Angela Bedard-Haughn, shown here delivering a TEDx Talk in Saskatoon in September 2019, becomes the University of Saskatchewan’s new dean of agriculture in August. (Video screengrab from Ted.com)

New dean of agriculture named for U of S

Soil science prof Angela Bedard-Haughn takes over Aug. 15

One of Western Canada’s major post-secondary ag institutions will get a new hand at the wheel this summer. The University of Saskatchewan announced Wednesday it has named soil science professor Angela Bedard-Haughn as the dean for its College of Agriculture and Bioresources for a five-year term starting Aug. 15. Raised on a family farm in […] Read more

(Kraig Scarbinsky/DigitalVision/Getty Images)

Packaged-food majors see sales spike in pandemic

Big brands may benefit from larger, more secure supply chains

Reuters — General Mills on Monday said it saw record demand for its pantry staples, becoming the latest packaged food maker to see business spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, as homebound shoppers stocked up on comfort foods during lockdowns. The company joins Nomad Foods, Premier Foods, Nestle, Mondelez and other processed food makers, which have […] Read more



Buhler Industries’ plant at Willmar, Minn., which today makes Versatile high-clearance sprayers, will take up more product lines as the company shuts its Fargo, N.D. facility. (Versatile-ag.com)

Buhler to halt Farm King manufacturing at Fargo

Work to move to company's Minnesota plant

Farm equipment maker Buhler Industries plans to gather its U.S. manufacturing work into one plant in Minnesota this summer and halt operations at nearby Fargo, N.D. The Winnipeg company, whose product lines include Versatile tractors and sprayers and Farm King application, tillage and hay equipment, said Monday it’s “optimizing” its U.S. production to boost efficiency […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Fuel, labour to pull grain freight cost indices lower

CP's share buybacks also a factor in its VRCPI

The numbers that decide how much revenue Canada’s big two railways get to keep from Prairie grain handling have been marked downward for the 2020-21 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency last week announced it will set the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) at 1.4202 for Canadian National Railway (CN) and at 1.4205 for Canadian […] Read more







Chickpeas. (CalypsoArt/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea acreage expected lower

MarketsFarm — High global prices in the 2017-18 marketing year caused a global spike in chickpea production in 2018. It’s since taken a while for consumers to “chew through supplies,” which has put pressure on prices, according to Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodities. In a kabuli chickpea global outlook webinar hosted by the Global Pulse […] Read more