Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Friday, with traders shrugging off rhetoric about escalations in a trade war between China and the U.S. to focus on fresh export deals. China warned on Friday it was fully prepared to respond with a “fierce counter strike” of fresh trade measures if the U.S. follows […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans close firm despite trade threats

CPS outlets to take merged parent’s name
A well-known and unusually literal brand in Canadian and U.S. agribusiness is set to disappear this summer under the name of its new parent firm. Crop input retail stores and facilities run by Crop Production Services (CPS) — the brand today used across North America by the retail arm of the company formerly known as […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans rally as market digests Chinese tariff threat
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rallied more than one per cent on Thursday as investors played down the immediate impact of proposed Chinese tariffs on U.S. supplies, a move that had sent prices plunging a day earlier. U.S. wheat futures jumped as much as two per cent, lifted by worries that cold temperatures […] Read more

Canada reports progress on NAFTA, says ‘we’re not there yet’
Ottawa/Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico, Canada and the U.S. have made good progress in their bid to modernize the NAFTA trade pact but still have work to do, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Wednesday. Freeland also said she would be flying to Washington for a meeting on Thursday with U.S. Trade Representative Robert […] Read more

Richardson to take food innovation downtown
Canadian grain and agrifood firm Richardson International plans to marshal its food research and product development crews in a new downtown Winnipeg space. The privately-held, Winnipeg-based company announced Wednesday it will put up over $30 million to build what it calls the Richardson Innovation Centre, a four-story, 62,000-square foot facility to go up a block […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy, corn tumble as China slaps tariffs on imports
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures tumbled two per cent on Wednesday after China readied tariffs against U.S. soy, corn, beef and other goods to retaliate against the Trump administration’s planned tariffs on Chinese exports as a trade war intensified. U.S. corn futures also fell sharply, then recovered a portion of the heavy losses. […] Read more

G3 has a new CEO
There’s been a change at the top of Canada’s newest major grain company. G3 Canada’s CEO Karl Gerrand left the grain company Tuesday and has been replaced by Don Chapman, the Manitoba Co-operator has learned. G3 in 2015 purchased 50.1 per cent of the Canadian Wheat Board from the federal government and brought in Gerrand, […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat surges as USDA says crop conditions worst since 2002
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged on Tuesday, led by a spike in hard red winter wheat prices, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture rated the U.S. Plains crop in the worst shape in 16 years. Soybeans and corn rebounded from the prior session’s declines on spillover support from wheat and as cold, […] Read more

Morriss, Pakosh, Streichs named to ag hall of fame
The Manitoba farmers who developed the rotary separator for combines, the co-founder of Versatile and the long-time editorial director for the website you’re reading are bound for Manitoba’s Agricultural Hall of Fame. The hall of fame on Monday unofficially announced its 2018 group of inductees, ahead of its annual meeting Wednesday in Portage la Prairie […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans sink on plentiful stocks, trade tensions
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures were lower on Monday as early-session support from a lower-than-anticipated government forecast on spring plantings faded and the market’s focus turned to ample U.S. supplies and rising trade tensions with top importer China. Corn futures notched a 2-1/2-week high on the U.S. Agriculture Department’s bullish acreage forecast late […] Read more