This new committee — announced Wednesday at the Ag in Motion farm show at Langham, Sask. — will work to ensure the care and protection of Canada’s agricultural soil through education, knowledge transfer, forums for collaboration and other activities.

“There’s evidence of a link between soil health and healthy people,” Soil Champions member and Soil Conservation Council of Canada chair (SCCC) Ian Boyd said. The Soil Champions will work as a committee of the SCCC.

This new group was sparked by a $300,000 donation from Rev. Ruth Butt, a Woodstock, Ont. farmer with a long-standing interest in soil conservation.

“Soil is important,” Boyd said. “Societies live and die by soil.”

The SCCC said the new group is expected to bring a soil health message “beyond the farm and to the broader agriculture industry, food processors, consumers and government.”

Along with Boyd, the Soil Champions committee members are Jay Bradshaw, past president of Syngenta Canada; Ontario farmer and conservation advocate Don Lobb; Andrew Graham, retiring executive director of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association; SCCC executive director Andrew Graham; and Lynda Tityk, representing Glacier FarmMedia.

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The Olds College Smart Farm will lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, which will also include Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, Sask. and the Lakeland College Student-Managed Farm – Powered by New Holland at Vermilion, Alta.

The new network’s first joint project will evaluate the “functionality, connectivity and value of data” from a common suite of sensors measuring soil, climate and crop conditions.

Each of the project sites has installed Metos Canada’s wireless sensors and other data-gathering devices such as for field monitoring, weather monitoring and forecasting, water management, disease modelling, insect monitoring and crop nutrition management.

The data will go to make on-farm management decisions — timing fungicide applications, for example — and the farms will “evaluate the benefit of using data to manage those decisions.”

Some funding for the new network’s activities will come from the Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN), a separate network of over 60 technology and agrifood companies and organizations backed with funding from the federal innovation, science and economic development ministry. Both Olds and Lakeland are among CAAIN’s core partners.

A specific focus for CAAIN, when that network was launched in 2019, was to “create and implement a smart farm platform that integrates partners and creates the context for testing, demonstrating and scaling technologies.”

In all, the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network will pay for network-approved activities with a $2.9 million funding envelope including $1.1 million over three years from CAAIN, about $570,000 from other public-sector agencies and the balance from private-sector partners.

The Pan-Canadian network was one of nine winners of funding through CAAIN’s 2020 Closed Competition, in which other recipients include a project to develop a non-invasive approach to determine the gender and fertility of pre-incubated chicken eggs. In a separate release Thursday, CAAIN said it will announce the seven other recipients “over the coming weeks.”

On a call Wednesday with editors from Glacier FarmMedia — whose media assets include this website — Dr. Joy Agnew, Olds College’s associate vice-president of applied research and principal investigator for the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network project, said the new network has “ambitious” plans to expand to additional sites in the near future.

The initial collaboration — taking place across different agriculture zones and land bases — is expected to bring more depth to the results of the evaluation, she said in a joint release Thursday.

“Independent validation of ag technologies is critical and so is ensuring that validation is done using more than a single smart farm,” she said. “By joining with other partners, we’ll be providing farmers with information that will meaningfully inform their decisions about how and where to use sensor technology.”

The new network, she said on the GFM call, is “truly an example of a situation where one plus one plus one equals five.”

Blake Weiseth, applied research lead for the GFM Discovery Farm and agriculture research chair for Saskatchewan Polytechnic, noted the farm has been using Metos sensor data in field-scale projects and “having access in real time to similar data from other sites in Canada will expand our understanding of its value.”

Work is already underway to find more smart farm network members across Canada, the partners said, adding they expect to have opportunities to link the Pan-Canadian network with other smart farms internationally.

Glacier FarmMedia’s other Discovery Farm site, at Woodstock, Ont., is an example of a farm that could be added to the Pan-Canadian network if sufficient funding is made available, Weiseth said.

Josie Van Lent, Lakeland’s dean of agriculture technology and applied research, said Wednesday the network will also provide real value on the education side as “living labs” for the colleges’ students.

At Lakeland, the Pan-Canadian network’s activities are expected to be integrated into the college’s crop technology, animal science technology and bachelor of agriculture technology programs.

