Uncertainty goes hand in hand with change, and so after almost a decade of Conservative government, the shift to a Liberal majority in Ottawa brings with it plenty of questions, including questions about the future of Canadian agriculture (in no particular order): Who's going to be the next ag minister? The Liberals have several ag... Read More
Category: Food
"I am the greatest botanist on this planet," declares Matt Damon's character in 20th Century Fox's new blockbuster "The Martian." Astronaut Mark Watney (played by Damon) is stranded on Mars, able to survive by growing potatoes for food. Several Earth-bound scientists who are members of the Crop Science Society of America shared their thoughts on... Read More
Western Canada and the northern U.S. could be positioned to provide more plant-based food protein to parts of the world where a shortage of protein is a growing nutritional problem. Some big picture thinkers, including John Oliver of Maple Leaf Bio-Concepts, are working on developing a concept they're calling the "Protein Highway." Extending from the... Read More
Society as a whole, including agriculture, is experiencing a trend toward the use of more autonomous machines that can communicate amongst themselves and optimize their own activity using “big data” analytics. That might sound like a whole lot of high-level tech lingo, but it raises serious questions for farmers on the ground: will there come... Read More
Farm & Food Care Canada will have its first CEO as of January 2016. Crystal Mackay will transition from her role as executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario to fill the new national position. "Crystal has provided strong leadership and made significant contributions to both development and continued growth of Farm & Food... Read More
Even with other major stories percolating — sex education in schools and the federal election among them — the Syrian refugee crisis has thankfully not been nudged off the front pages. Noble and determined efforts are underway everywhere to help the estimated Syrian refugees find new homes. Last week, the Ontario government pledged $10.5 million... Read More
The prospect of nine billion people being on the earth in 2050 is pretty scary. Scarier yet, though, is the challenge of feeding them. But even scarier still is looking into the future and knowing that a scant 35 years from now, you, the person in the mirror, will be the one who’ll be trying... Read More
North America's largest chain restaurant has pledged to source all of the eggs for its nearly 16,000 restaurants in Canada and the U.S. from cage-free chicken farms. McDonald's announced today that it will completely transition to cage-free or "free-run" eggs within the next 10 years. “Our guests increasingly tell us they appreciate the efforts we... Read More
With two young children around our house, I often wonder if our parental intuition is weaker than it was for my parents or grandparents. When one of the kids feels hot, we take their temperature. We are pretty sure they have a fever – but can’t remember for sure what that threshold is, so we... Read More
Where were we just one year ago? The Canadian dollar sat at 92 cents U.S. and cattle prices were at all-time highs. Those price levels have since been passed, to everyone's surprise, but the dollar has taken an absolute beating in just a year's time. Anne Wasko, of Gateway Livestock, joins RealAgriculture's Lyndsey Smith for... Read More