Reuters — The deepest slump in a decade for the oversupplied potash fertilizer market may abate only slightly in 2017, major producers say, and could take years to correct due to the imminent startup of new mines. PotashCorp, the world’s biggest fertilizer producer, forecast a less profitable year on Thursday than analysts expected, and reported […] Read more

Potash prices look lower for longer as competition overheats

Roquette counts on expanding Canadian pea output
Winnipeg | Reuters — France’s Roquette, which is building the world’s largest pea protein plant in Manitoba, is counting on the province’s farmers to boost their production to supply the $400 million factory, the company said Friday. Roquette raised eyebrows this week when it said it would build the plant in Portage la Prairie, Man., […] Read more

Canola acres seen rising on high prices
Brandon | Reuters — Canadian canola plantings may rise slightly in spring as farmers seek to cash in before an expected drop in vegetable oil prices as palm crops recover from drought that hit major Southeast Asian producers, German oilseed analysis firm Oil World said Tuesday. Plantings will rise by less than 10 per cent […] Read more

G3 to proceed with port grain terminal at Vancouver
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s G3 Global Holdings will build a grain terminal at Port Metro Vancouver by 2020, increasing the flow of wheat and canola to Asia and Latin America, the company said on Wednesday. The Winnipeg-based partnership of Saudi Arabian agriculture company SALIC and U.S. grain handler Bunge Ltd/ had been considering the […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans stumble on South America’s crop prospects
Reuters — U.S. soybean futures tumbled to a nearly one-month low on Tuesday, as rain in Argentina’s dry crop belts kept South America on track for a bumper harvest. Chicago corn and wheat also ticked lower, under pressure from a stronger U.S. dollar and technical selling. The most active soybean futures contract on the Chicago […] Read more

Canada harvests bigger wheat, canola crops despite snowy fall
Reuters — Canada’s wheat and canola crops withstood unfavourable autumn weather, topping Statistics Canada’s previous estimates and last year’s production, according to the government agency’s report on Tuesday. The estimates were met with greater skepticism than usual from traders and analysts, as StatsCan surveyed farmers during unusually snowy, then mild, autumn weather that raised fears […] Read more

Canadian wheat, canola crops seen weathering snow
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s wheat and canola crops withstood wintry weather that stalled the autumn harvest, and production topped last year’s output, according to Reuters’ industry survey of 13 analysts and traders. Statistics Canada on Tuesday will issue its final crop production estimates for the 2016-17 marketing year. The industry expects, on average, all-wheat […] Read more

Flower growers turn to weed ahead of legalization
Winnipeg | Reuters — Some Canadian flower growers are turning to weed, with the country’s plan to legalize marijuana for recreational use expected to spur a spike in legal sales of the drug. While medical marijuana is already legal in Canada, the Liberal government said in April it will introduce a law in 2017 to […] Read more

PotashCorp to cut jobs, output as prices sag
Reuters — Fertilizer maker PotashCorp said Wednesday it was reducing jobs and output at one Saskatchewan mine and temporarily curtailing production at two others as the sector struggles with weak prices. The company said it would cut production at its Cory potash mine, just west of Saskatoon, to 800,000 million tonnes a year from 1.4 […] Read more

Ranchers under quarantine fear going ‘broke by spring’
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Ranchers in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan whose herds are under quarantine due to the spread of bovine tuberculosis told federal legislators Tuesday they desperately need to sell cattle or receive compensation to avoid financial disaster. Ranchers who raise calves typically sell them in autumn to feedlots, where they are fattened […] Read more