Anti-tank ‘hedgehogs’ are seen in Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on March 9, 2022. Farmers are among those assembling the obstacles, set up to block roads against advancing armoured vehicles. (Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/Abacapress.com via Reuters)

Bread and war: Farmers in the fight for Ukraine

Agriculture, being the most important industry in Ukraine, will play a large part in the war, a Ukrainian ag journalist writes

It is very difficult to explain what a person feels when they’re awakened at 5 a.m., when a rocket explodes near their house. That’s exactly what I experienced Feb. 24. The first thing I did was fill my car with gasoline. Then we bought a lot of products we thought we might need — medicines […] Read more

A General Motors illustration featuring a display version of its 2024 Silverado EV pickup, due for release in the fall of 2023. (Media.GM.ca)

GM ramps up EV push with plans to make battery materials in Canada

Automaker and BASF both plan CAM plants at Becancour

Reuters — General Motors and South Korea’s POSCO Chemical will build a $400 million facility to produce battery materials in Canada as the carmaker ramps up plans to produce mainly electric vehicles (EVs) in the future, the companies said Monday. The plant will produce cathode active material (CAM) for vehicle batteries at Becancour, Que. Cathodes […] Read more


Adam Reid. (Photo courtesy Buhler Versatile)

Ag equipment firm Buhler Industries shakes up board table

Rostselmash's Babkin steps down, founder Buhler to retire

Board oversight of Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer Buhler Industries will now include another of the company’s upper managers, as a co-owner of the company’s Russian parent firm and the company’s founder both step down. Buhler’s board announced Wednesday it has accepted the resignation of Konstantin Babkin, the president and co-owner of Russian holding company Novoe […] Read more

(PortMetroVancouver.com)

Canada shuts ports to Russian ships over Ukraine invasion

Russian firms' Canadian holdings also under scrutiny, Freeland warns

Toronto | Reuters — Canada ratcheted up pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by shutting ports to Russian-owned ships and saying on Tuesday that holdings of all Russian oligarchs and companies in the country are under review. Canada has announced a slew of measures to isolate Russia, including imposing sanctions on Russian President […] Read more


(Cummins.com)

Engine maker Cummins says expects ‘some impact’ in Russia

Deere says will abide by sanctions

Reuters — Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. expects “some impact” to its business in Russia and is analyzing and preparing for current and anticipated sanctions, the U.S. truck engine maker said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. Many firms have idled operations in Russia after it invaded Ukraine last week, resulting in powerful Western sanctions. […] Read more

Buhler Industries board member Konstantin Babkin, shown here at left with the company’s then-president Dmitry Lyubimov during a visit to the company’s facility in Winnipeg in 2007, is seen as particularly vulnerable to sanction from Canada. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Equipment maker Buhler distances self from Ukraine invasion

A Winnipeg farm equipment manufacturer is distancing itself from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Buhler Industries, which manufactures the Versatile tractor line and Farm King equipment, is majority-owned by the Russian firm Combine Factory Rostselmash. That firm purchased an 80 per cent stake in Buhler in 2007 and boosted that to 97 per cent ownership in […] Read more


A CNH manufacturing plant at Sorocaba, west of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil. (Photo courtesy CNH Industrial)

CNH sees revenues rising to 2024 on precision agriculture plans

Margin at agricultural unit seen at 14.5 to 15.5 per cent

Milan | Reuters — Italian-American vehicle maker CNH Industrial on Tuesday gave guidance for a total revenue growth of up to 24 per cent through 2024 as it presented a new business plan after spinning off its truck, bus and engine units. In a bid to focus on its higher-margin agriculture and construction machine businesses, […] Read more



File photo of a view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Pandemic border protests strand cattle and car parts

Ottawa | Reuters — Protests in Canada against vaccine mandates have disrupted two key U.S. border crossings, and are snarling hundreds of millions of dollars daily of trade, ranging from cattle to car parts. Demonstrations who at first demanded an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers began Jan. 28 in the […] Read more