Paris | Reuters — The European Union’s crop monitoring service on Monday lifted its yield forecasts for this year’s soft wheat, barley and rapeseed harvests with growing conditions remaining mostly favourable despite a recent dry spell. Yields will stay below levels seen in 2014, when the EU posted record production in several crops, but exceed […] Read more
EU lifts wheat, barley, rapeseed yield outlook
Owner of Tim Hortons, Burger King posts strong Q1
Reuters — Restaurant Brands International said on Monday its Burger King and Tim Hortons chains posted their strongest same-store sales performance in years in the first quarter, with customers lured in by popular menu items. The company’s stock rose more than three per cent in early trading but later pared gains. U.S. chain Burger King […] Read more
Canada to set new speed limits on dangerous goods trains
Updated April 25, 2015 — Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will immediately impose a new speed limit of 65 kilometres per hour for dangerous goods trains moving through urban areas with more than 100,000 people, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said Thursday. This is one of many measures the Conservative government has introduced since the July […] Read more
Daily price limits revised for CBOT grains futures
Chicago | Reuters — Daily price limits for Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and wheat futures will rise starting in May, while soybean limits will not change following a semi-annual review, CBOT parent CME Group said Thursday. Under exchange rules, the CBOT resets daily limits for grains and oilseeds in May and November of […] Read more
Russia’s ag ministry proposes to cancel wheat export tax
Moscow | Reuters — Russia’s agriculture ministry has proposed to the government to cancel a tax on wheat exports from July 1 when the 2015-16 marketing year starts, a source at the ministry told Reuters. Russia imposed the duty on wheat exports between Feb. 1 and June 30 in an effort to cool domestic food […] Read more
Fast-track avoids ‘mistakes from our past’ on trade: Obama
Washington | Reuters –– U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday praised a bipartisan bill that would fast-track trade deals through Congress, urging lawmakers to pass it quickly so his administration can advance a trade pact with Pacific nations. “The bill put forward today would help us write those rules in a way that avoids the […] Read more
Brazil’s Rural Society contests limits on foreign land purchases
Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil’s Rural Society, a group representing large- and medium-scale farmers, filed a case with the country’s Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to overturn restrictions on the amount of land foreigners can purchase. The attorney general’s office tightened restrictions on foreign land ownership in Brazil in 2010, an action that officials […] Read more
More U.S. turkey flocks hit with bird flu
Reuters — The number of U.S. poultry flocks infected with a deadly strain of bird flu rose on Tuesday as Iowa identified its first case and Minnesota confirmed eight more cases, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Iowa became the 12th state this year to find poultry infected with the H5N2 flu, which can […] Read more
U.S. EPA strikes deal on biofuel blending targets with oil groups
Washington | Reuters –– Oil refiners who have complained that U.S. federal regulators missed deadlines to issue rules on blending renewable fuels into the nation’s supply of gasoline and diesel fuel are set to get long-awaited targets from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Under a deal the EPA announced Friday with two oil industry groups […] Read more
CN grain train derails near Calgary
Reuters — Twenty-four grain cars on a Canadian National Railway (CN) train derailed northeast of Calgary on Friday morning without injury or dangerous goods involved, RCMP said. The derailment on the 104-car train took place near the village of Kathyrn and Highway 9, at 10 a.m. MT, RCMP from nearby Beiseker said in a release, […] Read more
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