(CNW Group/Legumex Walker)

Loan called on Legumex’s U.S. canola crusher

Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie special crop processor Legumex Walker is weighing its options after major lenders to the company’s U.S. canola crushing arm called their loan. Pacific Coast Canola, a cold-press canola crushing operation at Warden, Wash., about 160 km southwest of Spokane, is 84 per cent owned by TSX-traded, Winnipeg-based Legumex, and 16 per cent owned by commodity […] Read more

(Allan Dawson photo)

U.S. grains: Corn rises, soy eases on outlooks for drier weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn edged slightly higher while soybeans reversed from earlier gains to turn lower on Thursday as drier weather outlooks for next week were seen as benefiting both crops after record rains in the Midwest in recent months limited yield potential. Corn was in the early phases of its pollination period […] Read more


(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Sunflowers look good in field, flat in market

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — While many Canadian crops are wishing for more rain right now, one expert sees sunflowers, primarily grown in Manitoba, doing relatively fine for moisture. “There’s no weather worries on sunflowers right now. A lot of the acres went in because it was forecasted to be a very dry summer, but it hasn’t […] Read more

(FDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. FDA to cut trans fats from foods

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington/New York | Reuters –– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday made good on its proposal to effectively ban artificial trans fats from a wide range of foods, from microwave popcorn to frozen pizza, saying they raise the risk of heart disease. Under new FDA regulations, partially hydrogenated oils, which have been shown […] Read more


(Photo courtesy BASF SE)

Sources say BASF mulling potential bid for Syngenta

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — German chemicals group BASF is considering a potential offer for Syngenta, its Swiss rival which has received a C$56 billion takeover offer from Monsanto, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. BASF is speaking to investment bankers about the possibility of an offer for Syngenta, though it has made no decision and […] Read more

Flea beetle feeding (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Cutworm, flea beetle pressure piling on Prairie crops

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — High levels of cutworms and flea beetles are damaging crops in Western Canada this spring, according to Manitoba’s crop entomologist. Manitoba growers started noticing damage from cutworms this week, said John Gavloski, extension entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in Carman. “They were there in the fields, but they were […] Read more


Russian wheat prices follow global benchmarks higher

Reading Time: < 1 minute Tikhoretsk | Reuters — Russian wheat export prices rose last week following an increase in global benchmarks and concerns over dry and hot weather in the European part of Russia, analysts said. Russia, one of the world’s big wheat exporters, competes with other global suppliers, including France, where Western European wheat prices hit the highest […] Read more

(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Sunflowers off to good start in Manitoba

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Manitoba’s sunflower crop is off to a good start this year, having largely missed out on any damage from adverse weather over the May long weekend. “We had a good early start (to spring seeding) in the eastern part of the province and things went into some nice warm ground,” said Troy […] Read more