Sustainability

Super Weeds No Easy Fix For US Agriculture-Experts

A fast-spreading plague of "super weeds" taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday.

"This is a complex problem," said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national "summit" of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides.

Ontario Cattlemen Leadership Development Program

Guelph, ON – In collaboration with the Rural Ontario Institute (ROI), the Ontario Cattlemen’s Association (OCA) committed in the fall of 2011, to the development and implementation of a pilot program to recruit and train a group of visionary organization leaders who are capable of moving the Ontario beef industry forward. The first class of the program commenced in January, 2012 and OCA is pleased to announce that upon completion of the spring session in mid‐April, 15 participants have successfully graduated from the program. 

The fall program is scheduled to begin with three multi‐day sessions over a period of four months beginning in September, 2012. Applications and curriculum information can be found on the OCA website. 20 participants will be selected to participate in this session. Applications will be accepted until 4pm on August 24, 2012. 

2012 Spring Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Two decades have passed since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development—commonly known as the Earth Summit—was held at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In the intervening years, much has been accomplished on the green agenda, from reducing some key air pollutants to applying new technologies such as satellite remote sensing to help us understand complex linkages within and between ecosystems.