Farms.com Home   News

Some Of The Top Food Stories Of 2022

Number one on that list was the ongoing war in Ukraine and the impact it's had on markets around the world, including here in Canada. "The reason why we actually picked that story as the number one story of the year is because first of all it was quite violent.  The human aspect of the tragedy is is is quite significant in my view, but you also saw commodity prices spike within weeks at record levels, shares Dr. Sylvain Charelbois. "Corn, wheat, everything because, I think, Canadians just start to realize  that region of the world is is super important. Now, in terms of supplies to Canada, not so much but commodity prices did go up and that impacted farmers and of course, the fertilizers situation just got worse with sanctions against Russia and terrorists that producers had to pay. it really complicated things and which actually made the seeding season the most expensive in history."

Some of the other stories on that list included Ottawa's attempt to put warning labels on packages of ground beef, the ongoing fertilizer issue, and who's to blame for food inflation.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Designing a Robotic Berry Picker

Video: Designing a Robotic Berry Picker


Since blackberries must be harvested by hand, the process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To support a growing blackberry industry in Arkansas, food science associate professor Renee Threlfall is collaborating with mechanical engineering assistant professor Anthony Gunderman to develop a mechanical harvesting system. Most recently, the team designed a device to measure the force needed to pick a blackberry without damaging it. The data from this device will help inform the next stage of development and move the team closer to the goal of a fully autonomous robotic berry picker. The device was developed by Gunderman, with Yue Chen, a former U of A professor now at Georgia Tech, and Jeremy Collins, then a U of A undergraduate engineering student. To determine the force needed to pick blackberries without damage, the engineers worked with Threlfall and Andrea Myers, then a graduate student.