WASHINGTON (Reuters) — New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said on Thursday Japan should be cut out of Pacific trade talks if it will not open its markets to more farm imports, and he urged the Obama administration to hold firm. Japan has been reluctant to open up agricultural markets such as pork, beef, rice […] Read more
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New Zealand suggests cutting Japan out of Pacific trade talks
U.S. millers favour spring wheat as winter harvest falls short
CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. flour millers are likely to continue using large volumes of spring wheat from the northern Plains and Canada as a substitute for hard red winter wheat over the next 12 months, given the likely shortfall in the 2014 southern Plains HRW crop, cash traders said. U.S. farmers grow more HRW wheat […] Read more
Cargill invests $100 million to expand Russian wheat milling
CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. multinational agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said on Thursday it has invested $100 million to expand its wheat milling at its Efremov, Russia, grain complex, nearly doubling its processing capacity to 500,000 tonnes of wheat a year. The Efremov complex, which employs more than 800 people, produces starches and sweeteners from corn, […] Read more
More Alberta communities declare states of emergency
Three more southern Alberta communities declared states of local emergency today as rain continues to fall and rivers rise. The towns of Fort Macleod and Magrath and the Municipal District of Taber declared emergencies today. They join others already in that state, including the Blood Reserve, the towns of Cardston, Claresholm, Coaldale, Coalhurst and High […] Read more
Video: Six Product variable rate seeder
Introduced as a smaller scale prototype last year, CleanSeed Agricultural Technologies CX-6 seeder was big hit with farmers and the business crowd. The Vancouver based company changed the usual approach to metering seed, with more electronic management, softer rollers and wireless communication from each run and for each product. Six products are metered on the […] Read more
FNA chooses Sask. site for fertilizer plant
FNA Fertilizer Limited Partnership has selected a site for its proposed $1.7 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant. The facility will be built in Belle Plaine, Sask., although no construction dates have been set. The plant would produce 1.2 million tonnes of urea and 425,000 tonnes of UAN liquid fertilizer annually. “This announcement is an important step […] Read more
Prairie chickpeas looking good despite late spring
WINNIPEG — Like many crops this year, chickpeas had a somewhat delayed seeding process due to a late spring and wet soil conditions, but crops are still looking good despite the delays. “The seeding dates for chickpeas going in were less than ideal,” said Colin Young, the owner of Midwest Investments, a processing company in […] Read more
Sask. producers get most crops seeded despite wet weather
WINNIPEG — Producers in Saskatchewan were able to get about 95 percent of the crop seeded as of June 16, despite seeing another week of cool and rainy weather, the latest Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture crop report said. That pace is up from last week when 93 percent of the crop was seeded, and ahead […] Read more
Plant breeders’ rights legislation goes to committee
A controversial government bill that proposes changes to Canada’s Plant Breeders’ Rights Act has passed second reading in the House of Commons. Bill C-18, the Agricultural Growth Act, has been referred to the House of Commons’ standing committee on agriculture and agri-food. Witnesses to speak at the committee hearings will be identified over the next […] Read more
Wide swaths best chance for high quality hay
FRIEDENSFELD, Man. — Canadian producers need to forgo the windrow if they want to produce high quality hay, says Dan Undersander, a U.S. forage expert. “How many of you put your hay into a windrow, in between the wheels (of the swather)?” Undersander asked at the Manitoba Hay and Silage Day held in southeastern Manitoba […] Read more
