CORRECTED, Sept. 15, 2017 — A major Quebec processor and exporter of identity-preserved (IP) soybeans for food markets is set to be sold to an investor group including the head of soybean firm Semences Prograin. SG Ceresco, based southwest of Montreal at St-Urbain-Premier, will be sold to a joint venture between Prograin president Alain Letourneau’s […] Read more

Prograin head buys into soy processor Ceresco

CBOT weekly outlook: Strong demand to underpin soy, corn
CNS Canada — Soybean and corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade will soon face seasonal harvest pressure, but good demand may limit the downside this year. Slight upward revisions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s yield estimates in the latest supply/demand report weighed on soybeans and corn on Tuesday, but the soybean losses […] Read more

Monsanto presses against Arkansas’ dicamba limits
Chicago | Reuters — Monsanto Co. pushed Arkansas authorities on Thursday to reject a proposed April 15 cutoff date next year for sprayings of the agricultural herbicide dicamba, which has been linked to crop damage across the U.S. farm belt. The company further said that Arkansas’ plant board should allow farmers in the state to […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook; Corn, soybeans holding above support
CNS Canada — Corn and soybean markets appear to be holding firm above major support levels as harvest approaches for much of the U.S. Futures have actually risen in recent days as large funds cover shorts ahead of next week’s supply and demand report, due out Tuesday next week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. […] Read more

Frost damage to soybeans depends on crop stage
Frost damage to soybeans depends on the stage of the soybeans and how cold it gets and for how long, according to a pulse crops extension specialist. Frost is possible Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning in parts of Manitoba. Soybean growth stage is determined by examining the pods, Terry Buss of Manitoba Agriculture at Beausejour […] Read more

Stressors pile up for Manitoba soybeans
Damaged patches of soybeans around Manitoba this year could be due to a combination of stresses, says Manitoba Agriculture plant pathologist Holly Derksen. “It’s a tricky year for diagnosing these problems,” Derksen said Wednesday during the Crop Talk Westman webinar. “When multiple stressors are present often the soybean plants may respond differently. Not all plants, […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Corn, soy rally as focus moves to new crop
CNS Canada — Traders in corn and soybean futures might well have been hoping for a repeat of history at the start of Thursday’s trading session. On Aug. 31 last year, corn prices scraped bottom and then rallied, moving from harvest lows. If they were hoping, they got it. A similar rally dominated Chicago Board […] Read more

BASF to boost inoculant production at Saskatoon
The Canadian crop protection arm of Germany’s BASF plans to step up its game in the crop inoculant business with a $10 million expansion at its Saskatoon plant. The facility, set up in 1988, handles production and research and development for BASF’s seed- and soil-applied rhizobium/bacillus inoculants, exported and sold worldwide under the Nodulator brand […] Read more

CBOT weekly outlook: Corn, soybeans eye Tropical Storm Harvey
CNS Canada — The potential for a storm in the Gulf of Mexico to bring rain to parts of the U.S. Midwest has caught the attention of the grain and oilseed markets. “If it turns farther north and hits some of the dry spots in Indiana, Ohio and Illinois that would be a little bit […] Read more

U.S. farmers confused by Monsanto’s Xtendimax instructions
Chicago | Reuters — With Monsanto’s latest flagship weed killer, dicamba, banned in Arkansas and under review by U.S. regulators over concerns it can drift in the wind, farmers and weed scientists are also complaining that confusing directions on the label make the product hard to use safely. Dicamba, sold under different brand names by […] Read more