Reading Time: 4 minutes Protecting crops from the ravages of fusarium is a never-ending job for investigators like Dr. Dilantha Fernando and his staff at the University of Manitoba. The most common species of the pathogen is fusarium graminearum, commonly known as fusarium head blight (FHB) or fusarium scab. It’s a cereal crop pathogen that has become the most […] Read more
University sets its sights on fusarium
This major U of M lab program hopes to stop fusarium before it starts
COOL saga winding down, but not over yet
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– The seven-year saga of U.S. country of origin labelling (COOL) rules and their adverse impact on Canada’s livestock sector may be nearing its final chapter, but the conclusion still needs to be written. After numerous complaints and appeals with the World Trade Organization, the COOL regulations in place since 2008 have been […] Read more
Where water leaves the farm
Improve your productivity by starting where water leaves your farm, and then work backwards
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the chase for higher yields and improved production, farmers have tapped into everything from precision ag systems to a return to cover crops. Now comes a concept that might not only boost yields and enhance soil health, it might also alleviate some of the pressure on farmers that starts with surface run-off heading into […] Read more
LGBT on the farm
On these farms, diversity is good for business
Reading Time: 7 minutes Now 33, Otis Bell admits he’s outside the mainstream of agriculture. Growing up in Seattle, Bell next lived in Olympia, where he got his first taste of growing plants and gardening, and where he decided to get more directly involved with farming. “I think being queer made me take a step out of some of […] Read more
The China (economic) factor and Canadian agriculture
Does China’s economic slowdown have to be bad news for Canada’s farmers? We ask Errol Anderson, does he see hope in the year ahead?
Reading Time: 6 minutes For the first instalment in our five-part series this fall and winter, we sat down with Calgary-based grain market adviser and regular Country Guide contributor Errol Anderson for his insights into what to look for in markets this year. The billion-dollar question, Anderson says, is what will happen in China. Other issues are important too, […] Read more
Win the right battle – for the sake of food
Not only is the food we eat bad for us, but the practices that produced it are unsound too. Or so goes the message that too many consumers get too often from our mainstream media
Reading Time: 5 minutes The science is clear. “If you look at Western Canada and you look at a four-year crop rotation that starts anchored by a pulse crop at the front end, I believe that’s one of the most sustainable farming systems in the world,” says John Oliver, president of Maple Leaf Bio-Concepts. Many of the loudest, harshest […] Read more
Dairy farmers milk politics of Pacific trade pact
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — New Zealand dairy farmers have a message for their Canadian counterparts, who worry a Pacific trade deal will throw them on the mercy of world markets and devastate their industry: It’s not so bad. But heavily protected Canadian farmers have reason for skepticism. A deadlock over dairy has emerged as one of the […] Read more
U.S. House win revives Obama’s Trans-Pacific trade pact
Reading Time: 3 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. lawmakers narrowly approved legislation key to securing a hallmark Pacific trade deal on Thursday, partly reversing a defeat less than a week before, in a boost to President Barack Obama’s goal of strengthening U.S. economic ties with Asia. The House of Representatives voted 218 to 208 to give the White […] Read more
U.S. seeks arbitration at WTO over COOL-related sanctions
Reading Time: 2 minutes The U.S. government has mounted a new defense at the World Trade Organization for its meat label law, this time seeking arbitration against Canada’s request for trade sanctions. The WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) had been scheduled Wednesday to hear Canadian trade officials’ request to authorize over $3 billion in tariffs on U.S. goods, in formal retaliation […] Read more
Colombia clears paper trail for more Canadian wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Continuous engagement” has led to a lighter regulatory load on Canadian wheat bound for Colombia, already Canada’s seventh-biggest wheat export market. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and trade group Cereals Canada on Tuesday announced Colombia has eased phytosanitary import rules for Canadian wheat, “effectively putting Canada on a level playing field with other exporting countries.” Colombia’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
