London | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Commodities is ring-fencing its crop inputs, metals, juice and dairy units and is considering options ranging from joint ventures to the sale of certain assets, a senior company source said. In December, Reuters reported the trade house had been seeking buyers for its juice and fertilizer units for some […] Read more
Louis Dreyfus ring-fences some units, considers options
EU to review use of last-resort antibiotic on farms
London | Reuters — European drug regulators launched a review on Jan. 11 of the use in farming of a key last-line antibiotic called colistin, after international research found alarming evidence of a gene that makes bacteria resistant to the drug. The London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it was responding to a European Commission […] Read more
Free business analysis program available for dairy producers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is once again offering the Dairy Cost Study program to Alberta producers. “With changes in today’s environment and economy, there seems to be renewed interest in building business plans, following cost of production and getting adequate returns for that production,” said Pauline Van Biert, a provincial research analyst. “The Dairy Cost […] Read more
Global dairy prices unexpectedly fall in overnight auction
Wellington | Reuters — Global dairy prices unexpectedly eased in the overnight GlobalDairyTrade auction, a platform established by New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter. Fonterra’s GDT Price Index dipped 1.6 per cent, with an average selling price of $2,458 per tonne, in the auction held Tuesday (all figures US$). Whole milk […] Read more
Que. banks, funds boost stake in Agropur
Agropur is getting a second nine-figure cash injection from a group of Quebec institutional investors and banks, further backing the major Quebec dairy farmer co-operative’s expansion plans against an uncertain domestic market. The investor group, led by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), said Thursday it will put up $300 million, on top […] Read more
Dairy support price gets boost starting Feb. 1
Canada’s dairy farmers can expect a two per cent bump in their overall revenue from industrial milk sales starting Feb. 1 next year. Citing dairy producers’ increased costs of production, the Canadian Dairy Commission on Wednesday announced its support price of butter will increase effective Feb. 1 to $7.7815 per kilogram, from $7.4046 currently. Its […] Read more
Parmalat gets GF2 funds for new Winnipeg milk plant
Dairy giant Parmalat is set to get federal and Manitoba government funding toward its planned new $50 million milk plant in Winnipeg. The two levels of government on Tuesday pledged $2.5 million toward the construction of Parmalat’s new dairy plant at an industrial park in the city’s St. Boniface area, about seven km east of […] Read more
Que. dairyman named parliamentary ag secretary
Canada’s agriculture minister will get a Quebec dairyman and grain farmer turned rookie Liberal MP as his new parliamentary secretary. Jean-Claude Poissant, who won the re-formed Montreal-area riding of La Prairie for the Liberals on Oct. 19 by a spread of almost 5,900 votes over Bloc Quebecois contender Christian Picard, was named Wednesday as parliamentary […] Read more
GTA police track down alleged cheesenappers
Three Toronto-area men face theft charges after a tractor trailer load of cheese took a late-night road trip in the wee hours Wednesday. The truckload of cheese had been reported stolen from the Brampton, Ont. area on Tuesday, York Regional Police said in a release. The YRP said they then got a call shortly after […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat drops on improving crop conditions, big stocks
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures fell more than two per cent on Tuesday, giving up all the prior session’s gains, as a further improvement in the condition of the U.S. winter crop placed attention back on ample global supply of the staple cereal. Corn prices eased, following wheat lower and further pressured by […] Read more