Reading Time: 4 minutes Another new President’s Choice product made headlines recently. But who would have guessed what it was this time? Are you ready? It’s cricket powder, now part of Loblaw’s popular private label brand. Last year’s breakthrough seems so much more pedestrian by comparison. It was a vegetarian burger that bleeds like a real meat patty on […] Read more
Meat-less meat takes a big step closer to becoming mainstream
Terms like “cultured proteins” may not make anyone salivate the way a sizzling steak can, but that’s not stopping Canada’s grocery sector from getting ready for meat-case revolution
Farm in South Africa?
The land is there, and so is the climate. But this may not be the land of milk and honey for you
Reading Time: 5 minutes In many ways, South Africa is an agricultural success story. Its produce and its wines are enjoyed in many countries around the world, and the country isn’t plagued by famines or food shortages like others on the African continent. And yet beneath the apparent prosperity and stability, risks await farmers in a country still struggling […] Read more
Africa feeding Africa
While North America’s farmers pin their career hopes on the need to feed a hungry Africa, that continent’s farmers are making plans of their own
Reading Time: 5 minutes A core belief in North American agriculture is that our farmers must produce ever more food if we are to have any hope of feeding the world, particularly areas like Africa where the population is growing so rapidly. The numbers are indeed staggering. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Africa’s population will hit 2.5 billion […] Read more
China powers up
The world’s most populous country gets serious about farm machinery
Reading Time: 6 minutes Like so much of China, the country’s agriculture is in a state of transition. While some sectors of the industry are barreling full speed into mechanization, with impressive rates of technology adoption to match the latest in global production standards, the road to modernizing agricultural production isn’t always a smooth one. China is the world’s […] Read more
China wants more
This time, it’s China’s demand for safe, high-quality foods that is exploding
Reading Time: 6 minutes For almost any marketer or producer of just about anything, the Chinese market is one they’re eager to get into. The world’s most populous country boasts a potential 1.4 billion customers, and both its middle class and their purchasing power are on the rise. Research by consultants McKinsey & Co. suggests that by 2022, more […] Read more
AGCO bets big on China
While the war of words heats up between Beijing and Washington, AGCO is becoming a major player in the Chinese economy
Reading Time: 6 minutes One of the world’s largest farm equipment manufacturers is predicting a bright future in China, and it is putting its money behind that belief. AGCO, parent company of well-known brands Massey Ferguson, Fendt, Valtra, GSI, and Challenger, has opened a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Changzhou to serve both its international needs and what it […] Read more
OSCIA: Non-traditional crops may yield health market opportunities
Reading Time: 3 minutes There may be opportunities for Ontario farmers to grow medicinal and culinary herbs, as well as other non-traditional crops, for the health market — but the first step is determining whether it’s possible to grow these crops in Ontario. That step was the basis of a Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA)-led […] Read more
OSCIA: Cover crop options after winter wheat and into standing corn
Reading Time: 3 minutes A two-year research project underway in southwestern Ontario is evaluating various cover crops, including when and where to plant and how to manage them to achieve the best results. They’re being planted either after winter wheat harvest or into standing corn. “About five to 10 per cent of field crop growers use them on a […] Read more
OSCIA: Managing soybean seedling diseases can cut production costs
Reading Time: 3 minutes High soybean yields begin with a healthy stand of vigorous plants. Seedling diseases, along with other factors such as weather, can result in the need to replant and drive up the cost of production. A project underway in conjunction with researchers from the U.S. is determining which pathogens affect soybean seedlings, and developing diagnostic tools […] Read more
OSCIA: Disease awareness can improve alfalfa yield, quality
Reading Time: 3 minutes Traditional diseases affecting alfalfa crops are as prevalent as emerging ones — that’s the somewhat surprising finding of the 2012 alfalfa disease survey that was conducted in Ontario last year to look at incidence, distribution and severity of many common diseases affecting commercial alfalfa fields in Ontario. “We were initially thinking we would find mostly […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
