Winnipeg | Reuters — Fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. said Friday it would immediately cut production at its biggest potash mine due to flood risks, and restart an idled mine to offset some of the reduction. Mosaic’s K1 and K2 mine shafts at Esterhazy, Sask., about 75 km southeast of Yorkton, have long been prone to […] Read more
Flood risk forces Mosaic to shut Esterhazy potash shaft
Company to restart Colonsay mine
New Nutrien CEO to carry out current strategy
Schmidt to focus on potash price over boosting sales
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer and farm dealer Nutrien will continue its existing business strategy, including a focus on supporting global potash prices over maximizing sales, new CEO Mayo Schmidt said Tuesday. Surging prices of corn, soybeans and canola have given North American farmers more incentive to spend on fertilizer, lifting crop nutrient prices […] Read more
Rail shippers pick sides as CP, CN bid for Kansas City Southern
Richardson, Conagra among firms supporting both bids
Winnipeg | Reuters — North America’s freight rail customers, from grain shippers to logistics companies, are choosing sides as Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway fight to buy Kansas City Southern. A takeout of KCS would be the first major North American railroad combination in more than 20 years and create the first network […] Read more
Olymel shipping backlogged hogs to U.S.
Company-owned hogs to go south after COVID closes Red Deer plant
Winnipeg | Reuters — Olymel said Friday it was shipping pigs to the United States to help clear a backlog of hogs after it had to temporarily close its Red Deer, Alta. slaughter plant because of a coronavirus outbreak. Olymel shut the plant on Wednesday and declared force majeure — unforeseeable circumstances that prevent contract […] Read more
Fertilizer makers look to sea for growth
Companies look for lower carbon source of plant nutrients
Reuters – Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Yara International, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the United States and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships. Why it matters: The consumption of oil for transportation is one of the top […] Read more
Facing green push on farm, fertilizer makers look to sea for growth
Winnipeg/Oslo | Reuters — Two of the world’s biggest fertilizer producers, CF Industries and Yara International, are seeking to cash in on the green energy transition by reconfiguring ammonia plants in the U.S. and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships. The consumption of oil for transportation is one of the top contributors to […] Read more
Cargill to reopen Guelph beef plant after coronavirus outbreak
Reuters – Cargill Inc plans to begin reopening its Guelph, Ont., beef processing plant next week on Dec. 29, days after it closed the facility due to an outbreak of COVID-19 infections among workers, the company said. Last week, Cargill voluntarily agreed to the temporarily closure as 82 workers tested positive for the virus and […] Read more
Canada’s canola harvest smallest in five years
Wheat crop a bin-buster, StatsCan report finds
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian farmers produced the smallest canola crop in five years, but the largest wheat output since 2013, Statistics Canada said in its final harvest estimate of the year. Canola production looked set to reach 18.7 million tonnes, down 4.5 per cent from last year and below trade expectations. It was a […] Read more
Ginseng exports hampered by pandemic barriers
A lack of visiting buyers from China has created a glut in storage in Canada
Reuters – The pandemic’s crushing effect on international travel has grounded Canadian exports of ginseng, a root widely used in Asia to treat everything from the common cold to impotency, at a time when health is top of consumers’ minds. Canada is the world’s second-largest ginseng exporter after China, with most of its exports shipped […] Read more
Alberta gives oil and gas drillers municipal tax break
Reuters — Struggling oil and gas companies in Alberta will get a three-year break on municipal property taxes for land where they are drilling wells or building pipelines, the provincial government said on Monday. The Alberta government said it would also lower property tax assessments on less-productive wells and eliminate a provincial tax on drills. […] Read more
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