A Canada-wide map of drought conditions. Photo credit: Canadian Drought Monitor

Drought conditions remain in Alberta, Saskatchewan

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — After copious amounts of precipitation alleviated the most severe drought conditions in Saskatchewan and Alberta, there were still some areas dealing with extreme dryness entering July, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. At the end of June, only 22 per cent of the Prairie region was classified in the Abnormally Dry (D0) to […] Read more



Photo: McCain Foods Ltd.

McCain acquires predictive crop technology

Reading Time: < 1 minute McCain Foods Ltd. has purchased predictive crop intelligence technology from Resson, a ‘vision intelligence technology’ firm headquartered in Fredericton, N.B. McCain has been a long-time partner with Resson, working together for nine years to develop algorithms that forecast farm yields using remote sensing technology. The technology will enable producers to make more appropriate decisions through […] Read more

Signage outside McCain’s Farms of The Future site at Florenceville-Bristol, about 110 km northwest of Fredericton. (Photos courtesy McCain)

Learning from McCain’s regenerative farming practices

Potato processing giant aims to 'de-risk' practices for growers

Reading Time: 3 minutes In 2021 McCain said it was going to launch three regenerative potato farming operations by 2025 and would label them “Farms of the Future.” The first, just outside of Florenceville-Bristol, N.B., now offers data to reflect on the effectiveness of the practices at the potato farm after its first fully operational season. “If we don’t […] Read more


Kellogg’s Canadian operations include its Mini-Wheats plant at Belleville, Ont. and its Canadian office in Mississauga. Other cereals and snack brands imported by Kellogg Canada are produced elsewhere in North America, the company says. (Kellogg Co. photo)

Kellogg to spin off into three food companies

Plant-based foods, North American cereals to be hived off

Reading Time: 3 minutes The company that makes Mini-Wheats cereal, Pringles potato crisps and MorningStar veggie burgers now plans to see those each of those three product lines go their separate ways by the end of next year. Michigan-based Kellogg Co. said Tuesday its board has approved a plan to break into three yet-to-be-named independent publicly-traded companies by way […] Read more

Close-up file photo of an alfalfa plant in a Canadian field. (Jennifer Seeman/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. seed potato producers backed for ‘soil-building’

Province puts up $3 million for BMP program

Reading Time: 2 minutes In an attempt to support its potato farmers following trade suspensions with the U.S. over potato wart, the government of Prince Edward Island plans to put up $3 million in new funding for a program that will help farmers shift to “soil-building crops.” “In our meetings with industry and the P.E.I. Potato Board, the need […] Read more


A sign with McDonald’s golden-arches logo is on display near one of the chain’s restaurants in Moscow on May 16, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)

Golden arches to go dark in Russia as McDonald’s exits after 30 years

Russia, Ukraine form nine per cent of chain's revenue

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. on Monday became one of the biggest global brands to exit Russia, laying out plans to sell all its restaurants after operating in the country for more than 30 years following the invasion of Ukraine. The world’s largest burger chain, which owns about 84 per cent of its nearly 850 restaurants […] Read more

(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Alberta seeding ahead of five-year average

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — While spring planting in Alberta is 12.2 per cent complete overall there’s a disparity between the south and the rest of the province. Also, the pace was 2.6 points above the five-year average, but 5.2 behind last year. As of Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture found seeding in the south was at 36.5 per cent […] Read more


File photo of a P.E.I. potato field against the backdrop of the Confederation Bridge. (Onepony/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. table stock potato exports to U.S. now allowed

New U.S. order replaces previous requirements; seed potatoes still blocked

Reading Time: 3 minutes Exports of Prince Edward Island table stock potatoes are again officially allowed to enter the mainland United States, after new U.S. entry rules regarding potato wart were published Friday. Canada’s federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said on Twitter that officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are now preparing to certify exports of eligible […] Read more

Manitoba researchers say that the mustard should be flailed rather than mowed and that it should be incorporated within a few minutes because isothiocyanates can volatilize within 20 minutes of chopping.

Mustard biofumigation: coming to a field near you?

Its anti-pest properties are confirmed in potato, but researchers are looking at whether it has prospects for other crops

Reading Time: 5 minutes There may be more than one reason to plant mustard in 2022.  Some producers will hope to springboard off 2021’s shortages and grow food-grade mustard for domestic and international markets. But others might choose mustard for a less conventional reason: as a biofumigant cover crop to help quash soil-borne pests and diseases. Mustard contains glucosinolates […] Read more