(ADM.com)

ADM to combine grain trading, oilseed businesses

Chicago | Reuters — Global grains trader Archer Daniels Midland said Wednesday it will consolidate five business units into four in the company’s second reorganization in just over a year as adverse weather and a U.S.-China trade dispute threaten profits. ADM will combine its grain trading and oilseeds segments into a new business unit called […] Read more

A Bunge port facility in Vietnam. (Bunge.com)

Bunge names acting chief as new CEO

Reuters — Global grains trader Bunge on Thursday named Gregory Heckman as its chief executive officer, three months after he took the helm in an interim capacity. Heckman, a founding partner of private investment firm Flatwater Partners and the former chief executive of grains trader Gavilon Group, was appointed acting CEO in January after long-serving […] Read more

CBOT May 2019 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat close strong

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose 1.7 per cent on Friday as traders unwound bearish bets they placed on the grain when the market spiraled to a 14-month low earlier this week. The most-active Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract hit its highest since March 6 as investment funds were […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed holds steady despite food adoption hopes

MarketsFarm — Expectations for canary seed to break beyond birdseed into the food market haven’t yet translated to substantially higher prices for the crop. Canary seed was designated safe for human consumption in 2016, after which Saskatchewan’s then-agriculture minister Lyle Stewart predicted acreage dedicated to the crop would increase as it was incorporated into more […] Read more

British 1970s punk-rock icon John Lydon appeared in a successful series of advertisements in 2008 for Country Life butter, a brand Dairy Crest acquired in 2004 after buying control of the English Butter Marketing Co. (Video screengrab from JohnLydon.com via YouTube)

Canada’s Saputo to buy major U.K. dairy firm

A major British dairy company is poised to become the property of one of Canada’s biggest dairy processors in a $1.7 billion all-cash deal. Saputo Inc. announced Friday it has an agreement in place with Dairy Crest Group — the maker of Cathedral City cheese and Country Life butter among other major U.K. dairy brands […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf to consolidate Ontario poultry processing

A new $660 million plant at London, Ont. will house Maple Leaf Foods’ Ontario fresh poultry processing operations by mid-2021 as the food processing firm prepares to shut three older facilities. Toronto-based Maple Leaf announced Monday it will build a 640,000-square foot plant at London, billed as “one of the most technologically advanced poultry-processing plants […] Read more

(Barilla.com)

Barilla to buy second-largest Italian pasta plant

Milan | Reuters — Food group Barilla said on Wednesday it had presented an offer to buy the second-largest pasta plant in Italy from domestic rival Pasta Zara to boost its production capacity. Family-owned Pasta Zara has started court proceedings to get creditor protection after its debt spiralled out of control. The factory, which is […] Read more



(Brazzo/iStock/Getty Images)

Canola crush margins tightest in years

CNS Canada — Canola crush margins have fallen to some of their lowest levels in more than a decade, which should keep a lid on any upside in prices. As of Thursday, the canola board crush margin calculated by ICE Futures U.S. was only about $26 above the November contract, which compares with levels a […] Read more

Salmonella. (CDC.gov)

CFIA seeks ‘fundamental change’ in chicken processing

Canada’s chicken processors have a year to make plant-level changes to cut the risk of salmonella infection from frozen raw breaded chicken goods. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said March 12 it will require processors to identify salmonella as a hazard likely to occur in these products — and to “implement changes in order to […] Read more