Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s big railways are pressing Ottawa to loosen rules around hauling the country’s crops — changes they say would improve efficiency but that farmers fear would weaken their bargaining power. A February report recommended that Ottawa institutes transportation system changes, including phasing out a 16-year-old cap on revenue that Canadian National […] Read more
Railways urge Ottawa to loosen grain hauling rules
U.S. grains: Soybean rally snuffed out as harvest advances
Reuters — Chicago soybean prices fell on Tuesday, snuffing out a three-session rally as an accelerating U.S. harvest shifted attention back toward the prospect of record production. Corn edged higher, supported by short-covering in spread trades against soybeans, while wheat finished flat, held in check by technical selling and ample U.S. supplies. Chicago Board of […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn jumps in trading against wheat
Reuters — U.S. corn futures jumped to a 10-1/2 week high on Monday, lifted by trades that simultaneously bought the grain and sold wheat, after last week’s report on supplies by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chicago wheat slipped, while soybeans rose to their highest since Sept. 23 on short-covering and gains in soymeal. USDA […] Read more
New Zealand dairy industry worries over Canada pricing plan
Wellington/Winnipeg | Reuters — New Zealand is closely watching changes in how Canada prices dairy products, New Zealand’s trade ministry said on Friday, as industry groups in several countries complain of unfair Canadian competition. Canada’s dairy farmers and processors, which include Saputo and Parmalat Canada, struck a pricing agreement in July that industry groups in […] Read more
Water meeting safety standards after sinkhole leak, Mosaic says
Reuters — Testing of nine wells near a sinkhole at a Mosaic Co. fertilizer facility in Florida, site of a massive leak of contaminated water, shows that water meets safe drinking standards for radioactivity and damage has not spread beyond the site, the company said. A sinkhole 45 feet in diameter and 240 feet deep […] Read more
Western Feedlots closure seen hurting prices
Winnipeg | Reuters — The closure of one of Canada’s biggest cattle feedlots is likely to depress prices of young cattle and the grains used to fatten them, and may increase sales to the U.S., industry officials say. Alberta-based Western Feedlots said Wednesday it will shut feeding operations early in 2017, citing poor market conditions […] Read more
Major Alberta cattle feeder set to shut feedlots
Reuters — One of Canada’s biggest cattle feeding operations, Western Feedlots, said Wednesday it will close feeding operations after marketing the cattle it currently owns, due to poor market conditions. Closure of Western’s feeding operations, likely early in 2017 once its current cattle are sold, will make it more difficult for ranchers to find markets […] Read more
Tough farm conditions right time for merger, Agrium CEO says
Reuters — Plunging crop and fertilizer prices may not have hit rock bottom yet, and the market’s weakness makes it the right time to merge leading farm input suppliers, the CEO of Agrium said on Tuesday, making his pitch to skeptical investors for a US$26 billion union with PotashCorp. “Are we at the bottom yet? […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans rise on technical buying
Reuters — U.S. soybeans rose on Monday for a third straight session, boosted by strength in vegetable oil markets and technical buying. Corn turned higher on chart-based buying and Chicago wheat finished mixed, held in check by an ongoing disruption in Egyptian wheat imports. Chicago November soybean futures climbed 6-1/2 cents, or 0.8 per cent, […] Read more
Sinkhole at Mosaic fertilizer site leaks radioactive water
Reuters — A sinkhole spanning 45 feet in diameter opened at a Mosaic Co. phosphate fertilizer facility in Florida, leaking 215 million gallons of “slightly radioactive water,” a company spokesman said Friday. Mosaic said the monitoring system at its New Wales facility at Mulberry, Florida, showed a decline in water levels on Aug. 27 from […] Read more
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