Reading Time: 2 minutes It can be worrying to see insects crawling over your nicely developing crop, but are they doing any damage? And even if they are, before ordering the insecticide, will spraying kill the good bugs that are already at work controlling the bad ones, not to mention other insects that are important for pollination? While killing […] Read more

Be kind to your insect friends
Of the thousands of insect species around your fields, only a few damage crops. Here’s a guide to identifying and protecting the good bugs that eat the bad ones

PHOTOS: A guide to beneficial insects
Reading Time: < 1 minute There are thousands of insect species in the fields across Canada. But how can you tell which are the beneficial insects and which bugs are trouble? Here’s a quick guide to help you identify and protect the good bugs that prey on the bad ones. This guide is also available on the Manitoba Agriculture website at www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture […] Read more

Canadian producers to plant record canola crop, boost soybean acres
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada – Canadian oilseed acreage is set to boom according to the latest acreage estimates from Statistics Canada. Today, the agency released its Principal Fields Crops Acreage Summary for 2017/18 on April 21. It pegged canola acreage at a record 22.387 million acres, a jump of 2.02 million acres over last year. “It’s no surprise […] Read more

Tight chickpea supplies to limit Canadian acres
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Tight chickpea supplies will keep Canada from taking advantage of fresh demand out of Turkey, while any acreage increases will also be hampered by poor seed supply. Due to its own domestic chickpea shortage, Turkey recently announced it was temporarily lifting import tariffs on chickpeas. Turkey has bought Canadian chickpeas in the […] Read more

Ontario waste plan to include ban on food waste disposal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s new strategy for a “waste-free” province includes a proposal to ban food waste from disposal, instead finding “creative strategies” to recycle it. The province on Wednesday announced its new “Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy,” which calls for industries to divert more of the waste they produce away from landfills, and […] Read more

Pulse crop sales to India dry up over pest-control plan
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg/Mumbai | Reuters –– Canadian exporters are slowing sales of peas and lentils to India, threatening $1.1 billion in annual trade of the food staples, over risk that New Delhi may reject shipments under its tougher approach to pest control. India requires shippers to fumigate crops with methyl bromide, an insect-killing gas, in the country […] Read more

Maple Leaf to buy U.S. veggie dog, burger maker
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian meat packer Maple Leaf Foods is buying space on the non-meat side of the deli section with a deal for U.S. processor Lightlife Foods. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Tuesday it would pay US$140 million for Lightlife, which makes vegetarian burgers, hot dogs, sausage, deli cuts, jerky and other meatless protein products at Turners Falls, […] Read more

Pulse crop strategy aims to broaden pulse demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new market development goal for Canada’s pulse crop industry hopes to create demand in use categories where pulses aren’t yet a major player. Pulse Canada’s board on Wednesday released a new target dubbed “25 by 2025,” under which the Canadian pulse crop grower/processor industry “will marshal its resources to create new demand in new […] Read more

Lentils, chickpeas can help reverse soil erosion trend, U.N. says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rome | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Planting more lentils, chickpeas and other pulses will improve the health of the world’s soils that have reached critical levels, threatening to worsen hunger and poverty levels, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday. About a third of the world’s soils are degraded because of soil […] Read more

CETA clears legal test hurdle in EU parliament
Reading Time: 2 minutes Strasbourg | Reuters –– The planned EU-Canada free trade deal cleared a hurdle to its implementation next year when the European Parliament rejected a motion on Wednesday to ask the top European Union court to rule on its legality. The vote by lawmakers in the parliament is an indication they will also ultimately back the […] Read more