Reuters — DuPont and Dow Chemical have won U.S. antitrust approval to merge on condition that the companies sell certain crop protection products and other assets, according to a court filing on Thursday. The asset sales required by U.S. antitrust enforcers were similar to what the companies had agreed to give up in a deal […] Read more
Dow, DuPont merger wins U.S. antitrust approval
Bioprocessor coming to Sarnia
Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) has invested in California bio-based products company Origin Materials. Origin Materials will be building its first commercial-scale demonstration facility in Sarnia, Ont. by late next year. It will be using bio-based feedstocks such as crops and biomass to make new polymers, surfactants and carbon blacks, which are used as fillers and […] Read more
DLF to buy Syngenta sugar beet seed business
One of the world’s biggest forage seed firms is set to enter the sugar beet seed business by buying Syngenta’s. Swiss ag chemical and seed firm Syngenta announced Thursday it will sell its sugar beet seed business to Danish forage and turf seed producer DLF Seeds for an undisclosed sum. “Sugar beet seeds is a […] Read more
Hothouse produce grower to devote site to marijuana
Canada’s only publicly traded greenhouse produce-growing company plans to put up one of its British Columbia greenhouses for a new venture in cannabis production. Vancouver-based Village Farms announced Tuesday it has partnered with Victoria-based medical cannabis producer/processor Emerald Health Therapeutics in a 50/50 joint venture to grow cannabis for medical use and, pending changes to […] Read more
Farmers wait for fertilizer prices to fall amid oversupply
CNS Canada — As more fertilizer plants are built around the world and U.S. corn acreage shrinks, the typical thinking holds that prices for urea and nitrogen should fall, but that hasn’t been the case so far for Canadian farmers. “They’re more on the steady side,” said Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association […] Read more
Nova Scotia ag minister, critic keep seats in election
Nova Scotia’s incumbent agriculture minister and lead ag critic have both hung onto their seats in an election which saw the governing Liberals return to power with a slightly slimmer majority. Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberals elected in 27 ridings — down from 34 at the government’s dissolution — followed […] Read more
Greig: Farmer trust key to big data’s future
The marketplace for precision agriculture technology is sorting itself out, but it still has a way to go before it will be mature and have predictable uses for farmers, says a U.S. agriculture economist. Dr. Keith Coble, chair of the Mississippi State University’s department of agricultural economics, says we’re in the “overexuberance” phase of technology […] Read more
Glencore seen paying up to US$6 billion in possible Bunge deal
London | Reuters –– Miner and trader Glencore may pay up to US$6 billion in cash in a possible tie-up with U.S. grains trader Bunge based on current valuations, Moody’s ratings agency said on Friday, but said it did not expect an outright acquisition. Glencore said this week it had made an informal approach to […] Read more
Glencore looking to expand agriculture business, CEO says
Cham, Switzerland | Reuters –– Miner and trader Glencore is looking to expand its agriculture business via its partnership with two Canadian funds, the company’s CEO said on Wednesday, but has no plans to move into any commodities it does not already trade. CEO Ivan Glasenberg was speaking a day after U.S. grains trader Bunge […] Read more
Soggy forecast worries Prairie farmers in race to seed crops
Winnipeg | Reuters — Heavy rain forecast for the soggiest parts of the Prairies this week is likely to further delay seeding in the world’s biggest canola-exporting country, meteorologists say. The rain, forecast to hit Alberta and Saskatchewan on Wednesday and Thursday respectively, would be the latest blow to farmers who could not harvest all […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
