The public comment period on Ontario’s planned regulations for neonicotinoid seed treatments will close Thursday as scheduled, despite requests from the province’s grain grower group for an extension. The province has “refused” to extend the public comment period on the use of the insecticide group in seed treatments, Grain Farmers of Ontario said in a […] Read more
Ontario won’t widen comment window on neonics: GFO
U.S. soy shippers say rail service improved
The U.S. Soy Transportation Coalition (STC) says it’s pleased with recent improvements to rail service, and is giving especially high marks to Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). Last week, the STC and the University of Minnesota concluded the research project “2014 Harvest: Attaching a Garden Hose to a Fire Hydrant,” which was started due to U.S. […] Read more
Bunge resumes canola crushing after fire, soy line down
Reuters — Agrifood firm Bunge Ltd. restarted canola processing at its Hamilton, Ont. plant late Thursday after a fire, spokeswoman Deb Seidel said Friday. She said the plant will resume soybean processing after the investigation into the fire is complete and water is cleaned up. There were no injuries, she said. According to Hamilton’s fire […] Read more
Fire damages Bunge’s Hamilton crush plant
Fire officials in Hamilton, Ont. estimate a fire in a soybean drying unit at Bunge’s oilseed crush plant has caused about $20,000 in damages. The city’s fire department on Thursday said multiple fire crews responded to a report of a fire at the Bunge plant at about 12:40 p.m. The fire, officials said, broke out […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Soybean/corn ratio too wide, expected to narrow
CNS Canada — The widening spread between corn and soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) should be supportive for corn but a bearish factor in soybeans, as the two crops have moved in opposite directions over the past week, according to an analyst. Soybeans moved to their highest levels in a month […] Read more
ADM to upgrade crush plants for soy
Archer Daniels Midland plans to get ahead of increased soy acreage on the Prairies by upgrading two crushing plants to handle more soybeans. The U.S. agrifood firm said Monday it will upgrade its processing plant at Enderlin, N.D., about 80 km southwest of Fargo, to crush soybeans as well as canola and sunflower seed. At […] Read more
Brazil farm belt roads blocked in new trucker strike
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Truckers in Brazil resumed roadblocks across the country’s main farm belt early on Thursday, after failing to reach common ground in talks with the government and freight companies in recent weeks regarding pay and fuel prices. Highway police on Thursday evening estimated that protesters had blocked roads at 17 points […] Read more
U.S. regulators may recommend testing food for glyphosate residues
Reuters — U.S. regulators may start testing food products for residues of the world’s most widely used herbicide, the Environmental Protection Agency told Reuters on Friday, as public concern rises over possible links to disease. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide, has come under intense scrutiny since a research unit of the World Health […] Read more
Brazil’s Rural Society contests limits on foreign land purchases
Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Brazil’s Rural Society, a group representing large- and medium-scale farmers, filed a case with the country’s Supreme Court on Thursday seeking to overturn restrictions on the amount of land foreigners can purchase. The attorney general’s office tightened restrictions on foreign land ownership in Brazil in 2010, an action that officials […] Read more
Argentine farmers say Monsanto soy contract breaks local law
Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentine farm groups on Wednesday asked soy export companies to stop inspecting cargoes for bootlegged biotechnology at the behest of U.S. seed company Monsanto, the latest move in a long conflict between the country’s farmers and Monsanto. Growers in Argentina, the world’s top exporter of soymeal livestock feed, have signed […] Read more