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
Dreyfus to sell Australian fertilizer unit to Agrium
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
Balance your soil nutrient budget this fall through soil testing
Nitrogen prices have reached lows not seen in over a decade
Reading Time: 3 minutes Your soil keeps a budget for nutrients, and how much you will need next year depends on how much you took out this year. “Most of the time when it comes to assessing what soil nutrient levels might be like, typically what you can do is look at your yields,” said provincial crop specialist Mark […] Read more
CHS sells stake in Bridgeland input venture to UFA
On the heels of its move to sell its wholly-owned crop input stores in Alberta and Saskatchewan, U.S. ag co-operative CHS is selling its remaining Alberta ag retail asset. Alberta farmer co-op UFA (United Farmers of Alberta) announced Tuesday it’s buying CHS’s interest in the two firms’ joint ag retail venture, Bridgeland Limited Partnership, for […] Read more
CHS to shed Prairie crop input retail sites
U.S. farm co-operative CHS is stepping back from Canada’s Prairie crop input retail sector with a deal to sell its 10 retail locations to Richardson International. Winnipeg-based Richardson on Tuesday announced it would buy CHS’s Alberta retail sites at Alix, Beiseker, Bow Island, Carseland, Craddock, Lacombe, Rolling Hills, Standard and Vauxhall, and the co-op’s lone […] Read more
Nitrogen looking cheap across Prairies
CNS Canada — Farmers in Manitoba may be looking to fill up on nitrogen fertilizer this fall as prices reach lows not seen in over a decade. “One retailer I talked to said it was the cheapest nitrogen prices in 15 years,” according to Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. Prices also seem to […] Read more
Canada’s antitrust watchdog clears Nutrien merger
Canada’s Competition Bureau will put up no reasons why PotashCorp and Agrium shouldn’t be joined in Nutrien. The federal antitrust regulator on Monday issued a “no action” letter on the all-stock merger-of-equals that Saskatoon’s PotashCorp and Calgary’s Agrium proposed in September last year. The two companies, when merged, are to be headquartered in Saskatoon under […] Read more
Richardson buying two Alberta crop input retailers
Two independent crop input retailers in northeastern Alberta will become part of Richardson Pioneer’s ag retail chain starting Friday. Richardson on Monday announced it will buy Webb’s Crop Services Ltd. at Vermilion and Agro Guys Inc. at Forestburg, about 165 km southwest of Vermilion, for undisclosed sums. Both deals are expected to close Thursday, with […] Read more
Mosaic shares tumble on disappointing fertilizer guidance
Reuters – U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic Co on Tuesday forecast slower phosphate sales and weaker prices for the current quarter, causing shares to plunge as much as 9 percent. The Minnesota-based company predicted third-quarter phosphate sales of 2.2 million to 2.5 million tonnes, down from 2.6 million in the second quarter. Mosaic forecast third-quarter diammonium […] Read more