Rod Nickel

Reading Time: 2 minutes The recent rebound in wheat prices is unlikely to result in a second straight year of record highs, Canadian Wheat Board president and chief executive Ian White said in a recent interview. Grain prices are rising as the market focuses on late-planting concerns in parts of the United States and Canada and a poor harvest […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes The Canadian Wheat Board expects its contingency fund to balance this year after volatile grain prices caused a $28.9 million deficit last year and fuelled fresh government criticism of the grain marketing agency. The fund underwrites the risk of non-traditional payment programs that are designed to give farmers flexibility to price some of their crop […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes A takeover of Australia’s ABB Grains Ltd by Viterra Inc could transform the Canadian grain company into a global powerhouse, but it also runs the risk of repeating mistakes made in a previous attempt at foreign expansion. Viterra, Canada’s largest grain handler, has offered up to A$1.64 billion (C$1.43 billion) for ABB, a major Australian […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes “This industry has been looking for additional capital… Agriculture is a great place to be.” – Larry Ruud, One Earth Farms A one-million-acre grain and cattle farm planned by Sprott Resource Corp represents a fork in the Prairie road for Canadian agriculture, but the super-farm’s president and chief executive says family farms have more to […] Read more

Reading Time: 4 minutes – REUTERS/Fredy Amariles(COLOMBIA SOCIETY BUSINESS) Amarketing strategy to give Canadian wheat an identity like the iconic Juan Valdez for Colombian coffee growers is a long-term attempt to increase demand, but one grain expert says it will be a stiff challenge. The Canadian Wheat Board, which has a government-granted monopoly on wheat and barley sales from […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Biodiesel supplier Canadian Bioenergy and crop-processing giant Archer Daniels Midland Co are carrying out a joint feasibility study that could see Canada’s largest canola biodiesel plant built in Alberta. If the project proceeds, the companies will build the plant on the site of ADM’s canola-crushing plant in Lloydminster, Alberta, and produce 265 million litres a […] Read more

Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers will shun grains and turn to planting oilseed crops like canola and soybeans this year, Daniel Basse, president of Chicago-based research and advisory firm AgResource Company said last Monday. That will cause a shortage of grain supply late this year, Basse told farmers and analysts at the Canadian Wheat Board’s annual GrainWorld conference in […] Read more

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian farmers will produce 10.8 million tonnes of barley in 2009, 1 million tonnes or 8 per cent less than last year due to lower feed demand, the Canadian Wheat Board said last Monday. Last year’s production of 11.8 million tonnes was Canada’s largest in four years. Feed barley growers have been sideswiped by the […] Read more