Frankfurt | Reuters — German potash and salt miner K+S said it was looking into selling stakes in its North American businesses because an ongoing cost cutting push would not yield enough savings to reach its debt reduction target. A company spokesman said K+S was considering selling a stake in its Bethune, Sask. potash mine […] Read more

K+S considering sale of stakes in potash, salt businesses

G3 plans two more Prairie elevators
Prairie grain handler G3 plans to add another 76,000 tonnes of grain handling capacity in southwestern Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta. The Winnipeg company announced Thursday it will start work in early 2020 on new grain elevators at Swift Current, Sask. and Vermilion, Alta. for completion in 2021. Both new elevators are to be built with […] Read more

Feed weekly outlook: Grains pressured by lower demand
MarketsFarm — Bids for feed grains have backed off previous highs as feedlots in Western Canada are covered into the New Year. “Now they’re bidding January and forward,” said Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. Bids for feed barley and feed wheat delivered from January to March were around $220 per tonne, according […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat, soy rally on China trade hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn, wheat and soybean futures rose on Thursday on fresh export demand and renewed hopes for a trade agreement with China after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that a deal with Beijing was “very close,” analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade March corn futures settled up 6-1/2 cents at $3.77-3/4 […] Read more

Field monitoring systems to cast wider Canadian net
Farmers will soon get a new entry point in the Internet of Things (IoT) as a new company brings field monitoring tools and services to the Canadian market. Austrian tech firm Pessl Instruments and Winnipeg-based Glacier FarmMedia, the owner of this website, on Wednesday announced a new joint venture, Metos Canada, to market and support […] Read more

Opposition MPs could delay CUSMA deal’s ratification
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s two main opposition parties on Wednesday suggested they could move to delay ratification of a new continental trade pact, accusing the Liberal government of botching revisions to the treaty. Such a move would embarrass Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has vowed that Parliament will quickly approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA). […] Read more

U.S. grains: Profit-taking pressures soybeans
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell on Wednesday as investors took profits after six days in a row of price increases, while wheat and corn sank on technical selling. Traders shrugged off news of the largest soybean sale to China in more than eight months, in the absence of fresh signs of a […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn firm on trade deal hopes
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures firmed on Tuesday, rising for a sixth consecutive session on hopes that the United States and China will continue to progress toward an interim trade deal. Corn futures also edged higher on an improved trade outlook as Canada, Mexico and the United States approved changes to a preliminary […] Read more

Canada, U.S., Mexico sign agreement, again, to replace NAFTA
Washington/Mexico City | Reuters — Top officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States signed a fresh overhaul of a quarter-century-old trade pact on Tuesday that aims to improve enforcement of worker rights and hold down prices for biologic drugs by eliminating a patent provision. The signing ceremony in Mexico City launched what may be […] Read more

Freeland, U.S. and Mexican officials to meet to pin down trade deal
Washington/Mexico City | Reuters — The Trump administration, Mexico and U.S. Democrats on Monday closed in on a deal for labour-related changes to a languishing North American trade pact that may soon allow it to proceed to a vote, as the window for passage this year quickly narrows. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and White […] Read more