Reuters — Campbell Soup Co. said on Friday it would sell its Bolthouse Farms business to an affiliate of private equity firm Butterfly Equity for US$510 million, in the U.S. food company’s first major sale as part of its plan to reduce debt. With the completion of deal, expected by July, Campbell will have divested […] Read more
Campbell to sell Bolthouse Farms for US$510 million
Blizzard forces closure of some U.S. grain processors, elevators
Chicago | Reuters — A second “bomb cyclone” blizzard hitting the United States was limiting the movement and processing of corn, soybeans and wheat around the Midwest and Plains on Thursday. Grain trader Cargill said it was closing three of its grain handling facilities in Minnesota, two in South Dakota and one in Nebraska on […] Read more
Canada looks at fresh tariffs on U.S. goods
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is looking at ways to boost the effectiveness of its retaliatory tariffs against the United States, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday, but did not address remarks by a senior official who revealed what Ottawa might do. Canada imposed tariffs on $16.6 billion worth of U.S. exports in May […] Read more
Zimbabwe to start paying white farmers compensation after April
Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe is to start paying compensation this year to thousands of white farmers who lost land under former president Robert Mugabe’s land reform nearly two decades ago, the government said, as it seeks to bring closure to a highly divisive issue. Two decades ago Mugabe’s government carried out at times violent […] Read more
French rapeseed farmers destroy 18,000 hectares over GMO risk
Paris | Reuters — French farmers destroyed a total of 18,000 hectares of rapeseed, more than double the area initially expected, following the discovery of a non-authorized genetically modified organism (GMO) in seeds, German group Bayer said on Friday. Bayer had announced in February that farmers in France and Germany were turning over thousands of […] Read more
China has not escalated canola seed dispute with Canada, Ottawa says
Ottawa | Reuters — China has not escalated a dispute with Canada over the export of canola seeds and comments by the Canadian farm minister on the matter have been misunderstood, an agriculture ministry official said on Wednesday. China — embroiled in a major diplomatic dispute with Ottawa — has blocked imports from two major […] Read more
DowDuPont completes spinoff of materials science unit
Reuters — DowDuPont said Monday it had completed the spinoff of its materials science division as part of a plan to split the chemical producer into three separate units. Shares of the new division, Dow, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Dow and Dupont completed a US$130 billion merger in […] Read more
ICE: Canola weakens on fresh China concerns
Chicago | Reuters — ICE Canada canola futures dropped on Tuesday after China, the top buyer, expanded its ban on Canadian canola seed imports. China’s ban now includes shipments from Viterra, the latest development in a wider trade dispute between the two countries. May canola futures ended $5 lower at $451.70 per tonne. The contract […] Read more
Grain trade regional tie-ups seen more likely over mega-deals
Paris | Reuters — The agricultural trading industry can expect more consolidation at a regional level in an effort to improve margins, but big deals between global merchants are becoming more difficult, Louis Dreyfus’ CEO said. Merchants have been grappling with lower profits from sourcing and shipping commodities such as grain and oilseeds, prompting cutbacks […] Read more
ADM says U.S. floods to cut into Q1 operating profit
Chicago | Reuters — Flooding and severe winter weather in the U.S. Midwest will reduce Archer Daniels Midland’s first-quarter operating profit by US$50 million to $60 million, the U.S. grains trader said on Monday. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the farm belt across Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and several other states. The […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
