Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Consolidating farms — going from numerous small operations to fewer, but much larger, farms — is central to improving crop yields, according to grain industry observers Neil Townsend and Jason Newton. Townsend is the chief market analyst for FarmLink Marketing Solutions, while Newton is the chief economist and head of marketing […] Read more
Grain World: Farm consolidation key to increasing yields
Pattison to shut one Saskatchewan Deere dealership
Pattison Agriculture’s chain of Deere ag equipment dealerships in Saskatchewan and Manitoba is preparing to cut one link. The Prairie farm equipment sales and service arm of B.C.’s Jim Pattison Group announced Tuesday on its website and social media it will permanently close its dealership at Foam Lake, Sask. effective Dec. 31. The Pattison store […] Read more
Grain World: Opportunities great for Canadian pulses, AGT CEO says
Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — To Murad Al-Katib, the opportunities for Canadian pulse exports to India are amazing, provided one correctly understands the context of India’s tariffs on pulses. Also, he said, those Canadian exporters must realize they need to switch from being solely dependent on commodities to adding value by shipping food and ingredients. “We […] Read more
Grain World: AGT books eventful 2019
Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — This year has been a watershed year for AGT Food and Ingredients, the company’s CEO Murad Al-Katib told the Grain World conference in Saskatoon. AGT was delisted from the TSX earlier in 2019, as Al-Katib moved to take the company private after 12 years of being publicly traded. Its new ownership […] Read more
CN strike to weigh on railway’s 2019 profit
Reuters — Canadian National Railway on Tuesday cut its adjusted profit growth target for 2019, citing shipment delays from the country’s largest rail strike in a decade that ended last week. Shares in CN, which counts billionaire Bill Gates’ investment firm as its biggest shareholder, fell almost two per cent in morning trading in both […] Read more
Grain World: Geopolitics is back dominating global relations
Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Geopolitics is again shaping the international scene, including China, Jason Shapiro explained here Thursday at the Grain World conference. Geopolitics, he said, resulted in catastrophic global wars and generated very little peace for close to a century. Shapiro, director of analysis for Geopolitical Futures — an Austin, Tex.-based international risk analysis […] Read more
Lots on offer at agronomy update in New Year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Registration is now open for Agronomy Update 2020, which runs from Jan. 7-8 in Red Deer. True to its name, the conference features a host of presentations — most 20 to 30 minutes long — on a wide range of agronomy issues. While the speaker lineup is still being confirmed, presentations will cover diseases in […] Read more
CN kicks off recovery after eight-day strike
Reuters –– Canadian National Railway on Thursday said it was putting a recovery plan in place while ramping up operations after the country’s biggest rail strike in a decade. The eight-day-long work stoppage at Canada’s largest railroad sent shocks through the country’s economy with grain and propane shipments scuttled. The strike by about 3,200 conductors […] Read more
Dreyfus to cut costs amid trade jitters, swine fever
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Agricultural commodities giant Louis Dreyfus Co. (LDC) has launched a cost-cutting and reorganization drive in the face of difficulties confronting global trading houses, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday. LDC confirmed the memo’s authenticity in a statement, saying the company aimed to optimize its cost base […] Read more
Nutrien potash mine idled despite rail strike’s end
Plans by the world’s largest ag inputs provider to temporarily idle its biggest potash mine in view of the Canadian National Railway strike will proceed, even as CN goes back to work. Saskatoon-based Nutrien announced Monday it “will be forced to curtail production” at its Rocanville, Sask. mine due to the CN rail strike. The […] Read more
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