In an effort to increase pollination of wild blueberries, the government of Canada has invested in research supporting the health and productivity of the honey bee sector.

Fruit & Vegetable (F&V) magazine and BASF Canada are celebrating the hard work that goes into producing Canada’s fruit and vegetable bounty with the What’s Growing Canada video contest!

A new crop profile for potato is available to download for free from the Government of Canada Publications. Crop profiles are documents that provide a high level overview of production and a more detailed look at pest management practices for a variety of agricultural crops in Canada.

Insects play a big role in Canadian agriculture. Beneficial species help crops grow, improve yields, reduce input costs, and protect the environment whereas pest species can destroy crops resulting in millions of dollars in lost yield. Insect pests include species from other parts of the world that have invaded Canada. Others are native species that have become pests as their populations grew in tandem with the development of new crop industries in Canada.

New crop profiles for lowbush blueberry and highbush blueberry are available to download for free from the Government of Canada Publications web site or through the crop profiles webpage.

From the equator to the arctic, life forms have adapted to their particular climate and regional conditions. In steamy sub-tropical estuaries, mangrove forests dominate the landscape. They bridge the salt- and fresh-water worlds. In northern Canada and Russia, the evergreen trees of the taiga forest endure incredibly cold winters and long periods of almost complete darkness. These differences are visible to us living on the earth’s surface. But what about the tiny life within the soil? Can the millions of microbes in a single teaspoonful of soil be as specialized as the trees they live beneath?

Strong agricultural organizations are supported by active membership at the grassroots level. To attract new members and keep its existing ones engaged, the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) has put a focus on leadership and skills development training for its 52 local and 11 regional associations.

Did you know that the federal organic regulations are only enforced on products that are sold interprovincially? That means that unless a province has created its own organic regulations, products which are not necessarily certified organic could be labelled organic without any consequence. Recently, Alberta became the sixth province to pass legislation mandating certification for organic products within their borders.

Products we commonly buy at the supermarket, such as tortillas and corn chips, are made from food grade corn. The corn is grown, harvested, bought by a food company, turned into masa (dough from ground corn) through a chemical process, and then made into our favorite products.

The Public Strawberry Breeding Program at the University of California, Davis, has released five new varieties that will help farmers manage diseases, control costs and produce plenty of large, robust berries using less water, fertilizer and pesticides. Two of the new varieties could increase yields by almost 30 per cent.

What started out as a simple idea to add variety to the prairie diet through the winter months has sprouted into a successful family business.

“Samurai Wasps vs. Stink Bugs” is not the title of the latest Avengers film. But it does describe new efforts by Cornell scientists to control a household nuisance and agricultural pest.

Food-borne illness can create big problems for both public health and a business. Most recently, an outbreak of E. coli made headlines across Canada and the U.S., with 29 confirmed cases in Canada. Romaine lettuce and other leafy greens were recalled by producers and food manufacturers after the outbreak was traced back to farms in California.

UPL AgroSolutions Canada recently announced that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has granted registration for Manzate Max liquid fungicide for use on fruit, including apples, potatoes and vegetable crops.

Protecting the health and safety of Canadians and the environment is a priority for the Government of Canada. This includes helping to protect the health of bees and other pollinators by minimizing their exposure to pesticides.

The University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus recently released a number of new tables outlining fungicide efficacy for management of diseases in field tomatoes. 

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) recently announced the approval of URMULE registrations for Presidio Fungicide for control of downy mildew on field and greenhouse basil and downy mildew of hops, and suppression of Phytophthora blight and pod rot and downy mildew on edible-podded beans in Canada. Presidio Fungicide was already labeled for use on a number of crops in Canada for control of several diseases.

BASF introduces new Versys insecticide for the 2019 season. Versys controls aphids and whiteflies in fruit and vegetable crops.

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) recently announced the approval of a minor use label expansion registration for Avian Control bird repellent to reduce feeding damage to ripening bushberries (crop subgroup 13-07B), grapes and sweet corn caused by birds in Canada.

The Agriculture and Agri-Food (AAFC) website is undergoing a renovation, and as a result the Pest Management Centre pages have been relocated to join the AAFC Research and Development Centres’ web pages. Along with this migration, the pest management centre homepage has been updated.

New for 2019, BASF will introduce Serifel, an innovative, new fungicide with three modes of action to target powdery mildew and botrytis in grapes.

Syngenta Canada Inc. is pleased to announce the registration of Vibrance Ultra Potato as a new seed piece treatment for the suppression of pink rot and control of key seed- and soil‑borne diseases, including late blight.

A hot plant is an early warning sign of an under-watered, unhealthy plant, which makes monitoring crop temperatures a priority for many farmers. But to do so, they need the right equipment. Infrared cameras can detect heat and convert it into an image, but they are large, unwieldy and expensive. Infrared sensors are less expensive, but they don’t provide images, which makes accurate monitoring difficult for medium and large-sized fields.

While farm machinery innovation often means bigger sizes and more complex technology, one Ontario farm is proving smaller and simpler may be the way of the future for harvesting row crops.

