File photo of a desk in Canada’s Senate. (Dougall_Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Senate votes down C-234 amendments

Changes would have pulled barn and greenhouse heating from carbon price exemptions

The Senate voted today to reject amendments that would have seen barn and greenhouse heating removed from Bill C-234. In a sitting on the afternoon of Nov. 7, senators voted no to the adoption of amendments made by the committee for agriculture and forestry. Twenty-eight voted yes, and four abstained. The Senate then voted to […] Read more

File photo of laker vessels navigating the Welland Canal. (JonathanNicholls/iStock/Getty Images)

Seaway strike backs up Ontario grain

Prairie grain may follow suit if strike backs up traffic via Thunder Bay, GFO warns

The nature of eastern Canadian grain logistics, and a strike by St. Lawrence Seaway workers who operate the system’s canals, will see cascading impacts across the system if the situation isn’t resolved quickly, according to Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario. Unifor workers in both Ontario and Quebec walked off the job Sunday […] Read more


Keeping grains safe when in storage

Keeping grains safe when in storage

Reading Time: < 1 minute Storage considerations must be top of mind as a variable crop is harvested in Alberta. Grain temperature and moisture are two key factors for safe grain storage. If one or both are not properly managed, the risk of spoiled grain can increase significantly. To help prevent spoilage, the Canadian Grain Commission has developed storage charts […] Read more

File photo of locks on the Welland Canal at Allanburg, Ont. (Jimfeng/iStock/Getty Images)

Seaway workers’ strike underway

Management awaiting CIRB ruling on grain traffic

Unionized workers on the St. Lawrence Seaway walked off the job just after midnight Sunday, shutting the waterway to all cargo vessels including grain traffic for now. Unifor, which represents about 360 Seaway workers across five locals in Ontario and Quebec, had served Seaway management with 72 hours’ strike notice on Wednesday. In a release […] Read more


File photo of locks on the Welland Canal at Allanburg, Ont. (Jimfeng/iStock/Getty Images)

Seaway to seek order exempting grain traffic from strike action

Management, union say talks still ongoing

Facing a strike that would shut down traffic on the waterway as early as Sunday, the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. has asked for an order confirming that grain would need to continue moving. Unifor, the union representing over 360 seaway workers across five union locals in Ontario and Quebec, on Wednesday served the corporation […] Read more



Net sales fell to $25.8 billion from $30.3 billion, reflecting a decline in prices as well as a 4.7 per cent year-on-year decrease in volumes shipped.

Crop giant Louis Dreyfus posts lower profit on calmer markets

Like its rivals, the grains merchant has seen profits ease after last year’s surge

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters – Louis Dreyfus Company has reported that its first-half net profits and sales have fallen compared to a last year, when markets were boosted by upheaval from the war in Ukraine. One of the world’s largest crop merchants, its rivals include Archer-Daniels-Midland, Bunge and Cargill. The company reported a group net profit of US$568 […] Read more

A DryAir central heating system feeds aeration fans for a row of grain bins. (Assie.ca)

Investment firm buys Saskatchewan drying system maker

EIC buys DryAir for $60 million

A Winnipeg investment firm with ownership stakes in Canadian manufacturing and airlines has bought a Saskatchewan company that makes heating and drying systems for grain growers and other sectors. Exchange Income Corp. (EIC) announced Oct. 5 it has bought DryAir Manufacturing of St. Brieux for about $60 million in cash and EIC stock. DryAir, in […] Read more


Rob Painter (l) and Eric Hansotia, CEOs of Trimble and Agco respectively, agreed on Sept. 28, 2023 to combine their precision ag arms into a new joint venture. (Trimble via PRNewswire)

Trimble Ag, Agco’s JCA link up for new precision ag venture

Agco gets majority control of a new precision ag and autonomy firm; Agco's GSI brand and others now under separate review

Global positioning tech firm Trimble is set to sell its precision ag business into a new joint-venture company that will include farm machinery maker Agco’s made-in-Manitoba autonomy arm. From farmers’ perspective, the two companies say their combined technology offering is expected to offer “seamless integration and connectivity across geographies, equipment brands and the crop life […] Read more

Russia says conditions key to grain deal

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says action needed before his country will move

Reading Time: 2 minutes Russia will return to the Black Sea grain deal ‘the same day’ as Moscow’s conditions for export of its own grain and fertilizers to the global markets are met, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters September 11. Russia quit the deal in July, a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, […] Read more