(Dave Bedard photo)

Glencore reported moving ahead on ag stake sale

Commodities firm Glencore, the owner of Prairie grain-handling heavyweight Viterra, is reported as already moving forward on plans to bring minority investors into its ag business. Glencore announced earlier this month it plans to tame the debt it’s racked up in its recent major expansions, partly through sales of assets and new shares. Those assets, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Richardson to build in S. Alta. inputs market

Prairie grain handler Richardson International is moving to shore up its presence in southern Alberta’s crop inputs market with a new dealership. The Winnipeg company announced Wednesday it will build a new crop inputs centre at Three Hills, about 65 km east of Olds, starting this fall to open and begin operating next spring. “The […] Read more


(USDA.gov via Flickr)

USDA analyzing effects of wild pigs on crops, livestock

Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Friday it has started analyzing for the first time data it has collected on the impact that wild pigs have on U.S. farmers’ crop and livestock operations. It is estimated by federal and state agricultural officials that there are more than five million wild […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan raises wheat, canola estimates with new model

CNS Canada — Wheat and canola production are expected to be higher than in previous estimates, but still lower than in 2014, according to a new Statistics Canada model for field crop production estimates. The model-based report, released Thursday, pegs this year’s spring wheat production at 18.4 million tonnes, higher than previously forecast in the […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola stocks increase dramatically in StatsCan report

CNS Canada –– It appears there’s a lot more canola in Prairie fields and bins than anybody thought. According to Thursday morning’s Stocks of Principal Field Crops report from Statistics Canada, the country had 2.3 million tonnes of canola in its stocks as of July 31 — 500,000 to one million tonnes more than analysts […] Read more



Increased residue testing means Canadian grain is facing increased scrutiny abroad, says Canadian Grain Commission assistant chief commissioner Jim Smolik.

Watch what you spray — or the entire grain industry could pay

Grain buyers are testing pesticide residues like never before


Reading Time: 2 minutes When it comes to pesticide residues, the world is watching like never before. “Everybody is looking more at food safety and health safety — there’s more scrutiny all the time with all the chemicals that we’re using,” said Jim Smolik, assistant chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission. He cited China as an example. The […] Read more



Sask. crops get soaked, but may take yield hit

Sask. crops get soaked, but may take yield hit

(Reuters) – Two days of rainstorms in Saskatchewan, Canada’s biggest wheat- and canola-growing province, may have done more harm to crops than good, even though farms were parched, a Saskatchewan government official said on Wednesday. Much of the province received rain on Monday and Tuesday, with the capital, Regina, collecting about 90 millimetres (3.5 inches), […] Read more