There is an explosion of innovation coming to the farm as a new age of sensors and satellite imagery intersects with the world’s oldest industry, the executive vice-president and chief technology office for Monsanto Co. says. Robb Fraley, who was in Calgary recently to address the GrowCanada Conference, said in an interview that although agriculture
Explosion of innovation coming to the farm
The chief technology officer for Monsanto Co. says the interface between data and biology will be a powerful tool
Consumers are demanding companies prove their sustainability commitment
The rapidly changing retail food sector wants to know what you do on your farm
The $118-billion retail food sector in Canada is becoming increasingly fragmented but it still shares one thing in common: a commitment to trust and transparency, a retail food expert told delegates at the recent GrowCanada conference. That has repercussions that trace through the value chain all the way to the farm, John F.T. Scott said.
Making bread — and maybe history too
The first loaves of bread made from Kernza have been gobbled up in Manitoba
You won’t be buying Kernza bread in a Manitoba bakery or grocery store any time soon, but a small group of proponents see it as a sign of things to come. Guests at a small reception at the Tall Grass Prairie Bakery in downtown Winnipeg Nov. 23 were treated to loaves of freshly baked sourdough
Editorial: Food solitudes
World Food Day on Oct. 16 shed light on some confusing twists around global food security. The annual UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) event dating back to 1945 now falls five days after another big day — World Obesity Day, established by the World Obesity Foundation in 2015 to highlight the growing epidemic expected
Farmers’ focus must shift from yields to soil health
But looking after the land doesn’t have to result in a ‘yield penalty’
A funny thing happens whenever talk turns to how to make farming more sustainable. As various options for improving how agriculture treats the natural environment are discussed, someone inevitably brings up the “yield penalty” farmers and society would pay. That penalty is seen as the gap between conventional methods using tillage and high rates of
Degraded soils cost farmers billions annually
Yet soil care remains a low priority for policy-makers as well as farmers
Farmers have reduced the amount of soil they lose through annual cropping practices, but they continue to carry a costly legacy of degraded soils, a University of Manitoba soil scientist says. David Lobb used crop production data and computer models to estimate how much lost productivity has occurred over the past four decades due to
Editorial: Preparing for an uncertain future
It’s a hot, dry summer on the Prairies, so much so that farmers farther west have started to harvest their cereal crops for livestock feed. A heat wave nicknamed “Lucifer” is scorching much of Europe this summer and climate change experts are suggesting these are a greater threat to human life in the short term
Editorial: Changing times, changing tastes
It’s not unusual for grownup kids to call ahead before coming home to give the resident cook time to prepare their special requests, usually for the likes of apple pie that fill the house with delicious aromas and the heart with warmth. But this time, the request was unusual. “If you’re bored this weekend, could
Farmers watch markets rally as crops wither
Weather and market analyst Bruce Burnett took a first-hand look at crops across the West
If Glacier FarmMedia weather and market analyst Bruce Burnett had to pick one word to sum up the state of the Prairie crop this summer, it would be “variable.” Burnett logged a 4,500-km crop tour across the Prairies in mid-July and reported in at the third annual Ag in Motion farm show about what he
Not just a driverless tractor, but no tractor at all
A global launch at Ag in Motion could change the way you farm
While farmers have been waiting impatiently for equipment designers to commercialize the driverless tractor, Prairie inventor and entrepreneur Norbert Beaujot has found a way to ditch the tractor altogether. And he’s rolling it out for the first time in July 18 to 20 at Ag in Motion (AIM), Western Canada’s outdoor farm show now in
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
