U.S. agrifood giant Archer Daniels Midland plans to buy the stake it doesn’t yet own in international grain trading house Toepfer International, and to forge ahead with the sale of its chocolate business, in its latest round of “portfolio management.” ADM, which has owned 80 per cent of Toepfer since 2002, said Tuesday it proposes […]

CNS Canada – Stable prices, generally good growing conditions and a mediocre harvest in Argentina have industry officials smiling at the prospects for this season’s Prairie sunflower crop. In late March, reports surfaced that some parts of Argentina were slightly damaged from dry weather late last year. The country is traditionally one of the world’s […]

CNS Canada – Most winter wheat crops seeded in Western Canada last fall seem to be in good condition so far this spring — but they’re not in the clear yet. “Not all of the winter wheat is out from the snow cover yet,” said Bruce Burnett, crop and weather specialist with CWB in Winnipeg. […]

Winnipeg | Reuters – U.S. agribusiness Cargill expects the merger of its flour mill operations with those of ConAgra Foods to be finalized in six to eight weeks after it clears a longstanding regulatory hurdle, Cargill executive chairman Greg Page said Tuesday. The combined entity, to be called Ardent Mills, would join ConAgra’s milling operations […]

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures rose 1.7 per cent on Tuesday on signs that domestic processors kept their plants running at high levels even as supplies dwindled, traders said. Wheat futures gained 3.4 per cent, surging through the US$7-a-bushel level, on fears that escalating political tensions in Ukraine would disrupt shipments of the […]

It’s in just a pair of fields out of over 280 surveyed in the province last fall, but it’s now Manitoba’s first official glyphosate-resistant weed. It’s kochia, and it’s been found in two fields in the Red River Valley. Agronomists had predicted Manitoba’s first cases would be discovered in the province’s west, because glyphosate-resistant kochia […]

CNS Canada – Canaryseed’s reduced dependence on pricey fertilizer — and reduced exposure to the transportation issues facing other crops — could lead to increased acres this spring on the Prairies. Farmers may be more enticed to plant canaryseed this year when they look at the transportation problems affecting durum and wheat, said Kevin Hursh, […]

CNS Canada — Cash bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat held relatively steady during the week ended Monday, posting small losses in many locations in sympathy with the Minneapolis futures. Average spot bids for CWRS (13.5 per cent protein) across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta came in at around $197 per tonne, or $5.35 […]

CNS Canada – U.S. wheat futures rose sharply on Monday and could continue to increase due to cold weather in the southern Plains and the political unrest in Ukraine. “We had this (cold) in the weather forecast,” said Austin Damiani, a U.S. wheat analyst from Frontier Futures in Minneapolis. “The forecasts are calling for even […]