(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Cargill quarterly profit drops on trade tensions, U.S. floods

Chicago | Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill reported a 41 per cent drop in adjusted quarterly profit on Thursday, citing supply disruptions stemming from the U.S.-China trade war and also flooding in the central United States that hit marketing and transportation of grains and livestock. Cargill, the largest privately held U.S. company, said adjusted […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Major grain traders face one-two punch from U.S. floods, trade war

Chicago | Reuters — Severe U.S. weather likely dented earnings for large grain companies including Archer Daniels Midland and Bunge for a second straight quarter, adding to headwinds from a still-unresolved U.S.-China trade war, analysts and economists said. ADM and Bunge, as well as peers Cargill and Louis Dreyfus, known as the ABCD quartet of […] Read more



Jim Smolik, shown here in a 2014 photo, contravened two sections of the Conflict of Interest Act, Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion says in a report released May 30, 2019. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Allan Dawson)

Former CGC assistant chief commissioner broke conflict rules

Jim Smolik, a former Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) assistant chief and acting chief commissioner, contravened post-employment obligations under the federal Conflict of Interest Act while working for Cargill Canada. That’s according to a 24-page report released May 30 by Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion. Dion ruled Smolik breached Sections 33 and 35(2) […] Read more

This photo and graphic from Aleph Farms’ website says it can produce beef from cultured cells in just three weeks — although the steak pictured in the graphic differs from the meat featured in a company video.

Cargill touts investment in ‘cultured meat’

Global giant says lab-grown beef will ‘complement’ its meat business

Reading Time: < 1 minute Cargill has bought a share of a company that claims it is “leading the slaughter-free meat revolution for a healthier world.” The Minneapolis company, one of the world’s largest beef processors, says it is investing in Aleph Farms, an Israeli startup that said in December it successfully created steak by using cultured bovine cells. “Aleph […] Read more


Ardent Mills’ flour mill at Rush City, Minn., about 80 km north of St. Paul. (ArdentMills.com)

Ardent Mills to close four U.S. flour mills

Reuters — Ardent Mills will close three U.S. flour mills next month and a fourth in the first quarter of 2020, the flour miller and food ingredient maker announced Friday. The company, a joint venture between ConAgra Foods, Cargill and CHS, said the closures were necessary due to “anticipated demand and to enhance the efficiency […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

R-CALF suit alleges U.S. packers conspired to suppress fed cattle prices

Reuters — Four of the largest U.S. beef-packing companies were accused in a lawsuit on Tuesday of violating federal antitrust law by conspiring to drive down prices they paid ranchers for cattle, even as retail beef prices hovered near record levels. Tyson Foods, Cargill, the JBS USA unit of Brazil’s JBS and National Beef Packing […] Read more

A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Regulator rips CN’s use of freight embargoes at West Coast

Canadian National Railway has been found in breach of its service obligations on grain and other traffic by a federal regulator aiming to crack down on the company’s use of freight embargoes. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Monday released its determination on “possible freight rail service issues in the Vancouver area” last fall. The regulator […] Read more