wire - news in brief

While herding sheep is an age-old adage for leadership, breeding and raising sheep is where the money is, according to a new study led by Western University researchers. But not just any sheep. Far more profitable are "solar" sheep, raised specifically to trim grass and weeds under traditional solar panels or agrivoltaic arrays.

Tucked between Waterloo and Hamilton, Maple Ridge Acres is home to a herd of alpacas plus owner and farmer Frances Stewart.

The University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine is making strides in sustainable agriculture research, with a focus on the impact of rotational grazing (RG) on ecosystem services. This research is aligned with Canada's federal Sustainable Agriculture Strategy, which endorses RG as a best management practice to enhance soil health and mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration.

Back to school! Here are some science-based tips and tricks to improve your retention skills and maximize your chances of a successful semester. Would you like to start the new year off on the right foot and do everything in your power to ensure a successful session? To achieve this, why not use effective means to improve knowledge acquisition, retention and retrieval? Gyslain Giguère, lecturer in Cognitive Processes 1 at the Université de Montréal's Department of Psychology, gives an overview of human attentional and memory processes, and presents ways of exploiting them to promote learning.

New research suggests financial savings, more than environmental concern, can help drive a reduction in food waste Skyrocketing food costs are uniting Canadians, as families scrutinize their budgets and try to keep grocery bills in check.

Farmers across Canada will soon have a new tool for real-time nutrient control and monitoring thanks to a team of University of Calgary researchers.

New techniques and technologies needed to manage shifts in growing seasons, crop yields, weather and pests The planet is getting warmer and climate change - not surprisingly - impacts the way we feed the world.

Canada's food industry used a variety of lobbying strategies between 2016 and 2019 to oppose changes to Canada's Food Guide.

Honey bees-plump, fuzzy and famed for their honey-making-capture the popular imagination. Yet, wild bees are equally vital for pollination and, by some measures, outshine honey bees as pollinators.

Farmers need support to adopt farm forests, windbreaks and riparian buffers as environmental best management practices Ontario's agricultural sector plays a significant role in the province's economy.

Clean energy technologies show promising benefits toward alleviating poverty but may have unintended consequences for groundwater depletion  The Water Institute In a bid to meet growing food producti

A new study shows size matters in solar energy. The first ever life-cycle analysis comparing big and small solar photovoltaic systems has concluded that small-scale solar systems are in fact better for the environment than even the largest, and most efficient, solar farm.

McGill University study highlights discrepancies between nutritional guidelines and nutrient intake required for seniors The latest Canada's food guide recommendations are primarily aimed at reducing chronic disease risk, however how well does our national guide for healthy eating serve the nutritional needs of all Canadians? Consuming adequate amounts of certain nutrients should be a priority for older adults.

You'll be surprised to learn how much zing a root fungus can add to a favourite seasonal berry. At many winter holiday tables, cranberries have pride of place as an accompaniment to roast turkey and an ingredient in sparkling cocktails. This tart little berry is a big part of our seasonal cuisine here in Quebec, and for good reason: in any given year, we're either the second or third largest producer of cranberries in the world.

Overall food prices will increase between 2.5 to 4.5 per cent in 2024, according to the 14 edition of Canada's Food Price Report released today.

Waterloo researchers test what it takes to convert forests to productive farmland and explore how to make that transition equitable By Chantal Vallis Faculty of Environment It's predicted that where w

Science, Health & Technology Sachintha Wickramasinghe Want to know how closely your eating habits adhere to dietary guidelines?

This practice of growing crops in the protected shadows of solar panels is called agrivoltaic farming If you have lived in a home with a trampoline in the backyard, you may have observed the unreasonably tall grass growing under it.

Scientists led by a geneticist at Université de Montréal have sequenced the genome of pitseed goosefeet, a northern relative of South American quinoa, with the potential to boost food diversity.

Taking advantage of the National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, the Loricorps Research Group of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) announces its association with the Centre de recherc

Waterloo-led team tackles food insecurity through sustainable year-round berry production in Canada By Katharine Tuerke Faculty of Science Climate change, armed conflict, economic and political instability and natural disasters can all impact food security.

A team from UdeM's Department of Computer Science and Operations Research is using artificial intelligence (AI) and modeling to optimize and automate winter strawberry production.

Ceragen is helping farmers engineer the plant microbiome to increase crop yields By Stephanie Longeway University Relations Danielle Rose works under a pop-up grow tent inside Velocity's main incubator workspace.

Robotic mushroom harvester, operating at Whitecrest Mushrooms Limited, in Putnam, Ont. (Submitted) Ten years ago, local mushroom farmer Murray Good approached engineering professor Mehrdad Kermani with a challenge. Could Kermani and his team develop an autonomous mushroom harvesting robot to address the labour shortage Good and mushroom farmers around the world were facing? Kermani, a world leader in the field of safe human-robot interactions , wasn't sure at first.

The international scientific community has created a validated list of scientific names for legumes.