Until recently, Saskatchewan attracted less than one per cent of Canadian tech venture capital dollars. In 2019, Conexus Credit Union of Regina established its business incubator, Cultivator, to kick-start the province’s modest tech sector. “Saskatchewan was missing out in a big way because we didn’t have this tech ecosystem,” said director Laura Mock.
Farmers and rural communities in southern Alberta are heavily dependent on the health of the region’s ground and surface water resources. Much of the province’s 815,000 hectares of public and private irrigation is contained within the South Saskatchewan River Basin (SSRB). Here, 13 districts serve 556,000 hectares of farmland and 40 communities that include Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat as well as many rural properties.
Vancouver’s ClimateDoor helps clean technology companies raise capital, access government grants and create business partnerships at home and abroad. On a weeklong Team Canada Trade Mission in February, the business developer co-ordinated meetings between Canadian clean tech and ag tech businesses and the Australian business community in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Then-federal trade minister Mary Ng led the mission, which was delivered by Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service.
As the saying goes, rain makes grain, but has this bountiful moisture become too much of a good thing? At risk of being a wet blanket, GrainsWest took this watery worry to Alberta Grains agronomy programs specialist Lara de Moissac.
University of Guelph graduate Riley McConachie recently earned a master’s degree in plant agriculture and credits his advisors with suggesting he use newly released AI technology in his thesis project. This prompted his idea to combine the use of Meta AI’s Segment Anything software with remote sensing technology to evaluate crop disease.
After a transitional year, Western Crops Innovations (WCI) is gearing up to begin life on its own, and continue to provide value to farmers. Formerly known as the provincial government’s Field Crop Development Centre, it spent three years under a licensing agreement with Olds College. As of April 2024, WCI was registered as a not-for-profit corporation and new agreements were negotiated with the Province.
Commitment is a stressful word for farmers who are subject to the unpredictability of the weather and grain markets. Forward contracts with buyers allow them to lock in a cash price long before the grain is delivered. In doing so, these agreements reduce downside price risk and uncertainty.
The invisible fungal mycotoxin ochratoxin-A, or OTA, can spoil grain under high moisture and temperature conditions. Though it develops exclusively in stored wheat, oats, barley and other grains, OTA is produced by Penicillium verrucosum, a naturally occurring soil fungus.
BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTO COURTESY OF CORTEVA It’s taken many years of research and policy discussions, but it’s almost here. By 2027, American farmers will be able to purchase and grow hybrid wheat. Late in 2024, Corteva Agriscience announced its proprietary hybrid wheat system that pushes yield potential by 10 per cent and up […]
Popularly known as the Blue Book, Alberta’s Crop Protection Guide, is a manual for the use of crop protection products by Alberta farmers and agronomists. This trusted resource helps users navigate the complexities of chemical application.