“When Olds College submitted this project for consideration, we were immediately intrigued,” CAAIN CEO Kerry Wright said in Thursday’s release. “Smart farms validate and demonstrate the use of innovative agricultural technology in a specific environment, and they provide opportunities to train students enrolled in post-secondary agriculture programs on the latest trends in ag tech.”

Another advantage for the Pan-Canadian network, she said, lies in “its opportunity to link smart farms across the country, thereby multiplying learnings and increasing the value of any data generated.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Public Safety Minister Bill Blair on March 25 announced over $500,000 over four years through the federal Cyber Security Co-operation Program for the Community Safety Knowledge Alliance’s (CSKA) Cyber Security Capacity in Canadian Agriculture project.

Glacier FarmMedia (GFM), owner of this website and publications including Country Guide, Grainews and the Western Producer, announced April 6 it will collaborate with CSKA to further extend the ag project’s reach by “engaging with the sector across its media platforms and events to boost awareness and promote improved security tactics.”

CSKA, a not-for-profit organization set up in Saskatoon in 2015, works with private- and public-sector organizations to research, evaluate, train and promote in the field of community safety.

CSKA’s multi-year project is expected to connect with sector stakeholders to “understand the needs of Canadian producers related to cybersecurity, and to engage and inform the sector and federal and provincial levels of government about these needs and opportunities to address them.”

“The rapidly evolving cyber threat environment within which Canada’s agricultural sector operates is outpacing the abilities of many farm and other agricultural operations to adapt and respond,” CSKA CEO Cal Corley said in a federal release.

The ag project, Corley said, “will help better understand and support the sector in closing critical gaps.”

“With the growing digitization of agriculture, the range and impacts of vulnerabilities are becoming more numerous and more complex, and it is becoming hard for operators to keep pace with the rate of change,” CSKA lead investigator Dr. Janos Botschner said in GFM’s separate release.

“Yet, little work has been done to understand and address cybersecurity within this ecosystem, and from the perspectives of farmers.”

Botschner, a Guelph-based behavioural scientist and public safety consultant, said CSKA’s project “will help to address this gap in ways that emphasize the needs of the family businesses that represent almost three-quarters of Canadian agricultural production.”

“Canadian agriculture is a critical and increasingly interconnected service, and it is a key part of our economy, trade and food supply,” Blair said in a separate federal release. CSKA’s ag project, he said, “will help foster collaboration and protect cyber systems from compromise.”

The project team is expected to bring in expertise from social sciences, food security, public policy, engineering and information technology, national security and community safety/well-being.

“The depth of relationships and experience that Glacier FarmMedia is bringing to our project will amplify our opportunity to make a difference for Canada’s food security, and for the families and businesses that are at the heart of its role as a critical infrastructure and contributor to Canadians’ health and well-being,” CSKA CEO Cal Corley said in GFM’s release.

“We see this as an extension of our commitment to rural economic vitality and to Canada’s reputation as a trusted partner in the global food supply chain,” Winnipeg-based GFM’s president Bob Willcox said in the same release.

The five-year, $10.3 million federal Cyber Security Co-operation Program that’s backing CSKA’s project was set up in 2019 as part of the National Cyber Security Strategy.

That program’s latest call for proposals, now closed, was budgeted for up to $4.2 million for the period from April 1 this year to the end of March 2024, and was focused on subjects including the “security and resilience of Canadian systems,” “an innovative and adaptive cyber ecosystem” and “effective leadership, governance and collaboration.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Both outdoor ag shows hosted by Winnipeg-based Glacier FarmMedia — the owner of this website — went online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with video presentations and demos, webinars and chats in lieu of in-person events and displays.

“There is still so much uncertainty in 2021, and while we are all missing in-person farm shows, we wanted to give producers something certain they could count on: timely information throughout the year,” GFM executive vice-president Lynda Tityk said Wednesday in a release.

Show attendees “told us that more frequent information provided in smaller chunks throughout the year would be most helpful for planning in 2021,” she said.

COFS and AiM each now offer online registrants a free “Digital Pass,” granting admission to six themed one-day digital events throughout the year with presentations on planting, growing, equipment, harvest, dairy and innovation topics.

Industry expert sessions and demonstrations and research and technology updates are also planned, the company said, while on-demand content will be available in between digital event days.

