| By 2025, farmers need to double their food output to feed an estimated global population of eight billion. That’s a startling statistic and what it means is something we all need to start thinking about. I came across it in a report on the Colorado Ag Classic, a convention of Colorado wheat, seed, corn, sunflower and sorghum producers that was held this past week. Ag experts from the United States Department of Agriculture and Colorado State University talked about the challenges farmers will face in trying to meet future food demands. Continue reading Feeding the world without destroying it?  A new strategy on water usage in agriculture unveiled by Britain’s Environment Agency paints a potentially grim picture for farmers.
This according to a report in Farmers Weekly, a leading British agricultural publication. The strategy includes tighter restrictions on agricultural irrigation as well as increased costs for water recycling and construction of on-farm reservoirs. Continue reading UK water rules sign of future for Canada’s farmers? The following article was printed in the Ontario Corn Producer, December 2008. By Lilian Schaer These days, it seems hard to predict what may happen with any degree of accuracy three months from now, let alone three years into the future. But although we live in volatile times, there are some fairly safe bets on what may lie ahead for farmers on the environmental front. Continue reading The green crystal ball Ontario is emerging as one of the world’s leading centres of environmental research. That was the message Ontario farm writers heard at the University of Western Ontario’s Biotron at a tour there recently. The tour was a follow up to a presentation made by former Biotron General Manager Amar Singh, who first spoke about the world [...]  Helping the world adapt to climate change is the mission of a unique research facility at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. The Biotron, one of the most advanced of its kind in the world, is working to bridge research in environment, agriculture, medicine and engineering in order to respond to environmental change.
Continue reading Dealing with climate change
Two freak tornadoes tore through the city of Atlanta on March 14 and 15. I’m in Atlanta right now for the Media Relations Made Easy seminar, and evidence of the disaster is everywhere in the downtown core where I’m staying. Was this extreme weather just a fluke? Or is it a sign of things to come as we start to feel the impacts of climate change more directly?
Continue reading Tornados in Atlanta | |
