Crop diseases can have a serious impact on a farmer's bottom line, that’s why management is an ongoing concern for producers. Finding the right tools and technologies to help producers get a handle on diseases can be complicated and expensive.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher Kelly Turkington says it all starts with having a basic knowledge of the nature of plant diseases as the first step towards understanding what needs to be done and when it needs to be done.


A University of British Columbia student design team has created the prototype for a fully autonomous agricultural robot.

The creation of the AgroBot started with four students. The team has grown to 40 students with backgrounds in various areas of engineering. AgroBot team member Wendie Wu will explain the project and tell us about how the students took inspiration from other industries and applied them to the robot...all in an effort to make agriculture operations more sustainable.

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A new online training platform for swine barn workers is allowing farms to manage, coordinate and track their training programs.

Mark Fynn is the Training Resources Coordinator with the Canadian Pork Council.
He will discuss the progress for the new program that was officially launched in March 2025.

Challenges in the trade and economic environment, largely due to tariffs from the U.S. and China, have affected Canada's Food and Beverage sector.

Farm Credit Canada released its mid-year update on the food and beverage industry and say while the first half of the year had a sales increase of 0.8 per cent, it’s not expected to hold, and FCC projects sales will decline to 0.3 per cent in the second half.

Most of the growth has been from price increases, but Senior Economist Amanda Norris says declining volumes of goods sold is causing slower-than-expected growth.

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Politics have had a significant impact on agriculture research in Alberta. The government in that province changed hands with the New Democrats taking power in 2015 and then new United Conservative Party winning the election in 2019.

It has been a stressful time for those involved in research. A new organization called Results Driven Agriculture Research or RDAR has been given the responsibility of guiding Alberta’s ag research priorities to ensure they reflect the needs of farmers, ranchers, and others in the agriculture industry.
I'll speak with RDAR board chair Dr. David Chalack about this new entity and its role in promoting beneficial research for the ag sector.

Prairie honey producers take great pride in their pure product. But the fake honey showing up on store shelves is hurting their bottom line.Fake honey is being blamed for a dramatic drop in prices dating back to 2015 and it has been pushing the limits of beekeepers in Canada.

In fact, prices were so low producers were not making enough money to even cover their costs.
Tim Wendell of Wendell Honey Farm has felt the impact. Their operation includes sites in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Wendell will explain where this fake honey is coming from and how consumers can support this important industry.

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Farmers have shortened up crop rotation for a number of reasons.

Oilseed agronomy research scientist Patrick Molecki is with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at the Saskatoon Research and Development Centre. 

He there are numerous issues popping up because of this practice including herbicide 
resistance in weeds and increased disease pressure including blackleg and fusarium head blight.
Patrick says the continuing practice will have long term implications.

There tends to be a focus on the negative environmental aspects of farming like the greenhouse gases emitted from vehicles, fertilizers, and grain transportation. But there is new work showing this impact can be offset by planting trees. It's estimated more 21.3 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent is stored in Saskatchewan’s 60,000 km of shelterbelts, representing about $639 million in total economic value under the federal $30 per tonne carbon-dioxide-equivalent pricing 
system.

Bryan Mood with USask will discuss a new app that is designed to show the economic value of shelterbelts while helping landowners determine the best trees to grow.

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Canada's elected officials need to prioritize the renegotiation of the Canada, United States, Mexico trade agreement and to tone down the rhetoric while working with allies in the U.S. to maintain trade.

Manitoba Pork General Manager Cam Dahl suggests this matter should be the number one 
issue of Canada's agriculture ministers from coast to coast.

Farm Credit Canada hosted its annual Food and Beverage Summit in Saskatoon. Smaller and medium sized companies from all parts of Western Canada were on hand. Stacey Gordon, FCC's area vice-president of commercial financing, said entrepreneurs at varying stages of the journey to the supermarket shelf attended the trade show and listened to presentations. 

Some are only selling locally; others are in regional stores while a few are looking to break 
into the national market.

