Reading Time: < 1 minute Beijing | Reuters — China will complete a new national crop germplasm bank this year, the agriculture minister said Wednesday, to boost the country’s capacity to develop new crop varieties and enhance food security. The bank has a designed capacity of 1.5 million copies, almost four times the existing one, and will be the world’s […] Read more
China building world’s largest seed bank
Larger facility a bid to boost food security
Bibeau says government committed to federal plant breeding
Seed royalty consultations stalled
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian government is committed to plant breeding, federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau told members of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation on Tuesday. Some farmers and seed industry officials suspect Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) variety development work, along with many other programs, will be on the chopping block post-COVID-19 as the government tackles its […] Read more
Driving up the cost of seed
Is the new Seeds Canada getting foisted on farmers just to make us boost seed company profits?
Reading Time: 6 minutes The summer of 2020 will go down in history for changing the fundamentals of grain production in Canada. And it seems many farmers are not even aware this is happening. I am talking about the ratification of Seeds Canada. I hear you ask, “Who, or what, is Seeds Canada?” Seeds Canada is the proposed name […] Read more
Farm suppliers race COVID-19 spread for planting season
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — North America’s biggest farm suppliers are accelerating shipments of fertilizer, seeds and agricultural chemicals to crop-growing regions in an unprecedented race against the coronavirus that threatens to disrupt planting season. The timing could not be worse for farmers preparing to plant crops. Disruptions in deliveries of fertilizer, seeds or chemicals could […] Read more
Prairie elevators’ staff aim for on-site distancing
Cargill, P+H elevators stay open but with arm's-length approach
Reading Time: 2 minutes At least two Prairie grain handling firms plan to continue taking deliveries from farmers during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic — but to make the process as touchless as possible. Cargill, in a email to customers Wednesday, said its Canadian grain elevators, crush plants and ag input retail sites will remain open for deliveries and pickups, […] Read more
North Dakota still on lookout for Palmer amaranth
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– Officials in North Dakota continue to hunt down suspicious plants in a bid to keep the aggressive weed Palmer amaranth from establishing there. Palmer amaranth, a pigweed species, made its first confirmed appearance in North Dakota last month, in a soybean field in McIntosh County, in the south-central area of the state. […] Read more
Richardson buying two Alberta crop input retailers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two independent crop input retailers in northeastern Alberta will become part of Richardson Pioneer’s ag retail chain starting Friday. Richardson on Monday announced it will buy Webb’s Crop Services Ltd. at Vermilion and Agro Guys Inc. at Forestburg, about 165 km southwest of Vermilion, for undisclosed sums. Both deals are expected to close Thursday, with […] Read more
Hogs seen as key factor in input cost hikes
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Canada’s Farm Input Price Index has climbed slightly for the first quarter of this year. Canada-wide, the index rose 1.3 per cent for the first quarter of this year compared to the final quarter of 2016. When comparing this year’s first quarter to last year’s first quarter, however, input prices in the […] Read more
Garlic growers look to develop certified seed
A certified program would help build a knowledge base for pest control measures
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Ontario garlic industry is gradually working to create a cleaner seed supply, which should help reduce disease transmission on cloves. “There is no certified seed in Canada at this time,” says Joann Chechalk president of the Garlic Growers Association of Ontario, and a Smithville, Ont. garlic grower. “Other countries are developing it. Spain and […] Read more
SeCan at 40
Born in 1976, is SeCan living up to its promise to deliver better, more cost-effective genetics by supporting public research?
Reading Time: 6 minutes In the days leading up to 1976, new public sector seed varieties were few and far between, as Ray Askin recalls things. Askin, who grows seed at Portage la Prairie and is today’s president of the Manitoba Seed Growers Association also remembers it as a time marred by disorganization. “SeCan gave a structured format for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
