Toronto | Reuters — Canada ratcheted up pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by shutting ports to Russian-owned ships and saying on Tuesday that holdings of all Russian oligarchs and companies in the country are under review. Canada has announced a slew of measures to isolate Russia, including imposing sanctions on Russian President […] Read more

Canada shuts ports to Russian ships over Ukraine invasion
Russian firms' Canadian holdings also under scrutiny, Freeland warns

Engine maker Cummins says expects ‘some impact’ in Russia
Deere says will abide by sanctions
Reuters — Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. expects “some impact” to its business in Russia and is analyzing and preparing for current and anticipated sanctions, the U.S. truck engine maker said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. Many firms have idled operations in Russia after it invaded Ukraine last week, resulting in powerful Western sanctions. […] Read more

Equipment maker Buhler distances self from Ukraine invasion
A Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer is distancing itself from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Buhler Industries, which manufactures the Versatile tractor line and Farm King equipment, is majority-owned by the Russian firm Combine Factory Rostselmash. That firm purchased an 80 per cent stake in Buhler in 2007 and boosted that to 97 per cent ownership in […] Read more

CNH sees revenues rising to 2024 on precision agriculture plans
Margin at agricultural unit seen at 14.5 to 15.5 per cent
Milan | Reuters — Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial on Tuesday gave guidance for a total revenue growth of up to 24 per cent through 2024 as it presented a new business plan after spinning off its truck, bus and engine units. In a bid to focus on its higher-margin agriculture and construction machine businesses, […] Read more

Gasoline, diesel prices set to continue rising
MarketsFarm — The steady rise in crude oil prices is based on three factors, according to Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis for Oil Price Information Service at Lakewood, N.J. One of those factors is the amount of crude oil produced by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), along with some […] Read more

Pandemic border protests strand cattle and car parts
Ottawa | Reuters — Protests in Canada against vaccine mandates have disrupted two key U.S. border crossings, and are snarling hundreds of millions of dollars daily of trade, ranging from cattle to car parts. Demonstrations who at first demanded an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers began Jan. 28 in the […] Read more

Deere predicts driverless equipment heralds a new future
Farm equipment giant will sell a few autonomous tractors this year and then begin scaling up
Reading Time: 3 minutes Only a handful of its new autonomous tractors will hit fields this year, but John Deere is portraying the self-driving machines as the future of farming. Feeding a growing population and dealing with labour shortages are two key reasons — but farmers themselves may be an even bigger factor in propelling the adoption of autonomous […] Read more

Deere says its robo-tractors are ready to till the fields
Detroit | Reuters — Deere and Co. said Tuesday it will start commercial delivery this year of technology that enables a tractor to till a field without an operator in the cab, a first for the top North American tractor manufacturer after years of effort to automate farm work. Deere plans a low-volume launch this […] Read more

After a year like this, boring never looked so good
We’ve been whipsawed by one event after another, so a return to normal would be a gift
Reading Time: 4 minutes Sometimes you can judge a year by how long it seems to have lasted. This one seems to have gone on forever. It feels like an eon ago when COVID-19 vaccines arrived (the first dose, outside of a clinical trial, was actually administered on Dec. 8, 2020 to a British grandmother named Margaret Keenan). Back […] Read more

CNH shareholders approve spin-off of truck maker Iveco
Milan | Reuters — Shareholders at CNH Industrial on Thursday approved the spin-off of its truck-making business Iveco Group, the company said, completing a plan launched more than two years ago to reorganize its businesses. Upon completion of the plan, CNH Industrial shareholders will receive one Iveco Group common share for every five common shares […] Read more