CHICAGO, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade turned higher on Friday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture surprised the market by lowering its estimate of U.S. 2013 corn yield and production, while wheat tumbled, traders said. USDA also lowered its forecast of U.S. 2013-14 corn ending stocks below trade […] Read more
News
CBOT corn rallies after USDA cuts crop size, stocks; wheat falls
Micro-organisms are key factor in soil health
MINOT, N.D. — Speakers usually grab their audience’s attention by telling a joke, but soil scientist Jon Stika likes to open his speeches with a lump of dirt. Stika began his presentation at the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Farmers Association annual conference by holding up two soil aggregates, both about the size of a tennis […] Read more
Soil is the same as beer?
MINOT, N.D. — Jon Stika, a soil scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says there is a bar in New Zealand where the following is written on a wall: “If we’re very nice to Mother Nature, she’ll make us some beer.” Interpreting that phrase for farmers attending the Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage workshop in […] Read more
Consider the Solvita test
MINOT, N.D. — here is a more scientific way to assess soil’s biological activity for growers who aren’t comfortable smelling their soil or dropping an aggregate into a jar of water. The Solvita test measures the amount of carbon dioxide that a soil sample releases. A high level of carbon dioxide respiration indicates the soil […] Read more
Farmers to vote on sale of Lethbridge terminal
Viterra expands | The company also plans to build in Grimshaw, Alta.
Approximately 150 southern Alberta farmer shareholders will vote Jan. 17 on an agreement to sell Lethbridge Inland Terminal to Viterra. A purchase agreement for the 42,000 tonne grain facility was reached in late December, and the LIT board of directors is unanimously recommending that its shareholders approve the transaction. The price has not been disclosed. […] Read more
Fertilizer makers add capacity
Koch Fertilizer plans to spend $30 million in the first of a series of expansions at its nitrogen plant in Brandon, increasing ammonia production by 90,000 tonnes annually. As well, the company said it is considering another major investment in its Brandon plant to boost urea production. However, Farmers of North America spokesperson Bob Friesen […] Read more
EU renews bid to ban food from cloned animals
Critics say tracing food from clones or offspring would be difficult
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) — The European Commission recently proposed a ban on food and products from cloned animals, two years after failing to block their use. European Union governments and lawmakers rejected the first move in 2011 because of a dispute over labelling. If approved, the latest draft rules would ban the use of cloning […] Read more
Can cattle growth efficiencies be pushed too far?
The tradeoff between beef production and animal welfare has put Zilmax in the hot seat
PASCO, Wash. (Reuters) — The U.S. beef industry’s dependence on the muscle-building drug Zilmax began unravelling here, on a sweltering summer day, in the dusty cattle pens outside a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in south-eastern Washington state. Fifteen heifers and steers hobbled down the ramps Aug. 5, barely able to walk, as cattle trailers that had […] Read more
Hemp industry asks feds for deregulation
Not all agree | Some growers argue regulation is still necessary but the government should consider modifying its rules
Canada’s rules and regulations for growing hemp are burdensome, tedious and in need of revision, says Chris Dzisiak, a grower from Dauphin, Man. Nonetheless, Dzisiak said it’s unrealistic to completely deregulate hemp production and treat the crop the same as canola, wheat and barley. “It is still a controlled substance…. Making it totally open, what […] Read moreU.S. corn dips, faces biggest weekly loss in two months
SINGAPORE/PARIS, Jan 10 (Reuters) – U.S. corn futures eased to trade near a three-year low on Friday, with the market poised for its biggest weekly loss in more than two months on expectations the U.S. government will increase its production forecast Soybeans edged higher, on track for first weekly gain in three weeks with Chinese […] Read more
