Seed of the year finalists announced Monday, July 2, 2012 by SUSAN MANNTwo soybean varieties, a forage seed and a navy bean variety are in contention for this year’s eighth annual Eastern Canada Seed of the Year competition.The entries are: Dividend VL Orchard Grass, Ex Rico 23 Navy Bean, OAC Bayfield and DH 410. The varieties and their breeders will be honoured at the Eastern Canada Seed of the Year recognition event at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto in November. The winner will be announced then too.The competition is sponsored by the University of Guelph and SeCan with additional support from the Ontario agriculture ministry and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.Martin Harry, spokesman from SeCan, says he’d characterize this year’s entries as “all winners. They all have the potential to win.”Formed in 1976, SeCan is the largest supplier of certified seed to Canadian farmers.Through the Seed of the Year application process breeders are encouraged to highlight their research accomplishments in developing a new field crop, forage, fruit, vegetable or herb variety. Any publicly developed Canadian variety is eligible to compete.Entries were evaluated on innovation, presence throughout the value chain, sustainability, marketability and overall impact on the Canadian agri-food industry. BF Former CFFO general manager calls it quits Ontario wheat producers offered advance
A new front in the repair access debate Friday, March 6, 2026 Iowa lawmakers have pushed the right‑to‑repair conversation into new territory with House File 2529, a bill that focuses specifically on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) systems—the single most common cause of emissions-related downtime on modern farm machinery. The bill would require... Read this article online
March 8 is International Women’s Day Friday, March 6, 2026 Across the United States and Canada, women are taking on increasingly visible roles in agriculture—managing farms, leading ag-tech startups, advancing research, and strengthening the rural economies that feed both nations. Their work reflects a shift in an industry once defined... Read this article online
Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry to Visit Toronto and Southwestern Ontario Tuesday, March 3, 2026 The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry will be in Toronto and Southwestern Ontario later this week as part of its ongoing study on the role of Canada’s agriculture and agri‑food sector in strengthening national food security. The fact‑finding mission is scheduled for... Read this article online
AgriStability Program Updated to Include Pasture-Related Feed Costs Beginning in 2026 Monday, March 2, 2026 In case you missed it last week, the Honourable Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced that pasture-related feed costs will be added as an allowable expense under AgriStability starting with the 2026 program year. The update addresses rising operational... Read this article online
Bringing more Food and Ingredient Processing Back to Canadian Soil Monday, March 2, 2026 Protein Industries Canada has announced the second cohort of nine companies participating in its Program, an initiative designed to bring more food and ingredient processing back to Canadian soil and expand the nation’s value‑added agriculture sector. The selected companies span the... Read this article online