Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has announced a new agreement which allows in-vitro fertilized (IVF) bovine embryos to enter Canada from the U.S. Previously, only IVF bovine embryos produced within Canada were accessible to producers. A Canadian Food Inspection agency release said this represents the first agreement Canada has developed with another country to permit the […] Read more
In-vitro bovine embryos allowed from the U.S.
Scoular to source canola, sell output for Legumex’s U.S. crusher
Grain trading firm The Scoular Co. is set to start feeding canola to Prairie special crop processor Legumex Walker’s crushing facility near the U.S. West Coast — and to market the plant’s production. Winnipeg-based Legumex on Monday announced a “long-term strategic alliance” with Scoular, in which Scoular will procure all canola seed for processing at Legumex’s […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy, corn higher but trim gains after short-covering surge
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures surged to multi-month highs during a short-covering rally on Tuesday but trimmed their gains after the elevated prices sparked a round of selling by farmers. Soymeal futures that had jumped the most in four years on Monday, helping to fuel the rise in soybeans and corn, […] Read more
Agco posts lower profit on falling crop prices
Reuters — Agco Corp. posted a lower quarterly profit Tuesday as growers around the globe, faced with falling prices for farm commodities, purchased fewer tractors and harvesters. The company, which makes equipment sold under the Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra brand names, reported a third-quarter net profit of $65 million, down from $125.2 million […] Read more
Smoother grain flow points to Ottawa lifting rail regulations
Winnipeg | Reuters — Barring a sudden pile-up of grain across Western Canada in the next five weeks, Ottawa will lift requirements that railways move minimum volumes of crops, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in an interview. While Ritz says he is not ruling out any options before the rules expire Nov. 29, government data […] Read more
Cheap grain could shore up any Man. forage shortages
CNS Canada — Excessive moisture in some parts of Manitoba over the past few months has led to localized forage shortages heading into the winter. However, ample feed grain supplies are expected to help supplement any lack of forages. Manitoba’s Interlake region was particularly hard hit by moisture in 2014. Water levels on both Lake […] Read more
Incoming N.B. government names new ag deputy
New Brunswick’s deputy minister of economic development will also be the province’s senior bureaucrat for agriculture and fisheries as part of a shuffle announced Tuesday. Denis Caron, who has led the provincial civil service on the economic development file since September last year, will now also handle the ag file on an interim basis, Premier […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs turn higher on short-covering
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hogs closed higher Tuesday, supported by short-covering and speculative buying after recent market losses, traders said. December finished 1.15 cents per pound higher at 90.2 cents, and February was up 1.075 cents at 89.3 cents (all figures US$). Fund buying surfaced after the December contract broke through […] Read more
Antitrust watchdog clears Tim Hortons takeover
Canada’s Competition Bureau has no plans to block Timmy’s entry to the Burger King’s kingdom. The bureau said Tuesday it has issued a “no action” letter confirming it won’t, at this time, challenge the US$15.5 billion merger of Tim Hortons into Burger King as proposed in August. The deal is “unlikely to result in a […] Read more
Dreyfus’ Sask. canola plant offline indefinitely
Reuters — A canola-crushing plant owned by the Canadian unit of global grain trader Louis Dreyfus will be offline indefinitely after an explosion and fire on Friday, the company said. Firefighters are investigating the cause of the blast at the Yorkton, Sask. plant, and an assessment of the structural condition of a canola meal storage […] Read more