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Transport Minister Lisa Raitt, shown here last month at Carleton University, says she doesn’t yet plan to mandate minimum grain traffic levels in specific rail corridors. (TC,gc.ca)

Raitt won’t tell railways where to ship grain for now

By David Ljunggren, Randall Palmer March 25, 2015

Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government will not, for now, start telling railways where to ship farmers’ grain but it will decide within days whether to extend its requirements on how much grain they must haul, Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said Wednesday. In an interview in her parliamentary office, Raitt said farmers and shippers […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Reuters

U.S. grains: Wheat drops on forecast, corn hits three-week high

By Michael Hirtzer March 25, 2015

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat fell for the third straight session on Wednesday, pressured by technical selling and forecasts for rains needed in the parched southern U.S. Plains growing region. But prices trimmed their losses while corn edged higher and soybeans lower in a choppy session at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). The […] Read more

Crops, Reuters, Weather

Fighters target vital water facilities across Middle East

By stephanie-nebehay March 25, 2015

Geneva | Reuters –– Fighters are increasingly targetting water and sanitation facilities across the Middle East, exacerbating severe shortages for agriculture and households, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday. Consumption of water in the volatile region with rising populations was already at unsustainable levels in many areas hit by record-low […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Reuters

Transport Canada seeks CN safety plan after derailments

By Reuters March 25, 2015

Toronto | Reuters — Regulator Transport Canada has issued a notice to Canadian National Railway (CN) requesting a plan to ensure safety along its main line’s Ruel subdivision, where three trains derailed in fewer than 30 days in February and March, the railway said Wednesday. The notice, given on March 12 but not previously reported, was […] Read more

(Todd Rosenberg photo via KraftFoodsGroup.com)

Cereals, Dairy Cattle, General, Markets, Reuters

Kraft to combine with Heinz in deal led by 3G, Buffett

By Anjali Athavaley, Sruthi Ramakrishnan March 25, 2015

Reuters — Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, owned by 3G Capital and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is acquiring a majority stake in Kraft Foods Group to create the third-largest North American food company, executives said on Wednesday. Shares of Kraft — which operates 35 plants in Canada, the U.S. and Puerto Rico — were up more […] Read more

Crops

Canada Bread to shut Ben’s Bakery

By Canadian Cattlemen Staff March 24, 2015

The Canadian arm of Mexican baked goods giant Grupo Bimbo plans to wind down its Ben’s Bakery operations in Halifax starting this summer and close its plant in November. Canada Bread said Monday the sliced bread and English muffins made at its Halifax plant “can be produced at other bakeries in Atlantic Canada where there […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Reuters, Weather

CN says harsh winter one reason for spike in 2014 accidents

By Reuters March 24, 2015

Ottawa | Reuters — An unusually harsh winter is one of the reasons Canadian National Railway (CN) suffered a sharp increase in the number of train accidents in 2014, a top official said Tuesday. Chief operating officer Jim Vena told a committee of federal legislators that deep cold can cause rails and wheels to crack. […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Monsanto seeks retraction for report linking herbicide to cancer

By Carey Gillam March 24, 2015

Reuters — Monsanto, maker of the world’s most widely used herbicide, Roundup, wants an international health organization to retract a report linking the product’s chief ingredient to cancer. The company said Tuesday that the report, issued on Friday by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), was biased and contradicts regulatory […] Read more

(Michael Thompson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Crops, Markets, Spring Wheat

More room off lows seen for U.S. wheat futures

By Phil Franz-Warkentin March 24, 2015

CNS Canada –– U.S. wheat futures have trended higher over the past few weeks and still have some more room to the upside, as weather concerns for the country’s winter wheat crop and the need to bring acres to spring wheat should provide some support, according to an analyst. Given the declining U.S. crop conditions […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Reuters

Marubeni to close Australian grain business

By Colin Packham, Michael Hogan March 24, 2015

Sydney/Hamburg | Reuters — Japan’s Marubeni Corp. is to close its Australian grain trading business after a review of its global operations. The move “is not in any way reflective of the performance of Marubeni Australia’s grain trading business division, which has been trading profitably for the past three years,” Makoto Kajitani, chairman and managing […] Read more

Ag tech success potential improved with farmer connections

Versatile brings updated Fury line of high-speed discs to Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show

Record EU soft wheat harvest expected this year

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