk of […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
