Maple Leaf Foods swung to a rare profit in the third quarter as the company nears the end of its restructuring plan. The profit is only Maple Leaf’s second in the past 11 quarters, but was slightly smaller than expected. Shares fell nearly seven per cent in Toronto trading to $20.95, as the company delayed […] Read more
Maple Leaf swings to profit but shares slide
Mustard growers relish price spike from supply squeeze
Reuters — From Canada to India, there is a squeeze on mustard that has put producers in a pickle. Prices of the yellow condiment dabbed on hot dogs and pretzels have leaped to their highest level in seven years this autumn as growers in Western Canada, which supplies three-quarters of the world’s traded mustard seed, […] Read more
India’s drought a bonanza for Canadian pulse growers
Winnipeg/Mumbai | Reuters — Prices for Canadian pulses typically ease toward the end of the year but a recent dry spell in distant India, the world’s top producer and consumer, is driving them up. Back-to-back drought years for the first time in three decades has eroded India’s output of pulses and boosted imports. Global prices […] Read more
Not much interest in Glencore ag assets at grain firm G3
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Grain handler G3 Canada, a joint venture between a Saudi Arabian firm and Bunge Ltd., doesn’t have much interest in bidding for a stake in rival Glencore’s agricultural business, its chief executive said Tuesday. Swiss-based Glencore, the trader and miner whose shares have been battered by the commodities slump, is looking […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat extends rally, soybeans slip
Reuters — Chicago wheat rose more than one per cent on Thursday, extending a rally triggered by Wednesday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture data that put the 2015 U.S. crop below market estimates. Corn futures rose slightly on technical buying and spillover support from wheat. Soybeans slumped on pressure from an advancing Midwest harvest and technical […] Read more
Canada to pay farmers for any losses under TPP deal, Ritz says
Reuters — Canadian farmers will receive government compensation for any losses resulting from a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, the country’s agriculture minister said Wednesday in a discussion about the nation’s protected farm sectors. The U.S., New Zealand and Australia want Canada to start dismantling a system of supply and import controls over dairy, poultry […] Read more
Liberals, NDP say would clarify foreign takeover rules
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada’s Liberal and New Democratic parties, vying to replace the governing Conservatives in a tight three-way election race, both say they would clarify rules around foreign corporate takeovers if they win. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, campaigning in Winnipeg on Tuesday, said foreign investors need clearer rules around takeovers. “(Conservative Prime Minister […] Read more
U.S. grains: Prices slide on China worries, harvest progress
Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures slid Monday, pressured by a broad sell-off in commodity and equity markets and progress by U.S. farmers in harvesting crops. Soybeans tumbled more than one per cent, while Chicago wheat slipped off its earlier one-month high. Corn also declined. “This will be one of the biggest weeks in […] Read more
duBreton to boost output of crate-free pigs
Reuters — Private Canadian pork producer duBreton said Thursday it plans to raise 300,000 additional pigs during the next three years without housing them in crates, as it seeks premium prices from food stores and restaurants for meat raised humanely. Larger Canadian rivals Olymel and Maple Leaf Foods are already converting all of their own […] Read more
McDonald’s cage-free egg pledge pressures farmers
Reuters — This month’s pledge by McDonald’s Corp. to phase out eggs laid by caged hens in its North American restaurants will increase competition for limited supplies of cage-free eggs. The ban, which follows similar moves by Burger King and food services company Sodexo, carries higher costs that may, at least initially, sting farmers. For […] Read more
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