Tel Aviv | Reuters — Israeli crop protection firm Adama said Thursday it will acquire a majority stake in Jiangsu Huifeng Bio Agriculture’s crop protection plants for about US$175 million. In the first phase, it will buy 50 per cent of Shanghai Dibai Plant Protection, a wholly owned subsidiary of Huifeng focused on the sale […] Read more
Adama to buy control of major Chinese ag chem maker
U.S. EPA approves XtendiMax use for five years
Court ruling had blocked dicamba sales
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers for the next five years to spray crops with a Bayer herbicide whose sales were blocked by a U.S. appeals court in June, EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler said Tuesday. XtendiMax, a dicamba-based herbicide that is sprayed on soybeans and cotton genetically engineered to […] Read more
Britain to protect pork pies, whisky with new scheme after EU exit
London | Reuters — New rules to guarantee the authenticity and origin of traditional British foods, such as Stilton cheese and Melton Mowbray pork pies, after the end of the UK’s Brexit transition period, were set out by the government on Thursday. Britain left the European Union at the end of January and an 11-month […] Read more
Monsanto loses final appeal over French farmer’s herbicide accident
Paris | Reuters — Bayer’s Monsanto division on Wednesday lost a final appeal in a long-running French legal battle in which the crop chemical maker has been held liable for a farmer’s accidental inhalation of a herbicide. Monsanto had been trying to overturn a decision by an appeals court in 2019 that had found the […] Read more
Pilgrim’s Pride strikes deal over U.S. chicken price-fixing charges
Reuters — U.S. poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Wednesday it will pay a US$110.5 million fine after striking a plea deal with the Justice Department over price-fixing charges on chicken products. The guilty plea makes Pilgrim’s Pride, mostly owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the first U.S. chicken company to reach an agreement with the […] Read more
Brazil millers oppose sale of GMO wheat
Importing costs would rise, Abitrigo says, as Argentina approves new wheat
Sao Paulo | Reuters — Brazilian wheat millers association Abitrigo opposes the approval of genetically modified wheat products for sale in Brazil, saying it will make imports of the cereal more costly and impact prices on the domestic market. The statement comes after Argentine authorities approved a new genetically modified wheat that can resist drought […] Read more
Syngenta buys biologics group Valagro
Zurich | Reuters — Syngenta, the Swiss agrichemicals giant owned by ChemChina, has acquired Italian biologicals group Valagro, a company with US$175 million in 2019 sales that uses natural solutions to fight pests and diseases and to improve crops. Syngenta said in a statement Tuesday the acquisition positioned its crop protection business as a key […] Read more
Food retail order boom may ease after big quarter, Conagra says
Reuters — Conagra Brands put better-than-expected first quarter sales on Thursday down to heavy ordering by retailers worried about the durability of supply chains in the months ahead as a second wave of coronavirus cases takes hold. Shares in the foodstuffs maker dipped as much as three per cent before recovering after chief financial officer […] Read more
Bayer plans more cost cuts, impairment charges
Pandemic now expected to hit crop science wing
Berlin | Reuters — German drugs and chemical company Bayer announced plans on Wednesday for more than 1.5 billion euros (C$2.34 billion) of cost cuts as of 2024 and said it would take impairment charges on its agricultural business as it battles with low commodity prices. Bayer said that the impact of the coronavirus on […] Read more
Trump issues permit for Alaska-to-Alberta railway
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a presidential permit for a private-sector proposal to build a railway from northeastern Alberta’s oil sands to ports in Alaska, a project that still faces numerous hurdles. Trump said over the weekend on Twitter he would issue the permit, which he signed on Monday but […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