COFS’ first such event is scheduled for March 10, while the first online AiM event is set for March 24, the company said.

On digital event days, the two ag shows will also each host a virtual “Coffee Shop” for farmers, speakers and industry reps to gather at small “virtual tables” to ask questions and video chat in an “informal setting,” GFM said.

In non-pandemic years, Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show runs in September near Woodstock, Ont., while Ag in Motion runs in July at Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm near Langham, Sask., west of Saskatoon. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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AgDealer, Canada’s largest used farm equipment shopper publication and online listing platform, announced a partnership Tuesday with OFX Group, an Australian-based online currency exchange provider.

Farmers, distributors and buyers outside of Canada “will have the opportunity to assist their equipment purchases found on AgDealer.com using the services of OFX currency exchange,” AgDealer publisher Glacier FarmMedia, the owner of this website, said in a release.

OFX offers currency conversion resources for farmers and equipment buyers “that are lower in cost compared to banks,” GFM said.

“We are excited to offer more resources for equipment buyers outside of Canada. By partnering with OFX, AgDealer.com users can quickly access easy to use and low-cost currency conversion through the click of a button,” Nathan Mitchell, GFM’s vice-president for listings, said in Tuesday’s release.

Cross-border shipments of used farm equipment are becoming more common, he said, “especially with the current U.S. and Canadian dollar exchange rates.”

Buyers worldwide using the AgDealer site will be able to make cross-border payments using any of more 55 currencies supported by OFX, Glacier said.

“With the fluctuations between the Canadian and U.S. dollar, the partnership between OFX and AgDealer gives farmers, dealers and distributors the ability to purchase farm equipment from Canada and save money on the exchange rate compared to using a bank,” Alfred Nader, OFX’s president for North America, said in the same release.

AgDealer and its French-language counterpart, Agricole Ideal, have been part of what’s now the GFM group of publications and websites since 2010. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Glacier FarmMedia and the Ontario government on Tuesday announced their intent to work toward a land deal with the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO), which today leases Section 1 of its Woodstock Research Station to the media company for the show.

The plan calls for Winnipeg-based GFM — the owner of this website — to buy the current 100-acre COFS site, lease “some adjacent lands” and set up what it plans to call Discovery Farm Woodstock.

A deal, expected to be finalized next year, “will not only secure the future of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show but also bring new research and innovation infrastructure to southern Ontario,” GFM president Bob Willcox said in a release.

“Our intention with Discovery Farm Woodstock is to bring together key players from industry and science to find practical solutions to the key questions facing farmers today.”

The proposal calls for a sustainability and soil health centre to be set up at the farm show and field demo site, where Discovery Farm Woodstock would focus on “farmer-driven applied research and innovation in the area of sustainability and soil health using an in-field and classroom framework,” the company said.

“Key to our plan is establishing strategic partnerships,” Willcox said, to work on applied research projects and to help ensure knowledge and technology transfer.

The plan also calls for building “urban and rural connection” through a student demo farm with partners including Grain Farmers of Ontario, the province said Tuesday.

Discovery Farm Woodstock would also be a sister site to Discovery Farm Langham, which GFM operates at Langham, Sask., west of Saskatoon, and which hosts the company’s annual Ag in Motion outdoor farm show.

Closing the proposed deal is “contingent on fulfillment of the duty to consult and all legal requirements,” the Ontario government said in a separate release Tuesday.

ARIO chair Lorne Hepworth, in the same release, described the proposed deal as “a win-win-win” for farmers, COFS and the province’s ag sector.

“Through the proposed sale of the Woodstock Research Station, COFS will continue to provide farmers with the vital opportunity to learn about the latest and greatest farming practices and technology,” provincial Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said Tuesday in the same release.

“Today’s announcement is good news for Ontario’s agriculture sector, which will have expanded access to that research, and is good news for our community and local economy, which will benefit from year-round activities on this site.”

Woodstock Mayor Trevor Birtch said city officials “have been working on this file for years to ensure that Canada’s largest outdoor farm show can continue to host this experiential learning event.”

