Louis Dreyfus’ grain elevator at Joffre, Alta., northeast of Red Deer. (LDC.com)

P+H to buy Louis Dreyfus’ Prairie elevators

Updated — Commodities and agrifood giant Louis Dreyfus Co. is stepping out of the grain handling business it built in Canada with a deal to sell its Prairie elevator network. Louis Dreyfus (LDC) announced Wednesday it has an agreement in place to sell its 10 elevators across Western Canada to Winnipeg grain company Parrish and […] Read more

At Hebert Grain Ventures, data from field operations -- as well as from employees, financial statements and a host of other sources -- is analyzed and used to find new ways to improve efficiency.

How one farm put data analytics to work

Saskatchewan grain farm makes money by assessing data on everything from employees to soil moisture

Reading Time: 6 minutes Most people say, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” But at Hebert Grain Ventures, their motto is, “If it’s not broke, you haven’t looked hard enough.” “We don’t believe that, just because we had a good year or a good yield, that’s enough,” said Evan Shout, the Saskatchewan farm’s chief financial officer. “If we […] Read more


(ThompsonsLimited.com)

Sylvite set to buy Thompsons agronomy business

Ontario grain and bean handler Thompsons Ltd. is set to sell its crop agronomy business to a retail business partner in that province. U.S. grain firm The Andersons, the owner of Thompsons since January, announced Tuesday in its second-quarter report it plans to sell Thompsons’ “agronomy assets” to Burlington, Ont.-based Sylvite Holdings. Financial terms of […] Read more

(Richardson.ca)

Richardson buys Peace-region input retailer

Grain handler Richardson Pioneer has moved to shore up its presence in northern Alberta’s crop input market with a deal for a Peace-region dealership. Winnipeg-based Richardson announced Wednesday it has bought Agland Seed and Chemical at La Crete, Alta., about 320 km north of Peace River. The deal, which closed Tuesday, will see all of […] Read more


Using a sweep net is a standard method for determining the level of a pest infestation, 
but federal researcher Haley Catton, shown here, wants to give farmers a better way to gauge the level of beneficial insects and whether it makes sense to spray.

If this is the future, it can’t come soon enough

Unless you love writing cheques for inputs, you’ll want to cheer on the work of these three scientists

Reading Time: 7 minutes Grow more with less — that’s the goal of three Alberta researchers whose work could revolutionize the way we grow cereals. “Canadian agriculture will be facing quite high demand for food production because of the growing global population and reduction in arable land,” said federal research biologist Alicja Ziemienowicz. “We’re trying to give you the […] Read more

Cargill’s ag input centre at Harrow, Ont., will need to find a new owner under order from federal regulators. (VisitHarrow.ca)

La Coop federee’s Ontario grain play cleared

La Coop federee’s plans to expand into southern Ontario’s grain handling and crop input retail sectors are now down by four retail sites. The federal Competition Bureau said Tuesday it has an agreement in place for its approval of a deal which will see Cargill’s Ontario grain and ag retail outlets and its joint-venture stake […] Read more





(Video screengrab from Richardson.ca)

Richardson moves further into eastern Alberta retail

Grain firm Richardson Pioneer’s crop input retail business is expanding into an area of eastern Alberta its network hasn’t yet reached. The company, an arm of Winnipeg-based agrifood firm Richardson International, closed a deal April 4 to buy Eagle Agro Services, an inputs dealer at Veteran, Alta., about 200 km east of Red Deer. The […] Read more