Reuters — Scientists have gotten to the root of the carrot, genetically speaking. Researchers said Monday they have sequenced the genome of the carrot, an increasingly important root crop worldwide, identifying genes responsible for traits including the vegetable’s abundance of vitamin A, an important nutrient for vision. The genome may point to ways to improve […] Read more
Scientists peel back carrot’s genetic secrets
ICE weekly outlook: Canola’s fate rests on fund buying
CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, following strength in CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) soybeans, but one analyst says it could be hard for the market to hold onto those advances. CBOT soybeans rallied Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture released bullish supply and demand […] Read more
Bullish canola futures hit new highs
CNS Canada –– Both old- and new-crop canola contracts traded on the ICE Futures Canada platform climbed to new highs on Tuesday, with a bullish reaction to U.S. supply/demand data providing the catalyst for the rally. The most active July futures touched a session high of $544.60 per tonne, before settling Tuesday at $532.30. The […] Read more
Fertilizer prices look to rise by late summer
CNS Canada — A rise in prices for soybeans and other crops could make fertilizer more expensive in the coming months, according to a major player in the industry. In the May market report from the Mosaic Co., the company credited the rally in agricultural commodity prices, the strengthening of key currencies and various Indian […] Read more
A+W books further sales growth, shifts bacon sourcing
Canadian burger and root beer chain A+W has logged a 12th straight quarter of same-store sales growth, this time following a shift in pork sourcing for its bacon supply. The Vancouver-based income fund on Tuesday reported gross sales of $243.8 million among the 838 restaurants in its royalty pool for its first quarter ending March […] Read more
Farming uses exempt from Alberta off-roading ban
Alberta’s new provincewide ban on recreational use of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in provincial parks and on other public lands won’t apply to their use in farm work. The provincial government announced the temporary OHV ban Friday as “another tool… to help prevent the spread of wildfires,” on top of Thursday’s provincewide fire ban and its […] Read more
Kazakh president meets farmland protests with reshuffle
Astana | Reuters — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, facing opposition calls for a demonstration in the business centre Almaty, completed a government reshuffle initiated this week in response to street protests against farmland privatisation plans. Economy minister Yerbolat Dosayev and agriculture minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov, whose ministries were behind the planned land reform, both resigned after […] Read more
U.S. grain firms rejecting GMO crops that lack global approval
Reuters — Across the U.S. Farm Belt, top grain handlers have banned genetically modified crops that are not approved in all major overseas markets, shaking up a decades-old system that used the world’s biggest exporting country as a launchpad for new seeds from companies such as Monsanto. Bold yellow signs from global trader Bunge are […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola hits $500, watching volumes
CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts seem to have found a new range during the week ended Wednesday, with both the July and November contracts lifting around the $500 per tonne mark. Weakness in the Canadian currency and a dry weather premium in Western Canada were behind a lot of the support. As […] Read more
U.S. EPA pulls back report saying glyphosate not likely carcinogenic
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday pulled a report offline that concluded glyphosate is not likely to be carcinogenic to humans, saying the document was inadvertently published and the agency had not finished its review of the chemical, a key ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicides. The 86-page report, seen by […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