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As parliament resumed the Grain Growers of Canada, who represent over 70-thousand producers across Canada, have four key priorities: international trade, capital gains tax, trade-enabling infrastructure, and research & development.

Executive Director Kyle Larkin says continued uncertainty with the United States and tariffs from China is at the top of the list. And staying with Parliament, we’ll hear from new Saskatchewan senator Todd Lewis, who farms near Regina, on how he's fitting into his new role

Farm and Food Care Saskatchewan estimate 4,000 visitors took part in this year's Saskatchewan Open Farm Days.

The second edition of the event saw approximately 35 different agriculture-related venues opening their doors to the public.

Farm and Food Care Executive Director Clinton Monchuk said the event provides an opportunity for farmers to engage directly with consumers.

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African Swine Fever has hit a 27,000 pig facility in Estonia. That was one of the revelations from the monthly newsletter from the Swine Health Information Center that released its domestic and global swine disease monitoring reports.

SHIC Associate Director Dr. Lisa Becton says the latest developments related to African Swine Fever and Foot and Mouth Disease demonstrate the value of swine disease monitoring in understanding transmission routes and disease risks

The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board has launched its second whole hog video series.
Sask Pork Whole Hog Youth Ambassador is 12-year-old Reise Podhordeski, a farm kid who lives and works on his family's commercial hay operation near Marcelin, Sask. Reise says there's more involved in pork production than what happens in the barn.

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Manitoba's efforts to control Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea are drawing international attention. 

Manitoba Pork Director of Swine Health Jenelle Hamblin says, since the introduction of Manitoba's PED elimination plan in the spring of 2023, numbers of cases have declined. Manitoba farmers and veterinarians have been reporting regular or lower incidences of other diseases. Hamblin says there has been a lot of outreaches from other jurisdictions on what's being done in Manitoba, particularly from the United States.


The Saskatchewan Pork Development Board has launched its second whole hog video series. In the series of videos, the Sask Pork whole hog youth ambassador, interviewing various members of the pork value chain.

Jessica Podhordeski with Sask Pork, says the videos run about three and a half minutes and are suitable for all audiences but they were primarily designed to educate youth about the pork industry.

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There was a lot of excitement at the University of Saskatchewan surrounding the release of a landmark study. The USask led team of roughly 100 international scientists from ten countries generated the first genomic atlas for global wheat improvement.

Crop Development Centre director Dr. Curtis Pozniak will tell us how this atlas will enable scientists and breeders to much more quickly identify genes that will improve yield, pest resistance and other important crop traits. Grain Growers of Canada have released a new video project to help educate politicians and policymakers about the challenges and realities facing farmers today.

Today's Modern Grain Farm: A Harvest Across Canada features farmers from across Canada including Saskatchewan grain farmer, Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel. Cherilyn will explain why it’s crucial to reach out to politicians and their teams and present what life is like as a modern grain farmer across the country.

She says the when the question is asked How can the Canadian economy recover from the Coronavirus? The answer might be in a strong agriculture industry and there are a number of ways Ottawa can be supportive of farmers.

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Harvest is still a few days away over most parts of the province----following rain in some regions last week. The 2025 crop will be a mixed bag-----very good in some areas----and poor in others.
Twyla Jones is the Agronomic Innovation Lead with Nutrien Ag Solutions in Canada. She talks about how crops are looking across the Prairies and picks out a couple of locations that could be combining above average yields.

Delisle is home to a brand-new flax processing facility. The plant is owned by the Minnesota company Grain Millers, which is widely recognized in Saskatchewan for its involvement in the oat industry, as they have a plant in Yorkton, but they are beginning to dabble in flax. The Delisle flax plant recently celebrated its grand opening where crews from the operations in Yorkton, of course Delisle, and also Minnesota were present for the event.

CEO and President of Grain Millers Todd Stohlmeyer will talk about the reasons for the over 30-million-dollar expansion.

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