An artisanal cheesemaker from northern Ontario now has an award-winning goat cheese at the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair in Toronto. Fromagerie Kapuskoise won first prize in the fresh unripened cheese - natural category. Denis Nadeau, who's in charge of marketing for the family-owned cheesemaker, says it was a spreadable goat cheese that won his company the top prize. "It's an explosive, tangy flavour that goes well with just about anything," he said. "You can put it in omelets, pasta, bread, crepes, you name it." Nadeau says getting the recognition is a big deal because his company is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. "We lost the business of restaurants in the South and that has not picked up yet again," he said. Nadeau says he's currently too busy to celebrate much. He says Fromagerie Kapuskoise produces around 20 tonnes of cheese a year, and will need to wait until after the Christmas season to enjoy the win at the fair. "A lot of cheese. Factories sell 60 per
Can agriculture feed the world’s growing population in a more sustainable manner? That’s the question many agri-food leaders are working on throughout the world, hoping to advance technology and science in hopes of transforming the way food is produced. For example, AeroFarms is growing crops indoors using 95% less water, while John Deere’s AI-powered smart tractors optimise planting and harvesting. These advancements not only increase food production but also reduce the environmental impact of traditional farming practices. By combining cutting-edge technology with sustainable approaches, agriculture is showing promise of not only meeting our future food demands but doing it responsibly and improving life for generations to come. One of the key institutions leading the charge in agricultural breakthroughs is the University of Guelph’s Ontario Agricultural College (OAC). For over 150 years, OAC has been a global leader in agricultural science, technology and business, working to addr
The Federal Court of Appeal has dismissed a bid by the Prince Edward Island Potato Board to overturn a 2021 decision by the federal agriculture minister to declare the entire province as “a place infested with potato wart. That order prohibited the export of seed potatoes from the Island to prevent the spread of the soil-borne fungus, which deforms potatoes and makes them impossible to sell. The board had argued in Federal Court that the decision was unreasonable because there was insufficient evidence to establish that P.E.I. was infested with the fungus. In April 2023, the Federal Court dismissed the board's application for a judicial review, saying the order was reasonable because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said regulatory measures had failed to prevent the transmission of potato wart to unregulated fields. On Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the board's appeal, saying the lower court had selected the correct reasonableness standard to review the minister's order. A
A local technology company has been recognized by the Ontario government at its Excellence in Agriculture Awards ceremony. Croptracker, a Farm Management Software, was developed by Dragonfly IT and received a 2024 Honorable Mention for Research and Innovation Excellence at the annual event. According to a release from the provincial government, the annual Excellence in Agriculture Awards for 2024 recognizes farmers, processors, industry organizations, and businesses whose contributions are strengthening growth across the province’s $50.7 billion agri-food sector. Dragonfly IT, founded here in Kingston as a consultative software development company, was approached in 2006 by the Ontario Apple Growers and the Ontario Tender Fruit Growers Association to help build a way for their users to track and report back to the organization on their spray and fertilizer applications. The Croptracker software was developed from this initial project and has since expanded to be an all-in-one platfo
YieldON™ liquid foliar biostimulant helps improve productivity in corn, wheat, and other row crops Enriched by a unique selection of naturally derived ingredients to improve uptake and transportation of sugars throughout the plant Helps improve crop productivity Syngenta Canada Inc. is pleased to introduce YieldON™, a liquid foliar biostimulant that helps improve crop productivity in cereals, corn, and other row crops. YieldON combines plant- and seaweed-derived biomolecules, with trace elements of micronutrients manganese, zinc, and molybdenum. This unique combination of ingredients improves cell division and expansion, allowing increased uptake and transport of nutrients and sugars throughout the plant. “YieldON amplifies the grain-filling processes that crops naturally do when they transition from the vegetative stage to the reproductive stage of their life cycle,” explains Chris Dumigan, Biologicals Technical Lead with Syngenta Canada. “It improves plant cell division and the flo
