MarketsFarm — Every spring offers its own mystery of what the growing season will bring, and this year is no different for western Canadian pulse markets. However, while the unknowns are usually linked to the weather or acreage ideas, this year also presents extra challenges for the pulse sector. India remains a major wildcard in […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Pulses steady in sea of uncertainty
B.C. longshoremen to take strike vote this week
MarketsFarm — The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is urging members at Canada’s West Coast ports to vote for a strike, as negotiations for a collective agreement have dragged on for over a year. The union members’ vote takes place Wednesday and Thursday (May 8-9). ILWU and the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA) […] Read more
Cereal crops to grab more Alberta real estate
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta farmers are at the head of the pack in reducing canola acres, according to Statistics Canada’s latest survey. Canola acres are forecast to drop 6.6 per cent nationally, but producers here plan to cut seedings by 10.6 per cent (to 6.09 million acres versus 6.81 million a year ago), says StatsCan. While total wheat […] Read more
Suitor quits bid for Australia’s GrainCorp
Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s largest-listed grain handler, GrainCorp Ltd., said that suitor Long-Term Asset Partners (LTAP) has withdrawn its A$2.4 billion (C$2.26 billion) takeover bid after due diligence, pushing shares to five-month lows. GrainCorp stock dropped 11 per cent at the open of trade on Tuesday to hit close to where it stood preceding […] Read more
Fed-up Canada tells U.S. to help with China crisis or forget about favours
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is leaning on the United States to help settle a dispute with China, which has started to block imports of vital Canadian commodities amid a dispute over a detained Huawei executive. In a sign of increasing frustration at what it sees as a lacklustre U.S. response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s […] Read more
Bernie Sanders promises help for family farms
Reuters — U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders unveiled a plan on Sunday to help family farmers and rural residents, promising to break up corporate agricultural monopolies and invest heavily in social and economic programs in struggling rural communities. Sanders, an independent U.S. senator and fierce corporate critic, said on a campaign trip to Iowa that […] Read more
Alberta crop input retail groups’ deal off
A proposal to bring together two groups of central Alberta crop input retailers has been called off without closing a deal. Crop Management Network (CMN) said Friday the conditional deal it announced in March to buy Performance Ag Group won’t proceed. CMN, a joint venture between an employee-owned network of retail outlets and La Coop […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus could consider selling stake to regional player
Paris | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Co., one of the world’s biggest agricultural commodities houses, may consider selling a stake to a regional player to support its development although there are no specific plans to do so, the company said Friday. Agricultural commodities traders have been grappling with lower profits from sourcing and shipping commodities […] Read more
Climate change has U.S. fund managers adjusting agriculture investments
New York | Reuters — After historic floods devastated Midwestern agricultural states this spring, some fund managers are evaluating how climate change will affect the long-term value of companies that make or sell products ranging from tractors to fertilizer. The issue is not simply the unpredictability of weather. Instead, fund managers say, they are struggling […] Read more
Maple Leaf quarterly profit misses estimates as costs rise
Reuters — Packaged meat producer Maple Leaf Foods reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, hit by higher costs as it invested more in new initiatives and capacity expansion. The company has been keen on expanding in the U.S., seeing growth opportunities in humanely raised animal products and alternative protein sources. In April, the company […] Read more
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