Higher revenue per carload offset reduced grain and fertilizer traffic for Canadian National Railway (CN) in its first fiscal quarter. Montreal-based CN on Monday reported overall net income of $792 million on total revenues of $2.964 billion for the quarter ending March 31, up from $704 million on $3.098 billion in the year-earlier Q1. The […] Read more
CN books lower first-quarter grain handle
Ottawa moves to extend expanded rail interswitching
Prairie crop growers hoping that changes in federal rail freight rules will continue past their expiration date are about to get their wish. Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Friday announced they would bring forward a resolution in Parliament to extend provisions of the previous government’s Bill C-30, the Fair Rail […] Read more
CP pulls more grain for less in first quarter
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) hauled more carloads of Canadian grain in its first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year — but for less revenue per car. Calgary-based CP on Wednesday reported overall net income of $540 million on revenues of $1.591 billion for its quarter ending March 31, up from $320 […] Read more
Farmers big on pulses, but canola down on the year
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers will be seeding record acres of peas and lentils this spring, as expected, but the increases to pulse crops are coming at the expense of canola — which saw acres come in below expectations in a report out from Statistics Canada. In its first acreage survey of the year, released […] Read more
Canada’s farmers seen seeding less canola than expected
Reuters — Canadian farmers intend to seed less canola than expected, and will sow record-large areas with pulse crops, according to the government’s first farmer survey of crop sowings for 2016, released on Thursday. Wheat seedings are also expected to decline, but not as much as traders and analysts expected on average. Statistics Canada estimated that […] Read more
Canada’s pulse acres set to rise, wheat likely lower
CNS Canada –– Early seeding operations are already underway in parts of Western Canada, and the general sentiment is that farmers are planting more peas and lentils at the expense of most everything else. Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based acreage estimates of the year on Thursday. “I think we’ll see a surge in pulse […] Read more
Post-CWB review flags grain trade ‘inefficiency’
WITHDRAWN, April 15, 2016: A historian’s review of the Prairie grain trade, commissioned by supporters of the former single marketing desk for wheat and barley, suggests history is repeating itself at grain growers’ expense — but the data on which the review is based is now being questioned. The Canadian Wheat Board Alliance on Wednesday released a […] Read more
CP scraps plans to buy Norfolk Southern
Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway said on Monday it had scrapped efforts to buy Norfolk Southern, almost six months after it launched its unsolicited US$28 billion bid for the fourth-largest U.S. railroad operator. The announcement comes days after the U.S. Justice Department urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject a voting trust arrangement CP had […] Read more
Saskatchewan lentil acres seen rising
CNS Canada — The International Year of the Pulses is certainly living up to its name, as territories capable of growing them look to cash in on India’s insatiable demand for supplies. However, it seems not all pulses are created equal, as lentils appear to be the main driver, with peas coming in second. “It […] Read more
Glencore sells 40 per cent of agribusiness to CPP
London | Reuters –– Commodity miner and trader Glencore has agreed to sell 40 per cent of its agricultural unit to Canada’s state pension fund for US$2.5 billion, the company’s latest step to cut debt and soothe investor concerns about the impact of weak commodity prices. The sale values the agricultural unit as a whole […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
