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Outlook for Agriculture and Canola Under the Biden Administration

By Tom Hance

President Biden comes into office with an immediate focus on managing the COVID-19 pandemic and enacting response and relief measures to mitigate its impacts. Some aspects can be achieved through executive orders, while others – such as providing additional assistance to individuals and hard-hit entities – will require legislative action by Congress, which is an uncertain proposition. Aside from managing the pandemic, Biden’s focus will be on restoring stability (both domestically and with trade and foreign affairs), enacting a major infrastructure initiative (which dovetails into coronavirus response and recovery), and addressing climate change on numerous fronts. What does this mean for agriculture and canola? Read More »

Farm Rescue to the Rescue in America’s Breadbasket

By Angela Dansby

“Marty, whatever happens, don’t ever go to 2020,” read a WhatApp joke in reference to the movie “Back to the Future.”

No lie. This year was one most of us would like to forget. But there are some good news stories worth remembering. For example, Farm Rescue recently came to the rescue of a North Dakota farmer hospitalized with COVID-19. Read More »

Biden Poised to Take Presidency, House Margins Tighten and Senate Control Pending

By Tom Hance

The 2020 U.S. presidential election was closer than many polls showed, but it appears Joe Biden will become the next president. Contrary to pre-election projections, Republicans look likely to gain a few seats in the House of Representatives. Democrats will maintain the House majority but with a smaller margin. Senate control will come down to run-off elections on Jan. 5 in Georgia. Historical trends suggest Republicans will be favored to win these run-offs and maintain majority in the Senate, but a lot of money will be spent by both parties and trends can be broken.

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The 2020 Election and Agriculture

By Tom Hance and Dale Thorenson

The upcoming election will not only determine the next U.S. president, but also control of the Senate and agriculture committees in both chambers. The change in leadership will affect the policy agenda, including trade, anti-trust, energy and environmental issues in the near-term and how the next farm bill is developed over the longer term. The 2018 Farm Bill is effective until Sept. 30, 2023. Read More »

Canola Protein for Foods and Beverages Coming Soon

By Johann Tergesen

With an expected additional 2 billion people on earth by the year 2050 and consumers already demanding more plant-based foods, now is the perfect time to bring to market nutritious and great-tasting canola protein ingredients. Burcon NutraScience, a global technology leader in the development of plant-based proteins, has been perfecting its food-grade, non-GMO canola proteins for the last 20 years. This December, they will become a reality. Read More »

Canola Oil, How do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways …

By Angela Dansby

Canola oil, you are both healthful and useful, good for my heart and my cooking. Here are 10 reasons I love you … you are:

  1. Low in saturated fat. You have the least saturated fat of all culinary oils – less than half that of olive oil. No wonder the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized a qualified health claim that just 1 1/2 tablespoons (14 grams) of you per day reduces the risk of heart disease when used in place of sources of saturated fat.
    Read More »

Great Plains Canola Research Blossoms

By Mike Stamm, M.S.

Developing and evaluating high-yielding and regionally adapted winter canola cultivars, improving canola cropping systems, and delivering new technologies and practices to growers are NIFA project priorities in the Great Plains. This project includes the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska and New Mexico. Read More »

US vs. EU: Food Security, Innovation and Sustainability

By Angela Dansby

Approaches to food security by the United States and Europe are similar short-term but very different long-term as revealed in an online panel discussion July 29, 2020 organized by the European Conservatives and Reformists Party. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, EU Commissioner of Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, members of the European Parliament Anna Fotyga and Hermann Tertsch, and U.S. journalist Jon Entine faced off on environmental, social and economic aspects of farming and food security. Read More »

Promise of Gene Editing in Canola and Beyond

Interview with Channapatna S. (“CS”) Prakash, Ph.D., dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama, USA and co-editor-in-chief of the journal GM Crops & Food, with U.S. Canola Association Director of Communication Angela Dansby

In layman’s terms, how would you describe gene editing?

Gene editing is about rearranging the language of life in living organisms such as canola. You can think of it like editing text on your smartphone. Gene editing is done using enzymes to make small changes in the genetic language, rearranging building blocks of DNA called bases. There are billions of bases in every cell of canola plants. Changing just a few can bring about desirable changes such as a healthier oil. DNA consists of four bases called ATGC. How these letters are arranged determines how genes are expressed. Read More »