Spring wheat and canola fields in western Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan are dotted by cattails and swamps, while others are unplanted or abandoned, evidence of heavy spring rains that reduced Canada’s potential crop output, scouts on a crop tour said on Tuesday. Other spring wheat and canola fields are growing but are less mature than […] Read more
Rains leave swampy, fallow fields in Manitoba, Saskatchewan -scouts
Southern Manitoba canola growth more varied than usual – scouts
Canola crops in southern Manitoba are growing at a wider range of stages than usual, with many behind their normal development stage, scouts touring the fertile western Prairies found on Monday. Some canola was just beginning to flower, while other crops were in full bloom, canola’s critical development period. Other fields of canola in south-central […] Read more
Floods drown Prairie crops, ruin old supplies
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Floods that washed across Saskatchewan and Manitoba last weekend hit farmers twice, drowning newly seeded fields of wheat and canola, while also ruining stockpiles of last year’s crops. Heavy rain of up to 260 millimetres (10.2 inches) swamped the eastern side of Western Canada’s crop belt last weekend, submerging crops, washing […] Read more
Packers slow production citing worker shortage
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian meat packers are short hundreds of workers, forcing plants to run at well below full capacity, the Canadian Meat Council said Monday. Plants are operating at 77 per cent of capacity on average, based on a survey by the industry group, resulting in more Canadian cattle and hogs are being […] Read more
‘Bully’ U.S. wrong to criticize Canada on trade, Ritz says
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz lashed out at the U.S. for acting like a “schoolyard bully” on trade issues, and said he sees more promise in negotiating a bilateral deal with Japan than the more ambitious Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ritz, in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, also said it would […] Read more
Saputo eyes mergers, acquisitions in U.S., Canada, Australia
Reuters — Canada’s largest dairy producer, Saputo, still digesting a major purchase in Australia, is examining other possible acquisitions there and in the U.S., Canada and Latin America, CEO Lino Saputo Jr. said Thursday. In the U.S., potential acquisitions could cost less than $100 million to as much as $4 billion, Saputo said in a […] Read more
Russia’s Uralkali plans potash output near maximum capacity
New York | Reuters — The world’s biggest potash producer, Russia’s Uralkali, plans to produce close to its maximum capacity this year but does not rule out idling production to support the crop nutrient’s price, CEO Dmitry Osipov said Thursday. Uralkali is aiming to produce 12 million tonnes of its 13 million-tonne potash capacity this […] Read more
Cold, soggy spring delaying seeding on Prairies
Winnipeg | Reuters — Crop planting in Western Canada has fallen well behind the usual pace as cool, wet weather idles farmers. Just six per cent of the overall crop was planted as of Monday, down from last year’s 10 per cent and well off the norm of around one-quarter seeded by this time of […] Read more
Agrium CEO not aiming solely at job cuts to pare costs
Reuters — Canadian fertilizer and ag retail company Agrium is not looking to broadly cut costs and staffing levels, but its drive to become more efficient could lead to some job losses, CEO Chuck Magro said. As profits fall sharply, Agrium’s peers Mosaic Co. and PotashCorp have already announced major cuts to their respective workforces. […] Read more
Mosaic to cut over 500 jobs as profit tumbles
Reuters — U.S. fertilizer company Mosaic Co. said Tuesday it will eliminate more than 500 jobs in the next year as it reported a larger-than-expected 43 per cent drop in quarterly profit. The fertilizer sector has been under pressure since last summer’s breakup of one of the world’s biggest potash traders, Belarusian Potash Co., led […] Read more
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