McCain foods has launched Presia Ag Insights, a firm that will use artificial intelligence to advise growers.  Photo: McCain Foods

McCain launches new predictive ag firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes McCain Foods has formed a new digital agriculture subsidiary, Presia Ag Insights. The move builds on McCain’s 2022 acquisition of a “predictive crop portfolio” from Resson, a Fredricton, New Brunswick firm that uses artificial intelligence to advise farmers on crop management decisions. McCain, in a media release, said the Presia launch is “the result of […] Read more

File photo of immature peaches on a tree in California’s San Joaquin Valley. (GomezDavid/iStock/Getty Images)

Major U.S. peach producer files for bankruptcy to pursue sale

Setbacks have included salmonella, fires, heavy debts

Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — Prima, a private-equity backed farmer that is the largest producer of peaches and other stone fruit in North America, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Friday. The company, owned by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners, has about $679 million in debt, and plans to sell its […] Read more


File photo of a Prince Edward Island potato field. (Onepony/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. potato growers, CFIA to draft plan for ‘pest-free places’

Plan would support movement of seed potatoes, feds say

Reading Time: 2 minutes A system of “pest-free places of production” (PFPP) is now on the drawing board for Prince Edward Island’s potato sector, following a meeting between federal and industry officials. Federal Agriculture Minister and P.E.I. MP Lawrence MacAulay on Friday reported meeting with staff and representatives of the P.E.I. Potato Board, to discuss next steps in the […] Read more

ICE November 2023 FCOJ with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

Orange juice prices near all-time high as storm hits Florida

Crop was already expected to be small

Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — Orange juice prices at the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) rose more than three per cent on Wednesday, heading back toward an all-time high hit earlier this month, as storm Idalia slammed parts of main U.S. orange producer Florida. Contracts for frozen concentrated orange juice (FCOJ) at ICE hit a high of […] Read more


File photo of a vineyard in South Australia. (Alicat/iStock/Getty Images)

Australian wine industry faces hangover from China’s tariffs

Over two billion litres of wine in storage

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s wine industry faces severe oversupply problems that will need years to resolve, experts say, pointing to Chinese tariffs, high production and export bottlenecks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vineyards nationwide have enough wine in domestic storage to fill 859 Olympic swimming pools, Rabobank said this week in its third-quarter wine report. […] Read more

File photo of a potato field in Alberta’s Lacombe County. (COrthner/iStock/Getty Images)

Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy

New report verifies what many in industry suspected

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of […] Read more


Peter VanderZaag has taken all he’s learned about soil health and applied it to his Sunrise Potato Storage endeavour.

A potato producer’s commitment to change

Embracing soil health and new technologies helped Peter VanderZaag build a successful potato business. Like most farmers these days, he’s faced with having to do more with less

Reading Time: 4 minutes Every farmer knows that change is inevitable. New markets beckon, new technologies emerge, end-user tastes, preferences and opportunities shift, and it’s often the primary producer who’s one of the first to react. Peter VanderZaag has spent much of his farming career investing wisely in new equipment, securing contracts and growing his Sunrise Potato Storage business […] Read more

McCain Foods’ Farm of the Future in Florenceville, N.B., is the centrepiece of the company’s regenerative agriculture efforts in Canada.

Breaking down barriers to sustainability in potato production

McCain Foods teams up with Farm Credit Canada and McDonald’s Canada to provide financial incentives for farmers who adopt regenerative agricultural practices

Reading Time: 4 minutes McCain Foods pledged two years ago to implement regenerative agricultural practices across 100 per cent of its potato acreage worldwide by 2030. To help reach that goal, the company is now offering up financial solutions to make sustainable farming more affordable for Canadian potato producers. McCain Foods announced in November it was teaming up with […] Read more


New fungicides for potato producers in 2023

New fungicides for potato producers in 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutes Gavel Zoxamide and mancozeb are the active ingredients for Gavel, a new fungicide from Gowan, which says they work in synergy to protect crops from major diseases. Zoxamide kills fungal zoospores before they are released and attempt to penetrate leaf surfaces. Mancozeb inhibits spore germination and disrupts enzyme activity. Gowan says Gavel provides excellent control […] Read more

Envita plot trials exhibit the difference between potatoes treated with Envita (left) and the untreated checks (right).

A new source of nitrogen for crops

Biological products like Utrisha N and Envita enable potatoes and other crops to harvest nitrogen from the air

Reading Time: 5 minutes The question of how different crop production would be if plants could fix their own nitrogen has been at the forefront of researchers’ work and stakeholders’ interests for more than 60 years. Aside from the ability of soybeans and edible beans to fix their own nitrogen, researchers have sought to find the same process for […] Read more