The world’s biggest privately-owned chain of Deere construction and forestry equipment dealerships is set to expand its reach into Deere farm equipment in a major way. Brandt Tractor, the equipment sales arm of the Regina-based Brandt Group, on Monday announced an agreement to buy all of publicly-traded Cervus Equipment Corp. for $19.50 a share, valuing […] Read more

Brandt to buy Deere dealership chain Cervus
Regina firm to pay $302 million in all-cash deal

Bayer takes battle over Roundup cancer claims to U.S. Supreme Court
Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer, trying to contain billions of dollars in legal costs, filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court verdict that upheld damages to a customer blaming his cancer on the German group’s glyphosate-based herbicides. Bayer last week lost a third appeal against verdicts that sided with […] Read more

Feds lock in AgriRecovery funds before election call
Ottawa's pledged share now up to $500 million
Just hours ahead of a federal election call, the federal government has committed $500 million to cover its share of federal/provincial AgriRecovery support plans for drought-hit farmers across Canada’s West. Shortly before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit Sunday to Rideau Hall seeking the dissolution of Parliament for a federal election, Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau confirmed […] Read more

Olymel, Quebec workers reach deal in principle
Agreement may end months-long strike at hog plant
The union for workers at a major pork slaughter and packing plant in Quebec’s Beauce region says it has a deal that may end a strike which has backed up hogs on farms in the province since late April. The Syndicat des travailleurs d’Olymel Vallee-Jonction (STOVJ) — which represents over 1,000 employees at Olymel’s Vallee-Jonction […] Read more

U.S. confirms will boost food stamps by record amount
Washington | Reuters –– The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) on Monday will announce revised nutrition standards dramatically boosting average food stamp benefits, the agency confirmed Sunday. The New York Times first reported the plan to unveil the largest permanent benefits increase in the history of the government’s primary anti-hunger program, saying the change would result […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Cattle end mostly lower; hog futures narrowly mixed
Chicago | Reuters – Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed mostly lower on Friday on technical selling and lackluster cash cattle trade this week, traders said. CME benchmark October live cattle settled down 0.375 cent at 128.125 cents per pound, and September feeder cattle futures ended down 0.475 cent at 163.075 cents […] Read more

Alberta reckons with poor quality, low crop yields
MarketsFarm – Crops in Alberta will not only have much lower yields than in previous years, but good quality crops will be harder to find. Provincial crop condition ratings declined over the past two weeks, according to the Province of Alberta’s biweekly crop report as of Aug. 10, which was released three days later. Only […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat rises to 8-1/2-year highs on world supply worries
Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures climbed to 8-1/2-year highs on Friday and European wheat futures extended gains, led by fresh contract highs in Paris, after steep cuts to world stockpiles in a U.S. government report fuelled supply worries, analysts said. Soybean futures rose on fears of tightening global vegetable oil supplies, but corn […] Read more

ICE weekly outlook: Something of a tough week for canola
MarketsFarm – It was a bit of a tough week for canola on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), although there was something of a bright spot after the release of the August supply and demand estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). As one trader put it, canola did its job by increasing in […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures rise after U.S. cuts beef production forecasts
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Thursday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reduced its forecasts for domestic beef production. The agency, in a monthly report, trimmed its estimate for 2021 U.S. beef production by 0.1 percent from July to 26.965 billion pounds due to lighter expected carcass weights. The production forecast […] Read more