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U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear biofuel waiver case

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a lower court ruling that severely limited the government’s powers to exempt small refineries from the nation’s biofuels law, rekindling a long-running dispute between the oil and corn industries. The decision came after appeals by refining companies that argued the 10th Circuit Court’s decision […] Read more

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Biden transition team holds talks with biofuel groups -sources

New York | Reuters – U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team has held calls with biofuel groups on topics including compliance with U.S. biofuel blending laws and Biden’s low-carbon climate vision, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. The discussions with biofuel trade groups as well as POET, a top company in the cellulosic […] Read more


Husky Energy’s ethanol plant at Minnedosa, Man., about 45 km north of Brandon. (HuskyGrain.com)

Husky, Cenovus shareholders approve merger deal

Cenovus to be Western Canada's biggest ethanol, DDGS producer

Reuters — Cenovus Energy’s $6.07 billion deal to buy Husky Energy was approved by the shareholders of the two companies on Tuesday, creating Canada’s No. 3 oil and gas producer in a rapidly consolidating industry. Cenovus said 93 per cent of shareholder votes were cast in favour of the merger at a special meeting, while […] Read more

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, with Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna (l) and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (r), speaks at the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

New greening programs planned for ag alongside carbon tax hike

Carbon price to hit $170 per tonne by 2030

A new federal climate plan which further cranks up taxes on carbon emissions also includes pledges of new programs to help sink more carbon into farmland. The government on Friday released the sequel to its 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — a “strengthened” climate plan, titled A Healthy Environment and a […] Read more


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U.S. fuel industry frazzled as EPA misses biofuel volumes deadline

COVID-19 fallout complicates process

New York | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was set to miss a deadline Monday to announce how much renewable fuel the nation’s refiners must blend into their fuel mix next year, raising uncertainty in the fuel market and prompting one biofuel association to threaten to take the agency to court. Under federal […] Read more

Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

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





File photo of pre-COVID-19 rush-hour traffic on the interchange between the Interstate 10 and 110 freeways near downtown Los Angeles. (Art Wager/E+/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Ag commodities steady

Slack demand for biofuel has dragged on corn

MarketsFarm — Crop commodity values on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) have largely stabilized as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed in several U.S. states. “We’ve been playing this virus for a few months now,” said Scott Capinegro of Barrington Commodities in Barrington, Ill. COVID-19-related lockdown measures decimated demand for ethanol, which put considerable pressure on […] Read more

Valero Energy’s ethanol plant at Aurora, S.D., about 90 km north of Sioux Falls. (Valero.com)

COVID-19 spurs new clash between Big Oil, Big Corn

Flagging consumption leads to pressures on U.S. fuels, biofuels

New York | Reuters — A fuel demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has started up a new fight between the oil and agriculture industries over the nation’s biofuel policy, this time over whether the policy should be suspended or expanded as a result of the crisis. The issue once […] Read more