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Greetings from C-CIARN Agriculture Welcome to new members, we look forward to your continued support and interest. Our special session at the AGM for the Canadian Association of Geographers, May 27-28 in Moncton, NB was well attended and well received. A report summarizing the highlights from the presentations and discussion will be made available soon through our web site. July 20-23 The Science of Changing Climates - Impacts on Agriculture, Forestry and Wetlands. University of Alberta. Potential impacts of Climate Change on Agroclimatic Indices in Southern Regions of Ontario and Quebec. By A. Bootsma, D. Anderson and S. Gameda. 2004. Technical Bulletin ECORC Contribution No. 03-284. Eastern Ceral and Oilseed Research Centre, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. 2004. A comparative assessment of climate vulnerability: agriculture and ranching on both sides of the US-Mexico border. By M. Vasquez-Leon, C. WEst, and T.J. Finan. Global Environmental Change, 13: 159-173. 2003. Genomic Biology Institute's first grant to focus on soybeans and climate change. From Statistics Canada (May 27/04): Net cash income - the difference between a farmer's cash receipts and operating expenses - plunged to its lowest level in more than 25 years in 2003 following back-to-back droughts in previous years and the mad cow crisis. Net cash income tumbled 43.3% to 4.2 billion. Read the news release here. From Science News Online (May 29/04): Global Vineyard The gradual rise in global temperatures over the past few decades has been leaving its mark on wine. So far, the news has been good - wine quality for recent vintages is better than it was 50 years ago, according to connoiseaurs. Furthermore, the warming climate has enabled vineyards to thrive in areas where the weather was previously too cool or too variable for growing high-quality grapes. Despite these short-term benefits for both winemakers and connoisseurs, the rise in global temperatures expected for the next half century may ultimately bode ill for the wine industry. Although some growers may find different grape varieties that are suitable to the new climate regime, environmental conditions in some famous grape-growing regions may turn too hot or too dry to support vineyards. Read the press release. From Agnet (June 2/04): Monsanto scientists zero in on drought-resistant soybeans St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News | by Rachel Melcer | June 2, 2004 Stan Dotsch, director of yield traits and science fellow at Creve Coeur-based Monsanto, the world's leading provider of genetically modified crops, was cited as saying that he and his colleagues identified, then engineered into plants, a trait that allowed soybeans to survive under drought conditions, adding, "I'm really excited, but I'm also really nervous... As much as we are proud of this, there is a lot of important work left to do." The story says that work could lead to wider acceptance worldwide of crops that carry genetic traits with obvious benefits for mankind. All for now, Ellen Wall Co-ordinator, C-CIARN Agriculture (Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network for Agriculture) Blackwood Hall (Room 202) University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1 Phone: 519 824 4120 ext 58480 Fax: 519 763 4686 www.c-ciarn.uoguelph.ca |
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