Thanking the province for making the commitment to permanently secure the land in question, he said local officials “look forward to working with all of our partners to ensure the outdoor farm show remains a fixture in Ontario.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, COFS rebranded for 2020 as Canada’s Digital Farm Show, which runs online this week from Tuesday through Friday. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The event — which was due to run July 21-23 at the Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm on Highway 16 west of Langham, Sask., about 40 km northwest of Saskatoon — has been rebranded for 2020 as Ag in Motion Discovery Plus, and will run online from July 21 to 25.

The show is now billed as “a digital event that will deliver interactive content from the field, giving participants a unique vantage point to see equipment and agricultural technology in a way they haven’t been able to before.”

In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, show organizers have decided the Discovery Farm site “cannot safely open” to over 30,000 guests expected to attend the event, Glacier FarmMedia said Thursday in a release. Attendees who have already bought tickets online for the outdoor show are to receive refunds “in the coming weeks.”

“We considered such things as limiting group sizes within the show site, distributing hand sanitizer to every attendee, ramping up cleaning protocols, and more, but when it came down to it, the risk is too high for our guests and staff,” AiM show director Rob O’Connor said in the company’s release.

O’Connor said the new online version of Ag in Motion is to provide “elements” of the outdoor show, which has operated each summer at the Langham site since 2015.

Demonstrations and other features are to be hosted or moderated by a team of Glacier FarmMedia journalists. Equipment demos will feature air seeders and tillage equipment through a video series highlighting each piece, organizers said, and a machinery expert will get behind the wheel of high-clearance sprayers and UTVs for “a digital Ride and Drive experience.”

The online event is also expected to include “knowledge-based” sessions as well as “livestock central,” crop plots, product launches as well as “contests, chats, show specials and other ways to interact with agricultural companies and other farmers.”

At 512 confirmed cases as of Wednesday, including 312 recoveries, Saskatchewan has the fifth-lowest COVID-19 load of Canada’s provinces. Of those 512 cases, 163 were in the Saskatoon area.

As per the Saskatchewan government’s April 23 pandemic plan for a phased-in reopening of business, some services such as dentistry, optometry and physiotherapy and “low-risk” activities such as boating were allowed to resume Monday, in the first phase of a five-phase re-opening plan. Golf and other “outdoor individual recreation” are to be permitted starting May 15.

Non-grocery retailers, shopping malls and services such as massage therapy, hairdressing and acupuncture are to be allowed to reopen May 19 in Phase 2.

But the province’s plan does not allow for resumption of public or private gatherings beyond the current limit of 10 people until Phase 3, or of more than 15 until Phase 4, or of more than 30 until Phase 5. No hard date has yet been set for any of Phases 3 through 5.

Some other major summer events, including Canada’s Farm Show and the Mosaic 2020 cultural festival in Regina and the Saskatoon Fringe Festival, have also postponed or been cancelled.

GFM, meanwhile, is continuing with plans to host its other major outdoor ag event, Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show at Woodstock, Ont. on Sept. 15-17. The company said it’s still monitoring daily updates from public health officials and will “adjust as necessary.”

Next year’s edition of Ag in Motion is scheduled for July 20-22, 2021. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Winnipeg publishing house, which owns and operates this website, announced Thursday it acquired the two Advancing Women in Agriculture Conferences (AWC) — and has hired AWC’s founder, conference organizer Iris Meck of Calgary, as GFM’s director of conferences.

Meck will lead the AWC West and AWC East conferences and the annual Farm Forum Event, which GFM acquired in 2018 and is scheduled this year for Nov. 24-25 in Saskatoon.

The AWC conference, which Meck launched in Calgary in 2014, expanded to include an eastern edition the following year.

AWC West 2020, which was set for March 23-24 in Calgary, was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic; AWC East 2020 is scheduled for Nov. 15-17 in Niagara Falls, Ont.

“AWC is proud of the quality of speakers that we bring to the podium, including business experts, motivational and inspirational leaders and industry representatives,” Meck said Thursday in GFM’s release. “I look forward to working with the Glacier FarmMedia team and energizing AWC to a new level.”

“At Glacier FarmMedia, we know that access to information, connecting, learning and networking are foundations of success – for those on the farm, for students and for those working in the agriculture industry,” GFM president Bob Willcox said in the same release.

“We’re pleased to be able to offer this to an important and celebrated sector of the ag industry – women – through the Advancing Women in Agriculture Conferences.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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