Interest in gene editing is on the rise, and this technology is now being used in cereal breeding for the first time. As wheat farmers continue to grapple with climate change, politics and consumer demand in their quest for black ink, gene editing—the process of adding to, removing or changing an organism’s DNA—may help balance these demands.
Crop exports are a huge source of revenue for Alberta’s ag industry as is evidenced by its $16.2 billion economic contribution. However, the province’s domestic food manufacturing sales sector was worth a whopping $22.7 billion that same year.
Chief provincial plant health officer since October 2022, Krista deMilliano is only the second person to hold the job since it was created in February 2019 within the Crop Assurance and Rural Programming branch of Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. Following scares such as the appearance of jimsonweed in 2015, the Province created this dedicated position to co-ordinate preparedness and response for situations that involve weeds, insects and plant diseases.
Among the topics tackled in the first issue of GrainsWest, was UPOV 91. Hinting at the eventual outcome of the initiative, the magazine posed the question “will the tale of UPOV 91 end happily ever after?” An international project, the UPOV framework is intended to ensure plant breeders can protect and profit from their work, and so spur investment in crop variety development critical to Canadian farmers. The story was published in January 2014 as legislation to bring the nation’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act in line with UPOV moved through Parliament. The Legislative amendment was passed in 2015. GrainsWest flagged this as a turning point for Canadian agriculture, for better or worse.
After years of farmers being on the offensive on the gene editing issue, there is finally some positive news for our industry.
Cybersecurity breaches continue to plague major companies around the world, and for good reason: the nefarious “actors” behind the attacks stand to make substantial sums of money if they are able to pinch the right company at the right time in just the right place.
One of the largest bug resources in the world is located right here in our backyard. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) maintains the Canadian National Collection (CNC) of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes. Located at the Ottawa Research and Development Centre Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, ON, the facility serves agricultural research in a number of key areas.
It’s no secret that Canada is one of the world’s top producers of consistently high-quality wheat. Millers in countries such as Ecuador, Indonesia and Japan rely on Canadian wheat to produce top-quality flour for their customers. And while American millers contend with wheat consistency issues, new marketing opportunities for Canadian wheat have popped up in that country. In a highly competitive market, quality is what sets Canada apart from its competitors.
With the support of Beer Canada and provincial brewer associations, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be amending the beer compositional standards section of the Food and Drug Regulations—referred to as the Beer Standard—to clarify beer rules and support innovations in the brewing industry.
