A John Deere air cart seeding system in the field.  Photo: John Deere

Deere & Co. to buy Monsanto’s Precision Planting farm equipment business

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago/Reuters – Monsanto Co’s Climate Corp subsidiary on Tuesday announced a definitive agreement to sell its Precision Planting farm equipment business to Deere & Co for an undisclosed sum. The deal also allows nearly real-time data connections between certain John Deere farm equipment and Climate’s farming software programs, Climate FieldView. Climate will keep its digital farming […] Read more

(Greg Berg photo)

John Deere to acquire European farm equipment maker Monosem

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters – Deere & Co. shares rose about 2 per cent on Monday after the company said it plans to acquire Monosem, a European family-owned farm equipment manufacturer that specializes in “precision planters” designed to increase crop production. Deere would not comment on the transaction’s financial details or Monosem’s revenues, but it does expect the […] Read more


(CN.ca)

More grain revenue on less grain in CN’s Q3 ledger

Reading Time: 2 minutes Lower grain traffic compared to last year’s record crop year hasn’t translated to lower third-quarter grain revenue for Canadian National Railway (CN). Montreal-based CN on Tuesday booked overall net income of $1.007 billion on $3.222 billion in gross revenue for its third quarter (Q3) ending Sept. 30, up from $853 million on $3.118 billion in […] Read more

John Deere’s long-awaited four-track tractors were finally introduced to farmers in August.

John Deere lays down some new tracks

Machinery Guide: The four-track John Deere 9RX tractor makes its official debut

Reading Time: 3 minutes At a dealer convention way back in August of 2014, John Deere gave farm media a glimpse of what was then its pre-production prototype 9RX tractor, a 9R Series articulated model that rode on four tracks instead of tires. It made me ask, why break with standard practice? Why reveal a machine not yet ready […] Read more


(EPA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. EPA launches probe into benefits of biofuels program

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s in-house investigators have launched a review of the environmental benefits stemming from the country’s decade-old program requiring the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline. The investigation, to be conducted by the Inspector General for EPA, will examine whether the agency has complied with reporting requirements and […] Read more

The community has been hit “very hard” by a farm accident that killed three young sisters, said Sgt. Mike Numan of the Rocky Mountain House RCMP. (Jennifer Blair photo)

Three young Alta. sisters lost to grain truck mishap

Reading Time: 2 minutes Rocky Mountain House | AFE — A community in central Alberta is in mourning following the deaths of three young sisters in a grain truck mishap on Tuesday night. “This is hitting us all very hard. Frontline responders are routinely called out to sad situations, but things are always harder when there’s children involved,” said […] Read more



(VW.com)

Clariant sees biofuels boost from VW diesel affair

Reading Time: < 1 minute Zurich | Reuters –– Swiss specialty chemicals group Clariant expects biofuels to get a boost from the scandal surrounding Volkswagen’s manipulation of diesel motor emissions tests, CEO Hariolf Kottmann told a German newspaper. Clariant is spending 30 million euros (C$44 million) a year to expand capacity in Munich to make bioethanol from wheat straw, and […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Architect of the Capitol, VisitTheCapitol.gov)

Historic TPP deal faces skeptics in U.S. Congress

Reading Time: 3 minutes Atlanta | Reuters –– Twelve Pacific Rim countries on Monday reached the most ambitious trade pact in a generation, aiming to liberalize commerce in 40 per cent of the world’s economy in a deal that faces skepticism from U.S. lawmakers. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact struck in Atlanta after marathon talks could reshape industries, change […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Elections Canada)

Election shifts attention to trade deal as race narrows

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters –– Trailing in second place with two weeks left before Canada’s election, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new trade deal Monday that largely protects the key agricultural voting bloc, putting pressure on opponents who had hoped to have more to attack. Harper touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a good deal […] Read more