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Agriculture Roundup for Thursday March 11, 2021

Mar 11, 2021 | 10:13 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – BASF Digital Farming has signed an agreement with AGvisorPRO to provide farmers with expanded access to a local, accredited agronomic advisor.

Farmers using the xarvio™ Scouting app on their smartphones will be able to access the additional support.

Both BASF Digital Farming’s xarvio Scouting with AGvisorPRO were Ag In Motion Innovation Program award winners in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Commercial Lead for xarvio at BASF Digital Farming Brent Nicol said the connection between the automatized in-field problem identifier, xarvio Scouting, and the AGvisorPRO connectivity platform will provide another way to assist farmers with identifying problems in their field.

The Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission (SaskBarley) will fund another roughly $1 million of barley research over the next four years.

SaskBarley put out a call for research proposals last year with a goal to invest in new and exciting barley research not available through traditional research channels.

Chair Matt Enns said another goal of the research call was to help the organization ramp up its quickly expanding research program.

“Since our inception we have been focused on strategically and sustainably growing this function. With this latest investment, we are nearly where we want to be, now allocating more than 60 per cent of our annual budget towards this goal,” Enns said in a media release.

SaskBarley received 18 full applications of which nine were approved.

Some of the projects will focus on exploring novel mechanisms of resistance to fusarium head blight and management of other diseases in barley, optimizing processing practices, and enhancing malting barley quality for beer production.

City of Regina is putting financial support behind a biofuel processing plant.

True North Renewable Fuels Ltd. (TNRF) asked council for a $1 million grant which would go towards the construction of the plant.

Mayor Sandra Masters said the facility’s potential is exciting with about 2,000 construction jobs expected and the potential of up to 350 permanent jobs once the plant is opened.

Masters said the plant aligns with the city’s goal of being completely renewable by 2050.

The plant would focus on turning locally grown canola into biodiesel to be used in the aviation and rail industry.

TNRF also received $1 million from Canada’s Agricultural Clean Technology (ACT) program.

alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

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