Washington | Reuters –– U.S. corn and soybean harvests were pegged above expectations this year as strong yields in areas west of the Mississippi River will make up for problems caused by excessive rains in eastern production states, the government said Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast the 2015-16 soybean harvest at 3.916 billion […] Read more
USDA sees bumper corn, soy crops despite floods
CVR to buy Rentech arm in N fertilizer merger
Reuters — Nitrogen fertilizer producer CVR Partners said Monday it would buy Rentech Nitrogen Partners for US$533 million, excluding debt, as global fertilizer makers scale up at a time when increased supplies weigh on nitrogen prices. The deal creates North America’s fifth-largest nitrogen producer, vaulting the companies past Norway-based Yara International. It comes less than […] Read more
After food, now Russia burns Dutch flowers
Moscow | Reuters –– A week after angering many in Russia by burning illegally imported Western food, authorities have started feeding Dutch flowers to the flames. Officials say blooms from the Netherlands, which supplies much of Russia’s US$2.5 billion flower market, pose safety risks because they may be infected. Critics say the “flower war” marks […] Read more
K+S says retail shareholders back rejecting PotashCorp
Frankfurt | Reuters –– German salt and fertilizer company K+S AG says a survey of its retail investors shows they strongly support its rejection of a 7.9 billion euros (C$11.4 billion) takeover offer from Canada’s PotashCorp. K+S said on Monday it had surveyed retail, or non-institutional, shareholders, who hold about 30 per cent of its […] Read more
N.S. halts local-level biomass, wind power plan
Nova Scotia is ending its feed-in tariff program that pays local-level groups to generate power from biomass, wind and other renewable sources. Energy Minister Michel Samson said Thursday a provincial review of the community feed-in tariff (COMFIT) program shows it’s “at a point where the program could begin to have a negative impact on power […] Read more
K+S rejects PotashCorp offer, promises on German mines
Frankfurt | Reuters — German salt and fertilizer company K+S AG once again rejected PotashCorp’s takeover offer Friday, saying the Canadian company’s assurances about maintaining jobs and mine sites in Germany were unreliable. Saskatoon-based PotashCorp sent an unsolicited letter to K+S’s management and supervisory boards, K+S said in a statement. The letter included a proposal […] Read more
Cargill posts Q4 loss on one-time charges, revenue down
Reuters — Cargill Inc. on Thursday became the latest large agribusiness to report disappointing quarterly results as one-time charges and slowing economies in key emerging markets stung the privately held global commodities trader. Minnesota-based Cargill said it lost a net $51 million in the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, compared with a profit of […] Read more
Fertilizer firm CF Industries to buy OCI assets
Reuters — U.S. fertilizer maker CF Industries said on Thursday it will buy OCI NV’s North American and European plants for US$6 billion, making CF the world’s largest publicly-traded nitrogen company. The stock and cash deal comes 10 months after CF’s merger talks with Yara International collapsed. It marks the largest fertilizer M+A deal since […] Read more
Fertilizer prices steady as farmers gauge fall use
CNS Canada — Farmers are starting to assess how much fertilizer they’ll use going into the fall, if at all, based on crop budgets, according to an industry analyst. Fertilizer prices are being driven by crop prices and the global market, and both those factors are keeping prices steady, said David Asbridge, president at NPK […] Read more
Ont. group to weigh school models for Kemptville
The Ontario government has set up its working group to consider options for the Ontario Agricultural College’s Kemptville campus beyond this year. The University of Guelph, which operates OAC, announced in spring 2014 it would wind down operations at its Kemptville and Alfred satellite campuses and consolidate its ag education and research operations at its […] Read more
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