The way farmers support new variety development of most open-pollinated and trait-free crops is set to change. Currently, the federal government is hosting consultation meetings across Canada to garner feedback from farmers, plant breeders, seed companies, and industry on two proposed systems: end point royalty or trailing royalty contracts. The impending change has been a… Read More
Category: Research
Plants communicate. So much so, that they actually sense weed competition and reduce yield potential even before they emerge from the ground. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s just one of the many scientific facts that University of Guelph weed scientist Dr. Clarence Swanton has helped prove during his 35-year career. Over the… Read More
In any industry, you can go backwards by merely standing still. In research, even something as traditional as wheat research, the same is true. You have to keep moving forward or other players will pass you and your innovations will be obsolete before they even get out of the laboratory. Luckily for Canadian farmers, there… Read More
Regulations are often disliked by by both producers and consumers. Producers think there is too much red tape and consumers think regulators are too accommodating to business. But when the regulatory system works – when it trusted and predictable – everyone benefits. The recent Canola Discovery Forum at Banff, Alta., brought together a host of… Read More
It’s not often a company opens the doors to its multi-million dollar seed research centre, so when you get the chance for a tour, you take it. Last month, Syngenta held its media summit which wrapped up by taking both Canadian and American agricultural journalists on a trip to Stanton, Minnesota, to check out their… Read More
Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) at Lethbridge, Alta., is a big sprawling facility that does a wide variety of research. That being said, they are particularly known for their wheat research, and for good reason. They do innovative work, and the research team has bred many stalwart wheat varieties for Canadian farmers. In this episode… Read More
The joke in Saskatoon is that you come for the weather, but stay because you can’t get a flight out. Kidding aside, Saskatoon is actually a hub of biotech research and development with findings and products with the potential to benefit farmers all over the world. Because of this, Global Biotech Week is an event… Read More
Landscape restoration: do you do it? You might want to think about doing it, because chances are you’re losing yield if you don’t, according to Marla Riekman, land management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. In the simplest terms, landscape restoration is moving soil back from where it came from. When growers use tillage year after year,… Read More
There’s no messing around when the lead researcher of the subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system at Lethbridge College asks for soil for her project. Bins measuring six by three metres and one metre deep were filled with three different, but common topsoil types found in southern Alberta. They include Grassy Lake sand, Lomond loam and Coaldale clay… Read More