Planting soybean seeds with a neonicotinoid seed treatment offers zero yield benefits, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In a memorandum released Oct. 15, EPA’s biological and economic analysis division reviewed published data and EPA proprietary data on soybeans and neonicotinoids, a class of insecticides applied as a coating to the seed. The EPA determined […] Read more
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EPA dismisses neonics’ effectiveness
Ex-Cargill manager fights attempt to keep him from rival
CHICAGO (Reuters) — Valuable trade secrets that Cargill Inc. claims were stolen by a longtime manager in its meatpacking division who quit for rival JBS SA are nothing more than basic butchery, lawyers for the employee said in court documents. Privately held Cargill, one of the top U.S. meat producers, is asking a federal judge […] Read more
Yara counts cost of failed merger talks with CF
NEW YORK/OSLO (Reuters) — CF Industries ended merger talks with Norway’s Yara International that would have created a US $24.5 billion fertilizer producer, leaving Yara with nothing to show for a short-lived courtship that cost it two chief executives. Chicago-based CF and Yara failed to agree the terms of a “merger of equals” to create […] Read more
Canadian inflation hits target, but how much is temporary?
OTTAWA (Reuters) — Canadian inflation settled exactly at the Bank of Canada’s target of two percent in September, with the core rate staying at 2.1 percent, according to Statistics Canada data released on Friday. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz has said some recent price increases were temporary and so should be ignored, suggesting a […] Read more
Planting delays in Brazil seen limiting January soy offer
SAO PAULO (Reuters) — Soybean planting in Brazil’s top growing state of Mato Grosso is 18 percentage points behind last year’s pace, the state’s farm institute IMEA said on Friday, likely limiting the country’s soy offer in January. As of Oct. 16, 9.3 percent of the state’s expected crop had been sowed, barely changed from […] Read more
Bakers proud of local sourcing
Milling Saskatchewan grain | Couple enjoys personal contact with suppliers of wheat, rye and spelt
Fresh from the field takes on a whole new meaning at this Saskatoon bakery. Bryn Rawlyk and his wife, Beth Côté, have been milling their own flour and producing artisan breads and pastries at the Night Oven Bakery since it opened in March. The couple learned their skills by baking and working in kitchens and […] Read more
Farmland rental rates slow to respond to commodity prices
Economist expects prices will adjust, but farmers with multi-year contracts will see margins squeezed
Prairie crop receipts will be down this year, but it won’t necessarily be immediately reflected in the price that farmers pay for rented land, says a Farm Credit Canada economist. Money on hand is just one factor affecting prices, said Craig Klemmer, senior agricultural economist with FCC. “Rental rates are notoriously sticky,” he said. “They […] Read moreU.S. farmers seen cutting fertilizer use as crop prices slide
(Reuters) — U.S. farmers are cutting back on spreading fertilizer this autumn in response to a drop in crop prices to multi-year lows and a delayed harvest, dealers say, warning of a pullback that will be felt from grain markets to Canadian potash mines. Ten of 12 U.S. farm retail companies surveyed by Reuters say […] Read more
World in brief
Meat Processing Landmark moment as pork passes beef CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) — The U.S. government recently raised its pork production forecast for the year-to-date period ending September 2015 that shows pork surpassing beef for the first time since 1952, as hog farmers recover from a deadly pig virus. In the monthly World Agriculture Supply and […] Read more
Playing the field: CWB eyes its suitors
It’s been an eventful two years since CWB took its first steps into Western Canada’s newly deregulated grain market. And the next two years are shaping up to be every bit as interesting. Between now and July 31, 2016, CWB will take another important step toward privatization. By law, the former wheat board must devise […] Read more
