• Breeding temperature-resilient crops is an “achievable dream” in one of the most important species of commercially-cultivated plants, according to a new study.

  • As a unique soil mapping system consistently gains popularity across Canada, a new researcher at Dal’s Faculty of Agriculture is thrilled to be able to bring his expertise on the subject to Atlantic Canada.

  • Some calves are inherently optimistic or pessimistic, just as humans are, a new University of British Columbia study has found.

    Recognizing these individual personality differences is important to ensure animals are treated well, says professor Marina von Keyserlingk, who led the research team from UBC’s animal welfare program in the faculty of land and food systems.

  • Dr Lori Lach, Senior Lecturer at JCU, said the study compared the feeding habits of healthy bees to those infected with the gut parasite Nosema ceranae.

  • Carleton University students are consulting with small-scale farmers in Peru as part of a partnership with the international development organization Cuso International.

    Students in the Bachelor of Global and International Studies program (BGInS) at Carleton University are gaining hands-on experience while improving food security in Peru thanks to an innovative partnership with Cuso International. The partnership, which began in January, is the first of what Cuso International hopes will be a new wave of e-volunteering opportunities for students at Carleton and across Canada.

  • Michigan Tech researchers contend that tobacco farmers could increase profits by converting their land to solar farms, which in turn provides renewable energy generation.

  • The ‘die-off’ events occurring in honeybee colonies that are bred and farmed like livestock must not be confused with the conservation crisis of dramatic declines in thousands of wild pollinator species, say Cambridge researchers.

  • The potential solution discovered by University of Saskatchewan researchers for producers stuck with unsellable fusarium-infected wheat may actually put cash in the farmers’ pockets and open up a new worm-based niche market in the feed industry.

    “We want to help producers by making use of grain that is worth nothing and that no one knows how to dispose of safely,” said Fiona Buchanan, animal and poultry science professor.

  • University of Guelph scientists have piggybacked on nature’s way to delay fruit ripening by inventing a preservative that increases shelf life and reduces produce spoilage.

    Their research, published recently in two academic journals, may hold out huge economic benefits, especially in developing countries that depend on fruit production, said Gopinadhan Paliyath, a professor in U of G’s Department of Plant Agriculture.

  • The idea of having to pay a sin tax for environmentally detrimental foods is gaining more support. For some, eating meat is a sin, and therefore meat products should be taxed like alcohol and tobacco.

    A new report published recently by a British group called Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative (FAIRR) argues that a tax on meat is inevitable.