Ontario family could lose its farm due to Ford government's Highway 413

Feb 21, 2024

An Ontario farmer says he fears he could lose his family’s farm if the Doug Ford government goes forward with a proposal to build Highway 413, which would cut through about a quarter of his land.

Dean Orr works a farm in King City with his parents, as well as a full-time farmhand, growing grains and tapping maple syrup. About 500 acres of their rented land, however, is directly in the path of the proposed highway in the north end of Vaughan.

“(It) might not sound like a huge amount to a lot of people. It’s only 25 per cent, but a lot of the margins for grain growing are really slim,” he told CTV News Toronto.

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Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies