Photo: File

Feds fund tomato and apple research

An Ontario research station is getting nearly a million dollars from the Federal government to develop new disease-resistant apple and greenhouse tomato varieties. The Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, located in Lincoln, Ont., will build on work done earlier by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists, who will continue to be heavily involved in the research. […] Read more

A preserved portion of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany. (CIA.gov)

German cabinet approves draft law banning GM crops

Berlin | Reuters — The German cabinet has approved a draft law banning cultivation of crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), government sources told Reuters on Wednesday. Germany had announced in September 2015 that it will ban cultivation of crops with GMOs under new European Union rules allowing member states to opt out of their […] Read more



(AlbertaPotatoes.ca)

Thailand to accept Alberta seed potatoes

Alberta is now the third Canadian province from which seed potato growers are eligible to export to Thailand. Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Monday announced a new export agreement by which Thailand will accept imports of seed potatoes produced in Alberta. “Alberta has a very innovative and progressive seed potato industry and is looking […] Read more


(John Deere photo)

Precision ag tech’s link to broadband under study

Crop growers in southwestern Ontario are being asked how their access to high-speed internet, or lack thereof, has helped or hindered their adoption of precision ag tools. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC), as part of the Regional and Rural Broadband (R2B2) project, are studying how “current and future connectivity” influences […] Read more




(Europa.eu)

EU, Canada to hold trade summit Sunday

Brussels | Reuters –– The European Union and Canada will hold a summit to sign their free trade deal on Sunday, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday, after Belgium had cleared the agreement with its regional governments. “Mission accomplished! Just agreed with PM @JustinTrudeau to hold EU Canada Summit this Sunday,” Tusk said […] Read more


The citadel of Namur, the seat of the Walloon parliament. (Wallonia.be)

Belgium’s Walloon parliament backs EU-Canada trade deal

Brussels | Reuters — The parliament of Belgium’s French-speaking region of Wallonia voted in favour of a planned EU-Canada trade agreement on Friday, ending its opposition that threatened to destroy the entire deal. Lawmakers of Wallonia, which led Belgian opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), 58 voted for and five against, after […] Read more

(Syngenta.com)

EU probe to hold up ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta

Brussels | Reuters — European Union antitrust regulators on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into state-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta, China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition. Syngenta’s shares plunged over nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission said the companies had not allayed its concerns […] Read more