Ottawa | Reuters — Medical marijuana patients in Canada will be allowed to grow a limited amount of cannabis for their own use or designate someone to grow it for them, the government said Thursday. The government had been given six months to comply with a federal court ruling that struck down the previous administration’s […] Read more

Canada to allow medical marijuana users to grow their own

China backs GMO soybeans in push for high-tech agriculture
Beijing | Reuters — China will push for the commercialization of genetically modified soybeans over the next five years as it seeks to raise the efficiency of its agriculture sector, potentially boosting output of the crop by the world’s top soy importer and consumer. China, which has spent billions of dollars researching GMO crops, has […] Read more

Agrium’s Vanscoy potash operations suspended
Reuters — Agrium’s operations at its Vanscoy potash mine in Saskatchewan could be halted for days, a union official said on Tuesday, the day after a worker was injured. An Agrium spokesman said in a statement that the company was working on a plan to restart the facility and did not expect any “material disruption.” […] Read more

New Zealand farm firm bans use of palm in feed
Wellington | Reuters — New Zealand farm company Landcorp said Monday it would ban its farmers from using palm kernel expeller (PKE), a feed supplement used for cows that environmentalists have linked to rainforest destruction. The state-owned company, which runs 140 farms, said it would end the use of the feed by June 2017 to […] Read more

Egyptian prosecutor says millions in local wheat falsely claimed
Cairo | Reuters –– Egypt’s general prosecutor said on Sunday that local wheat suppliers worked with government employees to falsely claim 621 million Egyptian pounds (C$92.5 million) worth of grain that does not exist. Egypt has been embroiled in a controversy over its local wheat supplies, with grains industry officials claiming that over two million […] Read more

Quarantined Washington wheat negative for GMO
Reuters — No genetically modified (GMO) wheat has been found in a Washington state farm’s crop tested after an unapproved biotech variety was discovered growing there in June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Friday. The quarantined grain will be allowed to enter the marketplace, USDA said. USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service […] Read more

Korea reports no GMO in U.S. wheat imports
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has not detected any genetically modified wheat in tests on imports of wheat and flour from Washington state, after the discovery of unapproved GM wheat in the U.S. state prompted Japan and South Korea to suspend certain U.S. imports. South Korea, the fifth largest market for U.S. wheat, had […] Read more

Kellogg’s sales miss analysts’ estimates
Reuters — Kellogg Co.’s quarterly sales dropped 6.6 per cent, missing analysts’ estimates, as demand slid further for its breakfast foods and snacks, which include Corn Flakes and Froot Loops. Kellogg also said a strong dollar was expected to hurt sales this year more than it had anticipated, mainly due to a sharp fall in […] Read more

Crescent Point pipeline leaks into Saskatchewan field
Reuters — A Crescent Point Energy pipeline in southwestern Saskatchewan leaked 100 cubic metres (630 barrels) of oil emulsion on Tuesday, a government official said on Wednesday. The spill happened on land near Pennant, about 45 km northwest of Swift Current, and did not affect wildlife or water that bears fish or is used for […] Read more

Saputo profit jumps, dividend raised
Reuters — Saputo Inc., one of Canada’s largest dairy producers, reported on Tuesday a 30 per cent jump in net earnings and boosted its quarterly dividend by 11 per cent. For Saputo’s fiscal 2017 first quarter, net income rose to $176.7 million, or 44 cents a share, from $136.4 million, or 34 cents, in the […] Read more