NFU IN N.B. WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR . . . JENNIFER SYGO: SMALL FARMERS IN CANADA ARE A DYING BREED, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR OUR FOOD SUPPLY? . . . EXPERTS WATCHING FERTILIZER MARKETS  . . . STUDY FINDS NO LINK BETWEEN WIND TURBINE NOISE, PERCEIVED HEALTH EFFECTS  . . . GENETICALLY MODIFIED POTATO IS APPROVED BY U.S.D.A. . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

NFU IN N.B. WELCOMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Source: NFUNB
The National Farmers Union in New Brunswick is pleased to announce the appointment of Amanda Wildeman as Executive Director, effective October 8. Amanda grew up in Alberta and has called New Brunswick home for nearly 10 years. She graduated from St. Thomas University before getting a Master’s degree in Natural Resources and Peace. Amanda has extensive hands-on experience working for farmers in this province. She brings new energy and enthusiasm to her role as executive director of one of N.B.’s two general farm organizations. (read more)

JENNIFER SYGO: SMALL FARMERS IN CANADA ARE A DYING BREED, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR OUR FOOD SUPPLY?
Source: The National Post
Where have all the farmers gone? More than 80 percent of the world’s farmers farm on less than five acres of land, often for little financial benefit, yet their hard work means access to healthy food for the rest of us. Family farming is so vital to the health of our food and ecosystem that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) named 2014 the International Year of Family Farming. (read more)

EXPERTS WATCHING FERTILIZER MARKETS
Source: FCC
Fertilizer prices so far have resisted pressure from declining commodity values, but experts say while uncertainty clouds forecasts, the outlook appears bearish. “We were thinking prices should follow corn prices, but they haven't,” says Jennifer Stoby, Alberta Agriculture’s inputs market analyst. “A lot of the fertilizer prices are staying quite stable.”
She notes world markets are demanding more fertilizer products – Brazil was a big buyer of phosphate and potash – while natural gas production in Trinidad and Tobago is lower. “And the U.S. buys a lot of nitrogen from those areas,” Stoby says. (read more)

STUDY FINDS NO LINK BETWEEN WIND TURBINE NOISE, PERCEIVED HEALTH EFFECTS
Source: The Globe and Mail
A Health Canada study has found no evidence to support a link between exposure to wind-turbine noise and health effects reported by people living near the towering structures. The Wind Turbine Noise and Health Study, conducted over a four-month period in 2013, involved more than 1,200 residents in Southwestern Ontario and P.E.I. whose homes were located at various distances from almost 400 of the electricity-generating structures in 18 wind-turbine developments. (read more)

GENETICALLY MODIFIED POTATO IS APPROVED BY U.S.D.A.
Source: New York Times
A potato genetically engineered to eliminate a potentially harmful ingredient that emerges in the high heat required for French fries and potato chips has been approved for commercial planting, the Department of Agriculture announced Friday. The potato’s DNA has been altered so that less of a chemical called acrylamide is produced when the potato is fried. Acrylamide has been shown to cause cancer in rodents and is a suspected human carcinogen. The newly designed potato also resists bruising. (read more)