Hard to pry consumers from their trans-fats Tuesday, June 2, 2009 Fast food chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken boast trans-fat-free menus. Plant breeders are striving to develop soybeans with healthier oils. Can we expect consumers to be informed and make healthier eating decisions? According to research conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholars Program, maybe not. Researchers compared news coverage about trans-fats to the sales of seven specific products (targeted because they contain more than half a gram of trans-fats per serving) from a major grocery chain in Los Angeles County, California.Their conclusion? Sales of buttered popcorn, vegetable shortening, buttermilk biscuits, sandwich cookies, stick margarine and crescent rolls fell for a week following negative coverage and then rose to previous levels. Sales of hot dogs, the seventh highest trans-fat product, remained steady.The news coverage reiterated the relationship between trans-fat consumption and heart disease. BF Educators top the pay scales in public sector agriculture Fighting to prevent a California 'dust bowl'
Ontario Pig Producer Disease Advisory -- PED and PDCoV Risks Rising This Winter Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) and Porcine Deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) continue to pose significant risks to swine operations across the industry. Both viruses are highly infectious, spread easily through manure, contaminated equipment, transport vehicles, and human movement, and can have... Read this article online
Ag Minister Launches National Consultations to Shape the Next Agricultural Policy Framework Tuesday, January 20, 2026 As Canada begins charting its next decade of agricultural policy, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri Food, officially launched national consultations on the development of the Next Policy Framework (NPF)—the federal, provincial, and territorial agreement that... Read this article online
Syngenta introduces new soybean seed treatment Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Soybean farmers have a new crop protection product available to them for the 2026 growing season. Syngenta recently introduced Victrato Complete, its new fungicide and nematicide seed treatment. “It’s the only fungicide and nematicide seed treatment with five active ingredients that’ll... Read this article online
Yield Energy debuts ag-focused DERMS to turn farm operations into grid assets Tuesday, January 20, 2026 Yield Energy, the company formerly known as Polaris Energy Services, has launched a new distributed energy resource management system designed specifically for agriculture—a move that positions farms as a major source of flexible, utility-grade grid support. The new platform, ,... Read this article online
CLAAS earns two AE50 Awards for advancing forage harvesting technology Monday, January 19, 2026 CLAAS of America has been recognized with two from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), highlighting the company’s continued leadership in forage harvesting innovation. The awards honor the newly introduced series self-propelled forage harvesters... Read this article online