Growers sizing up the impacts a changing climate could have on North America are well aware of two key challenges. One is greater rainfall earlier in the winter, meaning smaller snow packs and less runoff during the growing season. This will contribute to drier summers. Compounding the effects of a drier growing season is a rise in temperatures.

Keep cool is the motto in cherry orchards, where heat rapidly degrades picked fruit and turns stems brown. That’s why nearly all B.C. cherry growers use Mylar covers. White on the outside, reflective on the inside, the tarps keep heat out and humidity in.

In a greenhouse in Belgium, a small robot moves through rows of strawberries growing on trays suspended above the ground, using machine vision to locate ripe, flawless berries, then reaching up with a 3D-printed hand to gently pluck each berry and place it in a basket for sale. If it feels that a berry isn’t ready for harvest, the robot estimates the date it will be ready for it to return and pick it.

Ontario's Government for the People unveiled valuable resources to help farmers reduce the risk of barn fires this winter, the time when most barn fires occur.

When plants are growing outdoors, it’s no surprise that they are at risk for pest activity. But even once produce is harvested and brought inside for storage and packaging, it can fall victim to pests’ appetites. In fact, pest infestations that are established during storage can put your produce at increased risk, as it is easy for pests to move and spread quickly in the closed environment.

Every day there is a new smartphone application launched that claims to assist growers in their farming efforts. And while many of these apps can be beneficial tools, wading through the ever-growing lineup of offerings can be a daunting task.

When a new crop takes off, it’s not unusual that specialty equipment is designed and commercialized in order to make things easier. In this case, the crop is garlic, and the equipment is a planter and an add-on under-cutter (both pulled behind a tractor), designed and manufactured by Garlic-EEZ of Dundalk, Ont., owned by garlic grower Ken Hunt.

In 2018, MS Gregson introduced a line of electrostatic sprayers (the Ecostatik) in Canada. While electrostatic technology has been used in agriculture since the 1980’s, this is the first time ground rigs have been so readily available to Ontario (possibly Canadian) growers.

Fresno, CA – Jain Irrigation, Inc. recently announced it is acquiring ETwater, a supplier of intelligent irrigation technology and smart irrigation controllers. ETwater’s patented technology integrates data science, machine learning and predictive analytics about weather forecast and environmental variables to automatically, optimally adjust site-specific irrigation schedules. Connecting over the Internet, ETwater smart controllers get their schedules through secure, cellular data networks, and users are able to remotely monitor and manage controllers from any mobile or smart device. “We’re very proud of the positive impact on outdoor water conservation we’ve had in the U.S. market and raising awareness to the necessity of irrigating in harmony with nature,” said Pat McIntyre, CEO of ETwater. “The Jain acquisition will expand ETwater efficiencies throughout the U.S. and now worldwide to become a gold standard in sustainable water management globally.” “Jain is an early leader in the IoT for agriculture,” said Aric Olson, president of Jain Irrigation, Inc. “ETwater will improve our position in agriculture and helps us make a bigger impact in reducing water waste in landscape irrigation." “We are thrilled to have ETwater join our family. After several successful irrigation technology acquisitions, the addition of ETwater … adds key technologies that can be deployed globally to our growing technology customer base.”

Minister of Government and Consumer Services, Lisa Thompson, was joined by representatives from the Ontario wine industry to announce changes reducing regulatory burden to support growth in the industry.

John Deere has added three products to its Frontier equipment lineup including a new rotary tiller portfolio, skid steer carrier adapter and overseeder.

A Prince Edward Island blueberry processing facility has received a financial boost from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 

The Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry recently released their recommendations following a thorough review about how best to grow Canada’s value-added food sector. Canada should expand the value-added food sector by improving regulations to allow for the expansion of international trade of processed food products, investing in innovation, and reducing the barriers to growth inside its borders, a Senate committee said.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) was pleased to see the recent announcement by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) which detailed new pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers in the agri-food industry.

AgroFresh Solutions, Inc., a global leader in produce freshness solutions, recently announced a focused effort to formalize and strengthen its decades-long commitment to sustainability.

Canada is committed to attracting the best talent from around the world to fill skill shortages, drive local economies, and create and support middle-class jobs in communities across the country that will benefit all Canadians.

British Columbia's agritech companies are partnering with the federal and provincial governments to find the perfect pairing between food and technology.

Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Jati Sidhu, Member of Parliament, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon recently visited the Berry Haven Farm, where they announced an investment of up to $3.6 million to the Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association (LMHIA) under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, AgriScience Program.

The provincial government recently released a discussion paper – Modernizing Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Program – as they consider changes to the Environmental Assessment Act. The government has asked for public input on the proposed vision for the environmental assessment program based on the discussion paper.

Trespassing on farm property is a growing concern for Ontario farmers. From rural trail hikers detouring into a pasture to ATV drivers ruining crops, farmers have dealt with all types of unwanted visitors on the farm who leave varying degrees of damage. The latest threat to farmers, especially livestock farmers and transporters is the increasing risk of activists trespassing, invading, breaking into barns and harassing farmers, their families and employees.