Joe Dales's Comments

Legal drone spraying takes step closer to reality

The ray of hope might be dim right now, but farmers wanting to legally spray pesticides on their crops using drones may be seeing the first hint of light at the end of the tunnel. Ross Breckels, a senior scientific evaluator with Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), said the process of getting common pesticides “on-label” for use by drone is coming along faster than he expected a year ago. Four requirements must be satisfied before the agency makes an on-label decision for a pesticide and, in this case, its method of application. Those include drift risk, efficacy, maximum residue limits and impacts of operator and bystander exposure. It’s up to chemical companies to submit pesticides for on-label drone use and make a case for their safety, Canadian authorities have said. Some — including Breckels — previously suggested there hasn’t been a lot of activity in that domain. He’s more optimistic today, thanks to research being conducted around the world. Perhaps t

Rain delays Northwest harvest

The northwest region received the most precipitation this past week which means producers here experienced rain delays. Despite this, harvest is 85 per cent complete, which is ahead of the 76 per cent five-year average and 69 per cent 10-year average. Producers are hoping to wrap up harvest within the next week if good weather occurs. Most spring-seeded cereal crops have been harvested, with only a few spring wheat, oats, and barley fields remaining. Barley harvest is 96 per cent complete, 94 per cent of spring wheat is in the bin and 84 per cent of oats are off. Harvest of canola and flax is nearly three-quarters complete as harvest progress is 74 per cent for canola and 71 per cent for flax. The northwest received the most rainfall this past week, which caused producers in some areas to experience harvest delays. The Glaslyn area received 31 mm of rain, which was the most in the province. Meota area got 26 mm of rain, while the North Battleford area got 25 mm. The Turtleford area g

West-Central harvest makes progress in spite of rain

A few producers experienced rain delays in harvest this past week, but respectable progress has been made. Harvest is now 90 per cent complete in the west-central region and remains above the 86 per cent five-year average and 80 per cent 10-year average. Relatively dry conditions in the west-central region allowed producers to make lots of harvest progress last week. All winter wheat, fall rye, triticale, lentil and field pea crops are off, while soybean and mustard crops are close behind at 98 per cent harvested. Most spring cereal crops have been harvested as 97 per cent of durum, 96 per cent of spring wheat, 95 per cent of barley, 94 per cent of oat and 92 per cent of canary seed crops are off. Harvest of canola is 87 per cent complete, while flax lags behind at 58 per cent completion. There is still quite a bit of standing chickpea acres as only 63 per cent of these crops have been combined. Some areas in the west-central received rain, but overall, it was a dry week in this regi

Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Granted Emergency Court Order to Take Immediate Care, Custody and Control of Pure Prairie Poultry, Inc. Chickens

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship was granted an emergency court order today to take immediate care, custody and control of approximately 1.3 million broiler chickens owned by Pure Prairie Poultry, Inc. Pure Prairie Poultry, Inc., headquartered in Fairfax, Minnesota, operates a Charles City chicken processing plant and contracts with farmers throughout Iowa to grow broilers. On Monday, September 30, Pure Prairie Poultry, Inc. notified the Department that, due to their financial position, they were unable to purchase feed for these chickens located at 14 Iowa farms. Upon notification, the Department coordinated with state and federal agencies, as well as industry partners, to seek a possible solution. With no immediately available solution and citing significant potential animal welfare concerns, the Department, under its authority in Iowa Code Chapter 717, sought an emergency court order to take care, custody, and control of the birds. Following the issuance of

Proteins as nutritional tools

High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for heart disease and affects close to one in four Canadian adults. Cancer causes around a quarter of deaths annually. Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia affect over 650,000 Canadians, a number that is expected to almost triple by 2050. What do these three diseases have in common? For Rotimi Aluko, U of M professor in the faculty of agricultural and food sciences, they are the targets of research aimed at using proteins as nutritional tools to improve health outcomes. Whether it is found in a hamburger or soybeans, proteins are large biological molecules made up of units called amino acids that are needed for the body to function properly. “What we do is very special,” Aluko said. “We deconstruct nature’s assembly of proteins. How do we do that? We simply add enzymes.” Enzymes, Aluko explained, are the biological equivalent of scissors. Adding an enzyme to a protein allows it to cut the protein at certain points, resulting i