In what is being described as a “momentous occasion” by its chairperson, the Board of Directors of Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute) has approved a new governance model for the institute, according to a press release. The change, approved at its annual general meeting on June 18, will see board membership expand to include representation... Read More
Category: Food
Pollinators, including honeybees, are essential to food production all over the world. It's why farmers are always encouraged to chose insecticides that are as pest-specific as possible and to avoid applying them when pollinators are flying. Pollinators are not just good for bumping yields, they are necessary for some crops to even set seed. Recent... Read More
With the recent flooding that’s plagued Alberta, cattle producers understandably have other things on their mind besides new technology. But at some point, when the situation settles down, they’ll find themselves in a delicate position – that is, heading for the front lines of science, promoting irradiation for beef. Irradiation would help kill nasty E-coli... Read More
Farm Credit Canada launched a massive, industry-wide PR campaign last year not for itself but for the entire agriculture industry. Yes, agriculture — farming, food, the industry, farmers — for everyone. The Agriculture More Than Ever movement has since been joined by several partners, including RealAgriculture.com, with a goal of connecting consumers to agriculture and... Read More
Purebred cattle operations rely largely on DNA for parentage verification and identifying potential genetic defects, but where is the rest of the industry at with genomics? Is there a role for genome mapping in commercial herds? How will it help the industry as a whole? "There's genomic tools for every sector of the value chain... Read More
For food product businesses, marketing and distribution is a major cost and time commitment, but it's a necessary element of success. For small-scale or start-up businesses, letting the world know what you have to offer can be especially difficult. Sask Made Marketplace is working to help bridge the gap between consumers and small-scale Saskatchewan-based food... Read More
A few weeks ago, I visited Mike Dugan, meat lipid scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to ask about feeding flax seed to pigs to increase omega-3s in pork, and thus diversify the consumer base. But, one may ask, where's the beef? Well, a current study at the Lacombe Research Centre in Alberta is looking... Read More
As farmers continue to look for ways to capitalize on the local food movement, some new hints were offered up earlier this week from researchers at the University of Florida. In the southeastern U.S., Florida is considered the state with the greatest diversity of what most people would typically call local food, particularly fruit and... Read More
Shaun Haney, founder of RealAgriculture.com, spoke with Willie Van Solkema, president of JBS Canada, at the Saskatchewan Stock Growers' 100th AGM this week to get an update on JBS's move into Canada. Up for discussion: JBS Canada's foray into existing markets for the former-XL Foods products, which markets are still closed to the company and... Read More
The XL Foods beef recall over E. coli contamination and its detection was one of the top ag news stories of 2012. It's unfortunate that bad news is big news, and even worse that once the dust settles we discover that what happened was preventable even within the existing rules and regulations. An independent panel's... Read More