The First Sixteen Agriculture and Agri-food Canada

Ag-robotics specialists Chuck Baresich believes you’ll have a robot in your field sooner than you think.  What will they do? How will they add value to your farm? Chuck paints a picture of that future. And what is the government doing to help the agricultural sector be ready for those robots? Marco Valicenti, Director General of Innovation Programs Directorate and Brett Maxwell, Director of Strategic Policy Branch explain how Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s programs are enabling that future.

Hear from two innovators who are successfully tackling labor shortages in our sector: one at the national level with an all-encompassing, all-stakeholders-engaged strategy; and the other on a regional level with a smart program for hiring and settling new immigrants into a rural community.

How is pesticide use evolving on farms? What are maximum residue limits? How does the government determine what is safe? Brian Rideout, a fruit and vegetable grower from Ontario, explains how pesticide use has changed on his farm in the last 20 years. And Fred Bissonnette, Executive Director of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, explains the regulations behind pesticide use in Canada. Let's dig in!

“Waste is not waste. It’s just misplaced resources”. That is according to Rajinikanth Rajagopal and the team of researchers at the Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre as they work to adapt anaerobic bio digestion to a Canadian climate and livestock sector. We also speak to Mauricio Alanís, Director of Sustainability Strategy and Partnerships at Maple Leaf Foods. His company is interested in the technology and AAFC’s expertise as it could all play an important role in Maple Leaf Foods’ sustainability journey.

To predict the future of water, we have to understand the present. That's exactly what AAFC's Dr. David Lapen and Dr. Steven Frey from Aquanty Inc., are endeavoring to do. Listen in as they discuss their work on a complex, country-wide hydrological modelling tool. It is designed to help researchers, producers and decision makers anticipate water resources of tomorrow and make better, more informed decisions today. This is the Canada 1 Water project.

40% of Quebec’s fruits and vegetables are grown in the Montérégie region due to its abundantly fertile organic soils. But these soils are under threat. We speak to Jacynthe Masse, an agroecology researcher, and Denys Van Winden, a vegetable producer from Sherrington, to learn about the challenges they’re facing and the experiments they’re running to save these soils.