File photo of Province House, home of the Prince Edward Island legislative assembly, in Charlottetown. (Benedek/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. names new deputy ag minister

Gordon MacFadyen replaces Brian Matheson

Prince Edward Island’s Premier Dennis King has named a new top bureaucrat for the province’s agriculture ministry and others, to manage a fresh round of post-election ministerial mandate letters. Gordon MacFadyen, most recently executive director of fiscal management and assistant secretary to Treasury Board with the provincial finance department, was announced Aug. 8 as deputy […] Read more

File photo of a potato field in Alberta’s Lacombe County. (COrthner/iStock/Getty Images)

Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy

New report verifies what many in industry suspected

Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of […] Read more


Dustin McLaren, a territory manager for Corteva Agriscience, inspects lentils

New tool for anthracnose control in lentils

Zetigo PRM targets disease with a novel mode of action and helps farmers manage fungicide resistance

Anthracnose can be a serious problem in lentils in Western Canada. As Mike Brown, agronomy manager for Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, points out, the disease can result in heavy yield losses due to premature leaf drop and plant death. “Anthracnose is a polycyclic disease, which means it can go through multiple life cycles during the growing […] Read more

This Prairie Magic apple tree has scarring on the lower trunk. The wound appears to have healed over well but it should be monitored closely for any change.

Protect your fruit trees from fire blight

Singing Gardener: Plus some tips for disinfecting garden tools

Hi folks! It’s Ted here. I’m back again and so glad my gardening companions are tracking right along with me on the Grainews Singing Gardener page. Thanks for coming by this way.  Gardening is an art, a craft and an opportunity to be the student of a lifelong teacher. She shouts out to us, “Learn from me. […] Read more


File photo of a CFIA vehicle. (Dave Bedard photo)

Gene-edited crops clear CFIA’s regulatory bar

Agency guidance puts gene editing on level of conventional breeding

Plants gene-edited for efficient use of water or nutrients or to better withstand pests or drought now won’t have to clear the same regulatory hurdles in Canada as any crops that are modified for herbicide tolerance or include foreign genes. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced updated guidance from the Canadian Food Inspection […] Read more

P.E.I. Ag Minister Bloyce Thompson speaks at a press conference in 2021. (Government of P.E.I. video screengrab via Facebook Live)

Thompson returns as P.E.I. ag minister

Ag and land ministry split; Compton not returning to cabinet

Prince Edward Island’s former agriculture minister is again its current ag minister, in a post-election cabinet shuffle by returning Premier Dennis King. Bloyce Thompson, MLA for the district of Stanhope-Marshfield since 2019 and ag minister from 2019 until last summer, was again appointed April 14 as King’s minister of agriculture, justice and public safety and […] Read more


Callum Morrison taking soil moisture readings using a soil moisture probe in one of the long-term cover crop research plots at the University of Manitoba’s Ian N. Morrison Research Farm in Carman, Man. These plots, along with plots at the University of Manitoba’s Glenlea Research Station in Glenlea, Man., are part of a field trial that has a four-year rotation with cover crops and the same four-year rotation without cover crops.

Cover cropping on the Prairies

A farmer survey shows many producers are growing cover crops successfully, but more agronomic knowledge and supports are needed

Climatic constraints such as a short growing season or too little fall moisture are often given as reasons why cover cropping may not be a great fit for the Canadian Prairies. A recent farmer survey, though, shows many western Canadian producers are making cover crops work, and are benefitting in ways you may not have […] Read more

Darlene Compton, shown here on provincial budget day in 2020, became Prince Edward Island’s first female ag minister in 2022. (PrinceEdwardIsland.ca)

P.E.I. ag minister, ag critics re-elected

Tories return with majority; Liberals regain official opposition

Prince Edward Island’s incumbent agriculture minister and opposition agriculture critics prevailed in Monday night’s provincial election, in which incumbent premier Dennis King’s Tories were returned with a majority. Darlene Compton, King’s agriculture minister since last summer and his incumbent deputy premier, won re-election Monday for the Progressive Conservatives in her district of Belfast-Murray River. Compton, […] Read more


Close-up of a McDonald’s double Quarter Pounder with bacon. (Corporate.mcdonalds.com)

McDonald’s reported laying off hundreds of corporate employees

Layoffs don't include restaurant-level workers

New York | Reuters — The number of corporate employees McDonald’s Corp. plans to lay off this week will tally in the “hundreds,” a source familiar with the burger chain’s thinking said on Monday, as the company moves forward with a previously announced restructuring. The fast-food company is closing its offices “out of respect,” and […] Read more