Frankfurt | Reuters — German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer and U.S. seeds company Monsanto are launching asset sales worth roughly US$2.5 billion as they seek regulatory clearance for their US$66 billion merger, people close to the matter said. To kick off an auction process, Bayer’s advisors will send out information packages next week […] Read more

Bayer, Monsanto start asset sale toward merger clearance

Bayer sees pesticide profits stagnating before Monsanto takeover
Leverkusen, Germany | Reuters — German drugs and pesticides maker Bayer forecast a year without earnings growth for its agricultural products business on Wednesday, as it seeks to complete its US$66 billion deal to take over U.S. seeds giant Monsanto. Bayer has said the deal, which would put the size of its agricultural business on […] Read more
Nominate a local charity for a $2,500 grant
Reading Time: < 1 minute Applications are now open for the Farmers Grow Communities program, which allows farmers to nominate their favourite local charity for a $2,500 grant. Over the last five years, the Monsanto Fund has given out nearly $1 million to more than 300 rural charities. Almost any non-profit organization based in rural Canada is eligible. Past winners […] Read more

Bayer, Monsanto confirm spending plans after meeting Trump
Frankfurt | Reuters –– Bayer and Monsanto said Tuesday they would spend at least half of their agriculture research and development budget in the U.S. over the next six years, following a meeting with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump last week. The two companies, which are awaiting approval of their agreed US$66 billion deal from Trump’s […] Read more

Monsanto swings to profit on South American demand
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto, in the process of being bought by Germany’s Bayer for US$66 billion, swung to a quarterly profit, helped by higher demand from South America. Sales of soybe2an seeds and traits jumped 37 per cent as more farmers in South America sowed the company’s genetically modified […] Read more

Climate Corp. crop data system in beta for Western Canada
A major farm data analysis package, already being offered for sale in Eastern Canada for use this spring, is in beta testing toward a rollout later this year in Western Canada. Management from Monsanto and its farm data systems arm, The Climate Corp., speaking on a conference call Thursday, said they see a launch for […] Read more

This is not good — triple-resistant kochia has entered Alberta
Glyphosate-resistant kochia was bad but there’s a new strain that’s much worse
Reading Time: 3 minutes Kochia, one of Western Canada’s most abundant and economically devastating weed species, has won another major battle in overcoming herbicide. This summer, the first known Group 4 herbicide-resistant kochia was identified in a durum wheat field in southwestern Saskatchewan. And samples currently being tested from a farm in southern Alberta are also suspected to be […] Read more

Monsanto shareholders back Bayer deal
Chicago | Reuters –– Shareholders of U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto approved the company’s US$66 billion acquisition by Bayer on Tuesday, a deal that still requires regulatory approval to close as expected in late 2017. Increased research and development spending by the combined companies and plans to develop a global seeds and biotechnology hub […] Read more
Farmers help 18 Alberta groups win $2,500 grant
Reading Time: 2 minutes Eighteen Alberta charities and non-profits will receive $2,500 grants from the Monsanto Fund as part of the 2016 Canada’s Farmers Grow Communities program. Each non-profit was nominated by a local farmer who applied on behalf of their favourite cause. The program received more than 500 entries this year and 66 groups were chosen by a […] Read more

Monsanto to bring DuPont corn treatment to East
A DuPont insecticide will be rolled into use next spring in Eastern Canada as a seed treatment on Monsanto’s DeKalb corn. The two companies on Tuesday announced they will market DuPont’s Lumivia insecticide seed treatment in Eastern Canada on seed corn for the 2017 sales season, as part of Monsanto’s Acceleron Seed Applied Solutions offerings. […] Read more