Predicting price hikes for its main product on tighter supplies in 2008, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan on Thursday announced record third-quarter earnings, also the second-highest quarterly earnings in its history. PotashCorp reported a net income of $243.1 million on $1.3 billion in sales for the quarter, up from $145.2 million on $953.5 million in the […] Read more
PotashCorp posts record Q3
Maple Leaf improves Q3 in mid-restructuring
Cost-cutting and price hikes helped offset higher costs for corn, wheat and other inputs on Maple Leaf’s third-quarter bottom line, the company reported Thursday. The quarter ending Sept. 30 included an after-tax gain of $218 million on the sale of Maple Leaf’s animal feed businesses to Dutch firm Nutreco, which led to skewed net earnings […] Read more
Hog inventories continue falling: StatsCan
Inventories of hogs in Canada fell for the second quarter in a row on softening slaughter prices and escalating feed costs, even while international demand for Canadian hogs and pork remains high, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. Canada had 14.4 million hogs on farms as of October 1, down 3.1 per cent from the year-earlier date […] Read more
Quebec sees net farm income “stability” in ’07
Farmers in Quebec can expect to end 2007 with total net farm income in the neighbourhood of $425 million, showing a “relative stability” across the ag sector overall, according to a new economic report from the provincial farm lender. L’Agroindicateur, an index released annually by La Financiere agricole based on its own data and federal […] Read more
B.C. to freeze rural representation
British Columbia’s provincial government has proposed an electoral district system that will keep rural representation in its legislative assembly at a set level while allowing for more MLAs in areas seeing population growth. Amendments introduced Wednesday will direct the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission to recommend 87 electoral districts, up from 79 today. From those 87, […] Read more
Tight stocks drive record highs for durum: PRO
The Canadian Wheat Board boosted its 2007-08 pool return outlooks (PROs) $27 per tonne for milling durum on Thursday, reflecting what it calls “extremely tight” stocks worldwide. Milling wheat PROs dropped $2 to $5, reflecting a “highly volatile” trend as world wheat prices come down off record highs from previous weeks, the CWB said. Feed […] Read more
Health Canada launches food recall database
Health Canada has put up a new searchable database of food and children’s product recalls for Canadian consumers. The site, at www.healthycanadians.gc.ca, includes separate listings of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s food alerts and recalls, Health Canada’s children’s toy and product recalls and a search function to check for specific products. The food recall listing, […] Read more
Grains boost Scotiabank commodity index
The agricultural index in Scotiabank’s Commodity Price Index jumped 6.7 per cent month-over-month during September, helping pull the commodity index out of a three-month decline. Patricia Mohr, the company’s vice-president of economics and commodity market specialist, wrote in a research report Wednesday that agriculture and energy helped the overall index — which gauges commodities’ performance […] Read more
Breeders send biggest post-BSE export boatload
A boatload of 2,217 Canadian purebred Angus, Holstein and Hereford cattle left for Russia Tuesday as part of Canada’s biggest export of breeding stock since the discovery of BSE in Alberta in 2003. The cattle were shipped from Quebec’s Port de Becancour en route to Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, where they will be fanned […] Read more
Input sought on Jordan FTA
With eyes on a possible free trade deal, the federal government wants to hear from Canadians on their views and experiences dealing with the kingdom of Jordan. A call for consultations, issued Monday, stems from talks in July between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, where the two countries agreed to study […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
