Fertilizer Canada and the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers (CAAR) say there will be enough anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks available to supply the fertilizer to farmers during this growing season. New Transport Canada regulations came into force Jan. 12, which affect the frequency of hydrostatic testing and visual inspection of ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and […] Read more
Industry still looking for new NH3 tank rule break
Walmart patents hint at future where its drones tend the farms
New York/Chicago | Reuters — Walmart’s patent filings hint that it may see a future where farmers use its drones to not only spot crop problems but selectively apply chemicals or even disperse pollen to bring shoppers the freshest and cheapest food possible. The world’s largest retailer applied for six patents last year on drones […] Read more
Nutrien sees demand growth cooling, margins shrinking
Reuters — Nutrien, the Canadian fertilizer and farm supply dealer created from the merger of Agrium and PotashCorp this year, said it expected demand growth for potash in China and India to cool down in 2018. Nutrien, the world’s biggest fertilizer company by capacity, also said higher input costs would shrink nitrogen and phosphate margins. […] Read more
CN’s Q4 grain handle down in ‘challenging conditions’
U.S. income tax reform more than offset “challenging” conditions, including reduced grain handle, in Canadian National Railway’s fourth fiscal quarter. Montreal-based CN on Tuesday reported net income of $2.611 billion on total revenues of $3.285 billion for its fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, up from $1.018 billion on $3.217 billion in the year-earlier Q4. The […] Read more
AGI buys bin sensor, fertilizer blending system makers
Best known as the parent for several Canadian and U.S. manufacturers of grain handling and storage equipment, Ag Growth International is expanding its tech portfolio. Winnipeg-based AGI announced Wednesday it has bought Burnaby, B.C.-based CMC Industrial Electronics and Iowa-based Junge Control (JCI) for undisclosed sums. CMC, which formed in 1997 and has facilities at Burnaby […] Read more
Agrium, Potash Corp merger shouldn’t have much of an impact yet
CNS Canada – Farmers shouldn’t be too concerned yet that the recent Agrium, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan merger will cause an increase in the price of fertilizer, at least according to the president of one provincial producer group. “(The merger is) a hard one to find a whole bunch of negatives or positives about it. […] Read more
Price spike in sulphur leaves farmers, fertilizer makers sour
Winnipeg | Reuters — Phosphate fertilizer producers such as Mosaic Co. and PotashCorp are paying the highest prices in two years for sulphur, a key ingredient in their farm products, but farmers are the ones absorbing the extra cost. Higher sulphur costs, the result of tight global supplies and strong Chinese demand, come as fertilizer […] Read more
Dreyfus to sell Australian fertilizer unit to Agrium
Paris/Winnipeg | Reuters — Global commodity trader Louis Dreyfus has agreed to sell its fertilizer business to Canada’s Agrium as it continues an overhaul in response to tough agricultural markets. Louis Dreyfus is to sell Macrofertil Australia, which has annual sales of around US$120 million, to Agrium’s Australian unit Landmark Operations in a deal expected […] Read more
P+H plans new east-central Alberta elevator
Winnipeg grain and agrifood firm Parrish and Heimbecker is set to reinforce its recent arrival in the east-central Alberta retail market with a new grain elevator. Privately-held P+H announced Tuesday it will build a new 46,000-tonne capacity grain elevator and crop input centre at Viking, about 120 km southeast of Edmonton. The Viking site will […] Read more
Agrico buys stake in Alberta input retail chain
The wholesale crop input arm of Quebec’s La Coop federee has expanded its retail reach further west on the Prairies with a stake in a central Alberta input retailer group. Agrico Canada, part of the Quebec federation of ag co-ops since 2011, last week announced a deal to buy a 50 per cent interest in […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
