GPS and precision farming firm Trimble is set to buy the Canadian operator of North America’s largest network of independent agricultural consultants. Publicly traded, U.S.-based Trimble, which specializes in GPS and other location services, including the collection and management of on-farm data and services for precision farming, announced Tuesday it will buy Red Deer-based, privately-held […] Read more
Trimble to buy consulting firm Agri-Trend
CP said exploring Norfolk Southern takeover
Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) is looking to acquire U.S. peer Norfolk Southern, business news service Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Canada’s second-largest railroad operator has already raised financing and held early-stage merger talks with Norfolk Southern, Bloomberg reported, citing two of the people. Freight carried by major U.S. railroads […] Read more
Cereals North America: Communication key to improved grain transportation
Winnipeg | CNS Canada –– Canada’s grain transportation system is running relatively smoothly for the time being, but there is still plenty of room for improvement — and better communication between participants is seen as a way to alleviate future bottlenecks. The 2013-14 crop year, with its logistical challenges and, eventually, federal government intervention, are […] Read more
Deere & Co. to buy Monsanto’s Precision Planting farm equipment business
Chicago/Reuters – Monsanto Co’s Climate Corp subsidiary on Tuesday announced a definitive agreement to sell its Precision Planting farm equipment business to Deere & Co for an undisclosed sum. The deal also allows nearly real-time data connections between certain John Deere farm equipment and Climate’s farming software programs, Climate FieldView. Climate will keep its digital farming […] Read more
John Deere to acquire European farm equipment maker Monosem
Reuters – Deere & Co. shares rose about 2 per cent on Monday after the company said it plans to acquire Monosem, a European family-owned farm equipment manufacturer that specializes in “precision planters” designed to increase crop production. Deere would not comment on the transaction’s financial details or Monosem’s revenues, but it does expect the […] Read more
More grain revenue on less grain in CN’s Q3 ledger
Lower grain traffic compared to last year’s record crop year hasn’t translated to lower third-quarter grain revenue for Canadian National Railway (CN). Montreal-based CN on Tuesday booked overall net income of $1.007 billion on $3.222 billion in gross revenue for its third quarter (Q3) ending Sept. 30, up from $853 million on $3.118 billion in […] Read more
U.S. EPA launches probe into benefits of biofuels program
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s in-house investigators have launched a review of the environmental benefits stemming from the country’s decade-old program requiring the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline. The investigation, to be conducted by the Inspector General for EPA, will examine whether the agency has complied with reporting requirements and […] Read more
Three young Alta. sisters lost to grain truck mishap
Rocky Mountain House | AFE — A community in central Alberta is in mourning following the deaths of three young sisters in a grain truck mishap on Tuesday night. “This is hitting us all very hard. Frontline responders are routinely called out to sad situations, but things are always harder when there’s children involved,” said […] Read more
Three Alta. girls smothered in truckload of canola
Two 11-year-old girls and a 13-year-old girl have died after being smothered in a truckload of canola on a farm in western Alberta, according to RCMP and local media. Rocky Mountain House RCMP said late Tuesday they were called at about 6:15 that evening to a farm near Withrow, about 60 km west of Red […] Read more
Clariant sees biofuels boost from VW diesel affair
Zurich | Reuters –– Swiss specialty chemicals group Clariant expects biofuels to get a boost from the scandal surrounding Volkswagen’s manipulation of diesel motor emissions tests, CEO Hariolf Kottmann told a German newspaper. Clariant is spending 30 million euros (C$44 million) a year to expand capacity in Munich to make bioethanol from wheat straw, and […] Read more
