Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2018 when it bought Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

Competition Bureau probing big ag chem companies

Probe to look at firms' response to FBN's arrival in Canada

Reuters — The Canadian Competition Bureau said on Thursday it was investigating certain agriculture companies for alleged anticompetitive practices over allegations of trying to block an online farm-supply startup from doing business in Western Canada. The regulator did not provide details on specific companies involved in the probe, but documents filed on Jan. 30 in […] Read more



Corteva Agriscience, which spun off from the merged Dow and DuPont in 2019, got its canola seed breeding lab and research station in Saskatoon from the Dow AgroSciences end of the merger. (Video screengrab from Corteva.ca)

Supercluster backing canola protein production

The federally-backed research and development “supercluster” set up to boost Canada’s protein industries is funding work to wring more and better proteins out of canola seed. In Saskatoon on Wednesday, federal Industry Minister Navdeep Bains announced the Protein Industries Canada (PIC) supercluster has approved a new $27.6 million project to breed high-protein canola hybrids for […] Read more

Corteva’s climate challenge program will reward farmers that advance, “innovative climate positive practices.”

Corteva’s Climate Positive Challenge program

Sending a message may be more important than what the program can actually buy

In a political climate where a 16-year old European environmental activist can drive thousands of people to protest in Edmonton, it is important that farmers not only continue to act as good stewards of the land and soil — it’s also important that the general public see that farmers are looking after the environment. Corteva […] Read more



The U-shaped Dot A-U1 “loads” a SeedMaster row-crop planter on to its platform during the demonstration at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. (Ralph Pearce photo)

Pearce: Autonomous platform makes Eastern Canada debut

It’s been dubbed “the future of agriculture” and for the first time, farmers in Eastern Canada had the opportunity to see the Dot A-U1 Power Platform with in-field demonstrations at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. The precision ag system, designed by Dot Technology Corp., attracted considerable attention going through its paces during the annual ag showcase, […] Read more


Bean burgers made with canola protein powder at Burcon’s alternative meats protein lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada August 23, 2019. Picture taken August 23, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon VanRaes

Big Ag wants a cut of booming fake-meat market

Winnipeg/Chicago | Reuters — Bunge, one the world’s biggest grain traders, recently disclosed the 1.6 per cent stake it had purchased in the fast-growing fake-meat startup Beyond Meat. The play looked smart after the stock surged more than 250 per cent since the faux burger and sausage maker’s initial public offering in May. Indeed, Beyond […] Read more

(Video screengrab from Dupontnutritionandbiosciences.com)

DuPont said considering sale of nutrition, biosciences unit

Reuters — Specialty chemicals maker DuPont is considering a sale of its nutrition and biosciences unit, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The unit, which supplies everything from soy-based food ingredients to tablet binders, could be worth at least US$20 billion as a standalone entity, Bloomberg said. DuPont declined to comment […] Read more


The logo and trading info for Corteva Agriscience displayed on the New York Stock Exchange in New York.  Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Corteva shares rise as profit beats on international markets

Reuters – Pesticide and insecticide maker Corteva Inc’s quarterly profit beat estimates as volumes and prices in its international markets rose more than expected, sending its shares up more than 8 percent . Investors cheered Corteva’s upbeat numbers, its first after separation from DowDupont in June, as they were a rare bright spot among agricultural […] Read more

(Botaneco Inc. photo)

Supercluster backs oilseed protein joint venture

A project to extract new high-protein ingredients from canola, hemp and other such crops for use in the food, feed and aquaculture markets will be the first to get funding from Canada’s plant protein supercluster. Protein Industries Canada (PIC), set up last year as one of five federally-backed research and innovation superclusters, announced Wednesday it […] Read more