Paris | Reuters — France, reeling from violent protests over the cost of living, said Wednesday it will delay a planned rise in minimum food prices, incurring the wrath of the main farmers group which urged street action next week. A powerful constituency in French politics, farmers have long complained of being hit by a […] Read more

France delays food price rise for farmers after protests

Alberta to buy rail cars for oil
Ottawa | Reuters — The Alberta government is in talks to buy rail cars to transport 120,000 barrels per day of crude oil and expects a deal to conclude within weeks, Premier Rachel Notley said Wednesday, as the province takes actions to move oil stuck in the region because of a lack of pipeline capacity. […] Read more

No big problems seen in grain transportation so far
CNS Canada — It’s so far, so good with grain shipments to the three major Canadian ports according, to a spokesperson with Quorum Corporation, which compiles weekly performance updates on Canada’s grain handling sector. The spokesperson said there not have been any big problems recently, only a few sporadic instances in rail shipments. There has […] Read more

Deere mega-dealership buys into Red Deer market
A central Alberta John Deere dealership which billed itself as “one of the few independently owned” dealers in the region is set to join Cervus Equipment. Calgary-based, publicly-traded Cervus announced Friday it will buy Red Deer-based Deermart Equipment Sales for an undisclosed sum. Deermart, owned by John Donald, Jack Donald and Abe Derksen since 1982, […] Read more

Port authority clears new West Coast terminal
Work is expected to start within two weeks on a new port grain terminal expected to improve rail efficiency for grain shipments to Canada’s West Coast. Prairie grain handler Parrish and Heimbecker announced Thursday it’s “moving forward” with the Fraser Grain Terminal project as proposed in late 2016, after receiving approval for its project permit […] Read more

Producers vulnerable to cyber attacks
CNS Canada — Phishing attacks, data theft and data manipulation are a few of the dangers producers face when using digital technology. Two experts on the subject, Adrienne Ehrhardt of Michael Best and Friedrich and Doug Tait of Thompson Dorfman Sweatman spoke about the importance of cyber security on farms at last week’s Grain World […] Read more

Gardiner Dam Terminal set to go full Viterra
The farmers who own half of central Saskatchewan’s Gardiner Dam Terminal have reached a deal to sell their half to their business partner and wind up the company. Glencore Agriculture’s Viterra arm announced Friday it will buy the half of GDT it doesn’t already own and take over operation of the GDT inland grain terminal […] Read more

Walmart’s LatAm delivery app Cornershop eyes Canada
Mexico City | Reuters — Cornershop, a Latin American grocery delivery app being acquired by Walmart, plans to expand into Canada early next year as a test market for the U.S., an executive for the three-year-old mobile app said. Walmart is buying Cornershop, which offers deliveries in Mexico and Chile, for US$225 million. The deal, […] Read more

Self-checking field health mapping system launched
The farmer’s job of poring over satellite field maps looking for disease, weed and insect trouble is about to go automatic. Winnipeg-based digital ag consulting firm Farmers Edge recently released Health Change Maps and Notifications, a new function that automatically scans the company’s daily satellite imagery and alerts growers of any changes in field health […] Read more

CN’s grain handle up in record quarter
Traffic in Canadian National Railway’s grain and fertilizers segment rose eight per cent in its latest quarter, helping the company to record quarterly revenue. Montreal-based CN on Oct. 23 reported net income of $1.134 billion on $3.688 billion in revenues for its quarter ending Sept. 30, up from $958 million on $3.221 billion in its […] Read more