Sao Paulo | Reuters — Protesters have agreed to open access to Brazil’s main poultry exporting port of Itajai in Santa Catarina state, the port said on Wednesday, ending a lingering flashpoint after a two-week truck drivers’ protest. A union of autonomous truck drivers agreed to the port’s proposal to raise payments for transporters inside […] Read more
Access to Brazil’s Itajai port to open as truck protest ends
Vancouver port resumes most operations after container fire
Vancouver | Reuters — Port Metro Vancouver said Thursday that operations had resumed at most port facilities shut down by a shipping container fire the day before, but that its Centerm container terminal was still closed. The chemical fire, which prompted a massive emergency response late on Wednesday and shut down a large portion of […] Read more
Francophone ag education in E. Ont. under new management
An established francophone college has been named to co-ordinate delivery of French-language agricultural education programs in eastern Ontario. The province on Thursday announced Ottawa-based Collège La Cité will take on that role — and take the lead in delivering several such programs this fall at Campus d’Alfred (UGCA), which, for now, is a francophone campus […] Read more
WTO appeal panel to rule on COOL by mid-May at latest
A World Trade Organization panel, after hearing the U.S. government’s appeal in defense of mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) for meat, now expects to file its decision no later than May 18. The WTO Appellate Body, which on Feb. 17 heard the U.S. appeal and rebuttals from Canada and Mexico, served notice Thursday to the WTO […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat falls to five-month low on dollar, big supplies
Reuters — Chicago wheat futures fell to their lowest nearby price in five months on Thursday, pressured by the stronger dollar and huge global supplies. Soybeans fell for the fourth straight session on bleak export prospects in the face of stiff competition, traders said. Corn finished slightly higher. Chicago Board of Trade May wheat dropped […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs drop with cash, wholesale pork prices
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs turned lower on Thursday, pressured by weaker cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. April and June closed 1.175 cents per pound lower at 66.825 cents and 77.45 cents, respectively (all figures US$). Wholesale pork prices slumped $1.49 to $68.49 per hundredweight (cwt) on Thursday morning […] Read more
Floods in Argentina expected to cause soy crop losses
Buenos Aires | Reuters –– Some of Argentina’s northern soy-growing areas were flooded by heavy rains in the past week, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said Thursday, warning that it may lower its 57 million-tonne 2014-15 harvest forecast in the coming weeks. The country is the world’s No. 3 soybean exporter and top supplier of […] Read more
Russia’s Uralkali to invest US$4.5B to stay potash No. 1
Moscow | Reuters –– Russia’s Uralkali will invest US$4.5 billion over the next five years to raise production capacity by 30 per cent, aiming to remain the world’s largest potash company despite a setback at a major mine. Uralkali’s capacity to produce potash, a crop nutrient, came into focus after it halted production at the […] Read more
Fund selling keeps U.S. wheat futures pointed down
CNS Canada –– Chicago wheat futures dropped to fresh contract lows Thursday and have more room to the downside from a chart perspective as speculators continue to add to their short positions, according to a broker. “It’s a momentum trade here with the funds,” said Adam Knosalla, a broker with Frontier Futures in Minneapolis. “They’re […] Read more
Soybeans to see continued growth in Saskatchewan
CNS Canada — Soybeans are a relatively new crop in Saskatchewan, but are generating more traction and are expected to increase their footprint in 2015. Saskatchewan farmers planted 270,000 acres of soybeans in 2014, nearly double the previous year, according to Statistics Canada data. “We’re expecting soybean acres to rise again,” said Carl Potts, executive […] Read more