The California company that has engineered an edible covering for fruits and vegetables is opening offices in key countries:  Mexico, Netherlands and Peru. 

USDA now requires Canada to inspect tomato and pepper fruit to ensure it is free of disease symptoms prior to export to the United States. The federal order is effective Friday, November 22, 2019.

A United States Court of Appeals has affirmed the validity of Houweling’s UltraClima Semi-Closed Greenhouse patent. 

USDA has declared the country free of plum pox virus after a 20-year battle. It’s a huge milestone for the $6.3 billion stone fruit industry. 

The world’s largest exporter of blueberries, Chile, reports that exports will reach record volumes of 115,000 tons in the 2019-2020 season. That’s up four per cent from a year ago. 

Fourth-generation grower Kyle Horlings is questioning the way things have always been done. Since 2015, he’s taken about 10 acres of carrots and onions out of production every year for restorative cover plantings. His experiments near King, Ontario garnered him the Healthy Soil Award from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority in November. 

Quinton Woods, sales and plant operations, Gwillimdale Farms, oversees the second phase of a storage facility near Bradford, Ontario that will be filled with onions and carrots in the fall of 2019. 

New packing lines are revolutionizing how tree-ripened tender fruit can be speedily handled and shipped to consumers. The largest peach grower in Ontario, the Tregunno family, installed a Spectrim vision system three years ago at the farm near Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Ryan Tregunno stays sharp for 10 weeks as traffic controller in his computer pit above the lines of peaches and nectarines.

Carrot, parsnip and onion grower Doug Van Luyk is one of those in the Holland Marsh who has expanded to 500 acres in both muck and mineral soils with the help of labour-saving technology. Here, his son Bradley stands on top of a self-propelled, two-row carrot harvester near Newmarket, Ontario. Photo by Glenn Lowson.

For the last two years, Rebecca Compton has chaired the Asparagus Farmers of Ontario through a challenging marketing period. While managing 60 acres and an on-farm retail outlet, Big Red Barn near Delhi, Ontario, she encourages her young children – Sable and Anson – to be at home in the field.

Sweet potatoes are not native to Canada, but for the VanBerlo family near Simcoe, Ontario, sweet potatoes have become second nature. 

Five new board members have joined the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity. Experience and breadth of knowledge of Canada’s food system adds to a dynamic board of 11.

Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau retains her post as minister of agriculture and agri-food. 

The 28^th annual Ontario Produce Marketing Association Gala shone a light on four of the industry’s brightest and best on November 15. One of them was Steve Bamford who won the Cory Clack-Streef Produce Person of the Year Award.

Former farmer Blaine Pedersen is the new minister of agriculture and resource development.

Passionate and politic – that’s the best way to describe this year’s crop of Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture who competed at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair on November 2. This year’s senior champion was Ellie Stauffer from Alberta. The junior champion was also an Albertan:  Ryley Mappin. 

Systemic fungicide Cevya will be available for the 2020 crop year.  

The Prowl herbicide label is now expanded for control of labelled weeds on garlic, shallots and transplanted leeks in Canada

The Delegate insecticide label is now expanded for control of spotted wing drosophila on grapes and other pests in fruiting vegetables in Canada. 

A strategic communications professional, Christina Stroud has joined Syngenta Canada as the new head of corporate affairs.

Kam’s Growers Supply is teaming up with the Bioline brand of biological control.  It’s a growing trend of learning how to integrate biologicals and traditional methods of pest control.