Brussels | Reuters — European Union antitrust regulators on Friday opened an in-depth investigation into state-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina’s US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta, China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition. Syngenta’s shares plunged over nine per cent on Monday after the European Commission said the companies had not allayed its concerns […] Read more
EU probe to hold up ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta
In tough times like these, the goal is averting a disaster
The upcoming Hedging Edge workshop offers producers an introduction to options, futures, and hedging
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s come to this. “It’s all about trying to make it a break-even year or a slight loss year, and prevent it from turning into a disaster year,” said David Derwin, commodities portfolio manager at PI Financial. A miserable harvest has created an abundance of poor-quality crops and with prices down sharply, producers are going […] Read more
Three crop marketing pros share their No. 1 tip
Reading Time: 3 minutes We asked the Hedging Edge experts for their No. 1 marketing tip for this fall. Here’s what they had to say. Neil Blue Provincial crop market analyst “My No. 1 tip — and this isn’t an earth-shaking one — is shop around. That means knowing your product first — getting a grade from potential buyers, […] Read more
Agrium/PotashCorp merger set for shareholder approval
Toronto/Winnipeg | Reuters — The shareholders of Agrium and PotashCorp are set to overwhelmingly approve a merger of the two Canadian fertilizer producers, according to a source familiar with the situation, despite initial skepticism from Agrium investors. About 99 per cent of the votes from both groups of shareholders are in favour of the transaction, […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola faces supply questions
CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, as persistent weather problems in Western Canada and gains in world vegetable oil markets provided support. “The most important variable for the canola market is trends in the global vegetable oil markets,” said Mike Jubinville of ProFarmer Canada, noting tight […] Read more
ChemChina reported ready for concessions to clinch Syngenta deal
Beijing/Zurich | Reuters — State-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union antitrust approval for its US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said. Clinching China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry […] Read more
B.C. farmers learned to live with a carbon tax
Reading Time: < 1 minute B.C.’s carbon tax didn’t make its farmers less competitive, says a carbon tax expert. Brandon Schaufele studied its effect on agricultural trade for 12 different commodities and found the competitiveness of B.C. products wasn’t reduced. “There was very little evidence that the carbon taxes impacted trade at all,” said the assistant professor at the Ivey […] Read more
New campaign recruiting ‘agvocates’
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture More Than Ever has launched a new campaign aimed at encouraging everyone in the agriculture industry to be an “agvocate.” A recent survey found 93 per cent of consumers know little or nothing about Canadian farming practices, but 60 per cent said they want to know more about them. As part of the campaign, […] Read more
Carbon price worries farmers, fertilizer makers
Winnipeg/Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s plan to price carbon emissions may weaken the farm sector in one of the biggest grain-shipping countries, raising farmers’ costs and discouraging investment in fertilizer production, industry groups say. Ottawa this month promised a price on carbon emissions by 2018, and will let provinces choose a tax or cap-and-trade system. […] Read more
4-H Canada Club to Club Exchange a memory-making ‘whirlwind
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the 4-H’ers from Newfoundland met their hosts from Pincher Creek District 4-H, the kids in both groups were shy, awkward, and a little bit (or even very) apprehensive. Seven days later, “we could tell when the kids were saying goodbye that they were going to miss each other,” said chaperon Myra Hammond. Fortunately, they […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
