University of Winnipeg Receives Weston Seeding Food Innovation Grant

Feb 13, 2019

A University of Winnipeg research project has received a $250,000 Weston Seeding Food Innovation Grant.

The project will examine ways to train a computer to recognize and tend for prairie crops. To do this, the system would need to access extensive examples of plants and weeds.

“The main goal of our research project is to develop the means to automatically generate and label these images through a computer controlled camera system. We will then make the images publicly available for use by Canadian researchers and companies, because the fastest way to innovation is to get this data into the hands of more innovators,” said UWinnipeg physics professor, Dr. Christopher Bidinosti.

The research team includes experts from UWinnipeg, Red River College, the University of Saskatchewan, Northstar Robotics, Sightline Innovation, the Canola Council of Canada, and Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers.

The Weston Seeding Food Innovation Grant provides seed funding for interdisciplinary research or technology development to help accelerate solutions to sustainable food challenges, with a focus on food production, distribution and consumption initiatives that primarily impact Canadians, but also deliver key learning toward issues of global concern.

Source : Steinbachonline

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.