Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Louis Dreyfus could consider selling stake to regional player

Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — Louis Dreyfus Co., one of the world’s biggest agricultural commodities houses, may consider selling a stake to a regional player to support its development although there are no specific plans to do so, the company said Friday. Agricultural commodities traders have been grappling with lower profits from sourcing and shipping commodities […] Read more

Alberta’s crop insurance program includes organic producers for 2019.

Prairie crop insurance rundown 2019

Despite some problems last year, good yields in previous years have allowed lower premiums or more coverage

Reading Time: 6 minutes There’s good news on crop insurance for Prairie farmers this year — most premiums are down for 2019. Details were announced by Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba officials earlier this year. Here’s the rundown: Alberta On March 11, Alberta Agriculture and Fores­try Minister Oneil Carlier and Steve Blakely, CEO of Alberta’s Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), […] Read more


(SKHoward/iStock/Getty Images)

Climate change has U.S. fund managers adjusting agriculture investments

Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — After historic floods devastated Midwestern agricultural states this spring, some fund managers are evaluating how climate change will affect the long-term value of companies that make or sell products ranging from tractors to fertilizer. The issue is not simply the unpredictability of weather. Instead, fund managers say, they are struggling […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Report shows slower pace for rising farmland values

Reading Time: 2 minutes While lower-valued farmland more often showed a higher rate of increase, and price hikes varied from region to region, Canada’s farmland values on average have booked their slowest year-over-year rate of increase in almost a decade. That’s according to the annual Farmland Values Report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC), in which the federal ag lending […] Read more


Bayer CEO Werner Baumann speaks during the company’s annual general shareholders’ meeting in Bonn, Germany on April 26, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay)

Investors call for reprieve for Bayer bosses after AGM rebuke

Reading Time: 2 minutes Frankfurt | Reuters — Three of Bayer’s largest German investors said the drugmaker’s embattled management needed to stay at the helm to avoid further upheaval, despite their unease over a share price slump in the wake of the US$63 billion Monsanto takeover. The backing for CEO Werner Baumann comes after an unprecedented rebuke at the […] Read more

“You can only grow so many bushels of corn in a stressed year and that number depends largely on your soil.”

What’s good about soil?

Soil health indicators often relate to properties that you can’t see

Reading Time: 6 minutes We’re planting more cover crops, we’ve got a heightened focus on soil organic matter levels, and now we’re adopting what’s thought to be a relatively new term: soil health indicators. They’re each part of a wave that’s been building, reflecting a renewed interest in the soil as the basis for all crop production. “It’s been […] Read more


Bayer CEO Werner Baumann speaks during the company’s annual general shareholders’ meeting in Bonn, Germany on April 26, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay)

Bayer shareholders vent ire over Monsanto-linked stock rout

Reading Time: 2 minutes Bonn | Reuters — Bayer shareholders vented their anger over its stock price slump on Friday as litigation risks mount from the German drugmaker’s US$63 billion takeover of seed and chemical firm Monsanto. Several large investors said they will not support aspirin invesotr Bayer’s management in a key vote scheduled for the end of its […] Read more

Earthworms and their castings are one of the more visible soil health indicators.

Precision ‘agronomy’

Precision ag is rapidly evolving, with an emerging suite of benefits for producers

Reading Time: 7 minutes Has any segment of agri-food changed as much in the past 10 years as precision ag? What is certain is that the science’s power to extrapolate data points, generate better maps, recommend specific courses of action and lead growers to higher revenues is unparalleled. The challenge though is still the same: Where to start? For […] Read more


(Oneilcarlier.albertandp.ca)

Alberta ag minister Carlier downed in UCP win

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s incumbent agriculture minister was among the casualties as Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party defeated Rachel Notley’s New Democrats in Tuesday night’s provincial election. Oneil Carlier, the provincial NDP government’s minister of agriculture and forestry since May 2015 and deputy government house leader since February 2016, was unseated in his riding of Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland […] Read more

Sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific for the week centred on April 3, 2019. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Prairies can expect unexpected from El Nino this summer

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The U.S. National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center on Thursday reported a 65 per cent chance of El Nino prevailing throughout 2019’s growing season. “A weak El Nino is likely to continue through the Northern Hemisphere summer 2019 (65 per cent chance) and possibly fall (50-55 per cent chance),” the CPC’s report said. […] Read more