alfalfa

Will it or won’t it? Producers discuss Roundup Ready alfalfa

Customer preferences should count when assessing new technology

It’s become a perennial issue for forage seed growers. Will or won’t Roundup Ready alfalfa be released in Canada? The question loomed large at the Manitoba Forage Seed Association’s annual conference in Winnipeg last week, where the issue was raised no less than four times. “We basically feel that there isn’t a need for it,

a group of culinary students preparing food

GMO food misinformation a problem: Folta

Food science can help farmers and food processors meet demands of specific demographics

Does science belong on your plate? Kevin Folta and Nancy Ames think so, as did their sold-out audience at a Canola Connect event last week at the Richardson Centre for Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals. “Humans have been engineering plants for a long time, we have abilities to do some really good stuff — grow more


kochia

Dispelling common misconceptions about herbicide-resistant superweeds

Herbicide resistance is a major problem, but it is not necessarily a result of gene transfer from genetically modified crops

Use of the term “superweed” has exploded in recent years and is frequently featured in news reports about herbicide-resistant weeds choking out crops. While there is no science-based definition for superweed, the term is often used to describe weeds believed to have special capabilities that are helping them outcompete other plants in ways never experienced

farmer standing in a field with bales

Does CETA offer any real value to Canadian farmers?

Trade agreements may offer negative outcomes for Canadians

On September 26, the federal government announced that negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement with the European Union (CETA) have been finalized. A normal procedure for such a substantial change in a democratic society allows for a broad discussion, with debate and hearings, about impacts on various groups of people and economic sectors before


Possibilities include bananas with more vitamin A or apples that don’t brown when cut.

Genetically edited, not genetically modified?

Avoiding introduction of genes from other organisms 
could alleviate consumer concerns

Recent advances that allow the precise editing of genomes now raise the possibility that fruit and other crops might be genetically improved without the need to introduce foreign genes, according to researchers writing in the Cell Press publication Trends in Biotechnology on Aug. 13. With awareness of what makes these biotechnologies new and different, genetically

Michelle Carkner is an M.Sc. candidate in the University of Manitoba’s department of plant 
science conducting soybean varietal trials under organic production.  PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON

Evaluating soybean varieties for suitability in organic production systems

Organic growers in Manitoba have limited options right now

At $25 a bushel, organic soybeans could be a highly lucrative crop for organic farmers. But right now that market is out of reach for most due to the limited number of varieties suitable for organic production systems. A student researcher at the University of Manitoba is hoping to change that. She is evaluating conventional


Editorial: Who is confused? How consumers view agriculture

Editorial: Who is confused? How consumers view agriculture

The final report to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from a series of consumer focus groups it commissioned last year is enlightening, but not because of what it tells us about how domestic customers view this country’s agriculture sector. Rather it speaks volumes about the people asking the questions. The final report “Modern agriculture and agricultural

Howard Buffett is interviewed by Charlene Finck during the sixth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture held in Winnipeg.  Photo: Shannon VanRaes

Biotech has role in conservation

No need to be technology averse when it comes to conservation agriculture and improving soil health

Biotechnology can be used to improve soil health but that’s not necessarily happening the way it is being used today, the keynote speaker at the World Congress on Conservation Agriculture said. David Montgomery, author of Dirt, The Erosion of Civilizations and a professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington told the conference biotechnology does


Roundup Ready alfalfa’s release delayed another year

Forage Genetics International is planning on-farm hay trials in Eastern Canada

Forage Genetics International (FGI) has decided to hold off on commercial sales of its herbicide-tolerant genetically modified (GM) alfalfa this spring, but it will conduct on-farm trials in Eastern Canada. “FGI will not be having any spring of 2014 sales. But what we’re doing this spring is putting in a small number of on-farm evaluation