Almaty | Reuters –– Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, facing a growing wave of protests against planned changes to land ownership, evoked the image of war-torn Ukraine on Sunday as he called for national unity. Speaking at an event in Almaty to mark the annual May 1 Unity Day celebrations, Nazarbayev highlighted Ukraine, where street protests […] Read more
Kazakh leader evokes Ukraine as land protests spread
Cuba backtracks on food reforms as conservatives resist change
Havana | Reuters –– Cuba decided at a secretive Communist Party congress last week to reverse market reforms in food distribution and pricing, according to reports in official media, reflecting tensions within the party about the pace of economic change. President Raul Castro unveiled an ambitious market reform agenda in one of the world’s last […] Read more
Cost index for railways’ grain revenue cap gets boost
The loonie’s decline since last year has led federal regulators to dial up the index guiding how much money Canada’s big two railways get to keep from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) announced Friday it will raise its volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) by 4.8 per cent, to 1.3275, for the 2016-17 […] Read more
EU crop chem firm takes stake in Engage Agro
A Belgian crop protection firm may bring some of its products to Canada’s vegetable, vine and corn markets as it moves to take a minority stake in Canadian crop chemical distributor Engage Agro. Belchim Crop Protection announced last week it will take a “significant” but undisclosed minority stake in Guelph-based Engage Agro for an undisclosed […] Read more
Record-low summerfallow expected
CNS Canada — Changing farm practices and moving world markets over the years have seen shifts in the makeup of the crops grown in Canada — but the most noticeable change in the past three decades may be the amount of land seeded to nothing. Heading into the 2016 growing season, Canadian farmers say they […] Read more
California communities beg for relief from drought restrictions
Sacramento | Reuters — California communities where a wet winter has filled reservoirs and begun ameliorating the state’s catastrophic four-year drought begged water regulators on Wednesday to reduce or eliminate emergency conservation measures imposed last year. Facing pushback from aggravated consumers under the ongoing rules, water utilities say they will have little credibility asking for […] Read more
Russian farming firm to test investor appetite
Moscow | Reuters — Russian farming conglomerate Rusagro launched a secondary share offering on Thursday which will test foreign appetite for Russian assets. Share sales by Russian companies have been rare since Western sanctions imposed in 2014 over Ukraine cut access to foreign capital markets and after a sharp drop in global oil prices, the […] Read more
Farmers big on pulses, but canola down on the year
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers will be seeding record acres of peas and lentils this spring, as expected, but the increases to pulse crops are coming at the expense of canola — which saw acres come in below expectations in a report out from Statistics Canada. In its first acreage survey of the year, released […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola watching acreage numbers
CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts rose during the week ended Wednesday, as strong advances in U.S. soy overpowered resistance cast on the market by the stronger Canadian dollar. The canola market “was able to get some support from the soy action but the Canadian dollar has taken most of it away… it’s […] Read more
Nova Scotia pledges food donation tax credit in budget
A tax credit for Nova Scotia farmers who donate produce to local food banks is among the policy plans laid out in the province’s latest budget. Finance Minister Randy Delorey’s budget on Tuesday showed an overall $17.1 million net surplus position on $10.15 billion in total expenses and $10.26 billion in total revenues (minus $110.3 […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
