New technology focuses on native gene manipulation

The pace of canola seed innovation has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, but that doesn’t mean the industry can take a break or rest on its laurels. As canola production and consumption has increased over the last four or five years, the amount of soybean oil used worldwide has dropped by four billion

Think you know what the future holds? Think again, says bestselling author

Crop-guzzling equines once posed serious risk to human health in major cities before an unlikely saviour appeared

Next time someone tells you what the future holds, think manure. Literally. That’s the advice of writer Stephen Dubner, who used the tale of a century-old manure crisis to illustrate the folly of predicting what lies ahead. “Human beings are terrible at predicting the future,” the journalist and co-author of Freakonomics told attendees at the


Social media: Lending credibility to marketing in the digital age

Just being good isn’t enough. Being special can elevate products like canola oil to new levels and increase sales

Low in saturated fat and high in healthy omega-3 fatty acids canola oil, offers clear health benefits to consumers. But marketers can’t expect the product to sell itself — they need to grease the wheels. Kit Yarrow, a consumer psychologist, author and consultant spoke at the Canola Council of Canada’s convention in Washington, D.C. about

Crops briefs March 1, 2012

Canola top revenue earner Farm gate receipts for canola deliveries in 2011 reached $7.3 billion in Canada, up 30.6 per cent from 2010, according to Statistics Canada’s report from February 23. “Canola provided Canadian growers a strong revenue outlook for 2011, which is why we saw over 18 million canola acres last year,” says Pat


China trip boosts food industry

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trade mission to China seems to have opened doors for major Canadian agri-food exporters. Now they’ll have to translate those agreements into orders. The beef, pork, pulse and canola sectors all received special attention during the visit and the Canadian Wheat Board got to remind everyone it isn’t going out of

Crop disease expert shares lessons learned from 2011

Last year’s flooding may have been bad news for canola growers, but there may be a bright side. Studies have found that flooding results in reduced sclerotia inoculum present in the soil because the fungal spores rot under wet conditions. “Although sclerotia are built to withstand harsh conditions, if you have enough flooding in an


Solution for saline areas? Stay off them

Rain is good for saline areas, but the effect is generally temporary, said Tom Jensen of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. Heavy rains wash the salts down deeper, but when the soil dries out, evaporation brings it back to the surface. “The only way to effectively manage salinity is to lower the water table. That’s

Wet soil and nitrogen don’t mix, says expert

Annoyed that you have to fork over more cash to replace lost fertilizer nutrients from last year’s flood? It could be worse, says Tom Jensen, Northern Great Plains regional director of the International Plant Nutrition Institute. On Manitoba’s relatively youthful soils deposited by glacial activity about 9,000 years ago, potassium is abundant. Farmers here apply


On the lookout for blackleg and clubroot

Most Manitoba canola producers weren’t tallying up the list of production problems they faced last year, but Canola Council of Canada regional agronomist Kristen Phillips did. There were 23 to be exact, everything from excess moisture, late seeding, drought, frost, stressed plants, disease and insects. The cool, wet spring and a hot, dry summer led

Buth accepts Senate appointment

The Canola Council of Canada is looking for a new president as JoAnne Buth heads for Ottawa to sit as a member of Canada’s Senate. Buth was one of seven Senate appointments announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper Jan. 7. She fills the seat previously held by Sharon Carstairs as one of Manitoba’s representatives in