(Photo courtesy CN)

CN books lower first-quarter grain handle

Reading Time: 2 minutes Higher revenue per carload offset reduced grain and fertilizer traffic for Canadian National Railway (CN) in its first fiscal quarter. Montreal-based CN on Monday reported overall net income of $792 million on total revenues of $2.964 billion for the quarter ending March 31, up from $704 million on $3.098 billion in the year-earlier Q1. The […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Ottawa moves to extend expanded rail interswitching

Reading Time: 4 minutes Prairie crop growers hoping that changes in federal rail freight rules will continue past their expiration date are about to get their wish. Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Friday announced they would bring forward a resolution in Parliament to extend provisions of the previous government’s Bill C-30, the Fair Rail […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

CP pulls more grain for less in first quarter

Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) hauled more carloads of Canadian grain in its first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year — but for less revenue per car. Calgary-based CP on Wednesday reported overall net income of $540 million on revenues of $1.591 billion for its quarter ending March 31, up from $320 […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s farmers seen seeding less canola than expected

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers intend to seed less canola than expected, and will sow record-large areas with pulse crops, according to the government’s first farmer survey of crop sowings for 2016, released on Thursday. Wheat seedings are also expected to decline, but not as much as traders and analysts expected on average. Statistics Canada estimated that […] Read more

(Mars.com)

Mars Food tells customers to go easy on the pasta sauce

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– Mars Food plans to tell customers to eat some of its Dolmio pasta sauces and macaroni cheese only once a week to maintain a balanced diet because of the products’ high levels of salt, sugar or fat. The scheme is part of a larger initiative by the privately owned U.S. food […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Post-CWB review flags grain trade ‘inefficiency’

Reading Time: < 1 minute WITHDRAWN, April 15, 2016: A historian’s review of the Prairie grain trade, commissioned by supporters of the former single marketing desk for wheat and barley, suggests history is repeating itself at grain growers’ expense — but the data on which the review is based is now being questioned. The Canadian Wheat Board Alliance on Wednesday released a […] Read more

(NSCorp.com)

CP scraps plans to buy Norfolk Southern

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway said on Monday it had scrapped efforts to buy Norfolk Southern, almost six months after it launched its unsolicited US$28 billion bid for the fourth-largest U.S. railroad operator. The announcement comes days after the U.S. Justice Department urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject a voting trust arrangement CP had […] Read more


(Justice.gov)

U.S. Justice Dept. urges rejection of CP voting trust

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The U.S. Justice Department on Friday urged a regulator to reject a voting trust Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has proposed as part of its takeover bid for U.S. railway Norfolk Southern, saying it could hurt competition and would violate rules. In mid-November, CP disclosed a $28 billion offer for the Virginia-based company, which […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Cargill books higher profits, warns of tough markets

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. agricultural commodities trader Cargill on Thursday reported a rise in third-quarter profit on stronger results in food ingredients and grain handling, but warned about headwinds from oversupplied grain markets and low commodity prices. The privately-held company is exiting lower-margin operations, including its U.S. pork business, and expanding deeper into food ingredients and […] Read more