C&M Seeds Research
6180 5th Line Minto N0G 2P0 Palmerston, ON, Canada

Great opinion piece on next steps for Seeds Canada

Out this morning staging C&M seeds Mercedes Winter Canola to be desiccated preharvest. Keeping an eye out for 90% or more of the entire plant’s seed turned totally brown in colour as we're using Diquat (commonly sold as Reglone or Reglone Ion). #ontag #AGRISAgronomy

They ran to the groceries, they filled up their carts, They emptied the Tops and Price Chopper and Walmart, They panicked and fought and then panicked some more..., Then they rushed to their homes and they locked all the doors. The food will be gone! The milk eggs and cheese! The yogurt! The apples! The green beans and peas! The stores have run out, now what will we do? They’ll be starving and looting and nothing to do! Then they paused, and they listened a moment or two. And they did hear a sound, rising over the fear, It started out far, then began to grow near. But this sound wasn’t sad, nor was it new, The farms were still doing what farms always do. The food was still coming, though they’d emptied the shelves, The farms kept it coming, though they struggled themselves, Though the cities had forgotten from where their food came, The farms made them food every day, just the same. Through weather and critics and markets that fall, The farms kept on farming in spite of it all. They farmed without thank yous. They farmed without praise. They farmed on the hottest and coldest of days. They’d bought all the food, yet the next day came more, And the people thought of something they hadn’t before. Maybe food, they thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe farmers, perhaps, mean a little bit more. Copied from a friend

Jessica Schill, MPH '19, now a Policy Advisor at Beef Farmers of Ontario, shares her expertise on a Public Health Insight Podcast episode. Jessica discusses th...e current challenges being faced by the agricultural and food production industries due to COVID-19, and how food insecurity will be influenced by an imbalance in supply and demand. Food Production, Food Insecurity, and Our Health: https://publichealthinsight.buzzsprout.com/

I love organic farming. Yes, you heard that right. Growing up, my mom had a huge garden with green beans, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and potatoes. And every ...year we would spend days canning salsa, green beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. We usually had a big enough harvest to last our family an entire year. Usually. But, when we ran out, we would go to the store and buy our salsa, green beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. The thing about our little garden is just that- it was little. And it was barely enough to provide a few essentials for our family, and sometimes a few extra quarts to dole out to family and friends. I look at the hours and man power it took to tend to our 1,000 square foot garden. And we did it because we enjoyed the produce and were able to do the work ourselves. But I want you to think about 2 things- 1. What about people who don’t have access to land for their own organic farm, or are unable to work hours in a garden/kitchen to harvest and preserve their own food? 2. One acre of land is approximately 43,500 square feet. And the average farm size in Iowa according to the USDA is 890 acres, or 38,768,400 square feet. Or 38,768 small gardens. My point here is this- organic farming is nice, but it isn’t practical. It isn’t practical to feed billions of people from backyard gardens. And it isn’t practical for one farmer to tend to 38,768 gardens. Next year, I’m starting my own garden at our acreage. But, I’m not going to rely on that garden to feed my family, friends or neighbors for the next year because I don’t have to. I can rely on my dad, my father-in-law, my uncles, my grandpa, and our farming neighbors to work their gardens and feed the masses. ....................................................................... I know there are others with different opinions on the matter of organic farming. And while you have the right to your opinion and the right to share your opinion, I ask that you do so in a civil way. Just don’t be a jerk.

In illustrating this comic, Charles Schultz illustrated the greatest problem faced by our beloved industry. In 1850, 64% of the US population was employed in ag...riculture. As the US population grew, so did the number of farmers, albeit at a slower pace. That changed after the mid nineteen teens, when the farm population numerically peaked while standing at roughly 30% of the population overall. In 1950, that percentage was 12% and in 1990 it was 2.6% We went from 1 in 4 people being directly involved in agriculture to 1 in 50 in about 75 years! These statistics prove that the American farmer is particularly good at providing the very best, safest, highest quality food source in literally all of history. These statistics also demonstrate our greatest challenge. How do we reach the urban population to teach them that legislative policies will harm us as farmers and business owners if they remain uneducated? See more

Know a young person passionate about ag? Check out this opportunity to be a #FutureInfluencer at https://bit.ly/2M2h7xf. @SeedInnovation

April 26th, snow is finally gone and we are seeing green!

This was April 20th in our little part of Ontario. I know the winter wheat plots are under that somewhere!

The C&M RAD team is back in business for summer 2018! Stay tuned for some posts!

In honour of #CdnAgDay, CSTA is launching our next fact sheet for #BetterSeedBetterLife. This one is all about #pulses! #DYK that pulses are part of the legume family?

Always love it when Rick Mercer is down on the farm!

Local Ag at its best!

A reminder to all of the new Canadian high school graduates wondering what type of career to pursue

Dogs, kids, humans and horses, what they all have in common. Be calm and lead on ...

#NowReading The Doomsday Vault: Humanity’s salvation? CBS News

Women in Ag!! #girlpower

Stop buying organic food if you really want to save the planet

Goal! Scientists teach bumblebees how to play soccer.

#CIMMYT is committed to gender equity in agriculture. Watch this video to see how our incredible colleagues are working to close the gender gap and increase #foodsecurity in #Mexico. #BeBoldforChange

Our third farm of the year takes us inside again, this time to see where cucumbers are grown year round in Canada. In this greenhouse, two brothers take on the big job of going from cucumber seed to wrapped and packaged cucumbers you see in the store. Come in and take a look!

Congrats to the Connell Family! Well deserved!

One of the pleasures of our summer interns, hearing and seeing what they are up to when they go back home. Looking good Matt! Nice wheat crop, and nice hat!

Another year, another great RAD crew!