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Agriculture Roundup for Friday October 27, 2023

Oct 27, 2023 | 10:57 AM

Beer Canada is the newest member of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC).

CMBTC Managing Director Peter Watts said Beer Canada brings a key voice of the domestic beer sector to the organization.

“We are very pleased to have Beer Canada join the CMBTC and bring the perspective of Canada’s brewing industry to the table,” Watts said. “Canadian brewers use over 350,000 tonnes worth of malting barley each year valued at $175 million, a very important market for Canada’s barley and malt industries.”

Beer Canada is a voluntary trade association that advocates on behalf of Canadian brewers of all sizes and regions to improve the marketplace for beer. Its membership represents over 90 per cent of domestic beer production in Canada.

Beer Canada joins the roster of 28 domestic and international organizations representing the Canadian barley supply chain.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault say the shutdown of the St. Lawrence Seaway risks significant harm to the region’s economy.

In a joint statement, the premiers are calling on both sides of the strike to reach a deal right away.

The two parties are returning to the negotiating table alongside federal mediators today.

Ford and Legault urged Ottawa to use whatever tools it had on hand to bring about a resolution should an agreement fail to emerge immediately.

The Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is bringing the latest sequencing technology to Western Canada.

It allows researchers in agriculture and other disciplines to more quickly explore the genomes of plants, animals, and microbes.

GIFS’ Omics and Precision Agriculture Laboratory (OPAL) is the first lab in Western Canada to offer genomics analysis services using PacBio’s new Revio DNA sequencer, the highest-capacity instrument the manufacturer has produced.

GIFS chief executive officer Steve Webb said the at-scale analytics will help accelerate research in the agriculture, food, and health fields.

“Our investments in PacBio’s Revio system and other advanced sequencing instruments are bringing leading-edge technologies to Saskatchewan and Western Canada and supporting our research community’s position at the forefront of discovery,” Webb said.

The lab has contributed sequencing work to many large initiatives, including the international, USask-led effort that sequenced the genomes for 15 wheat varieties – a significant accomplishment that is supporting the development of new higher-yielding, more resilient wheat varieties.

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

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