Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Thousands of Deere and Co. workers were set to go on strike, days after overwhelmingly rejecting a six-year labour contract that was agreed on by United Auto Workers negotiators and the tractor maker. Earlier this month, the world’s largest farm equipment maker and the UAW reached an agreement after weeks of negotiation on […] Read more
Deere’s U.S. workers set to strike as UAW fails to reach deal
Kubota to buy autosteer maker AgJunction
All-cash deal worth about $91 million
Reading Time: 2 minutes Autosteer and ag equipment guidance system maker AgJunction is poised to sell itself to farm equipment maker Kubota Corp. in a $91 million all-cash deal. Publicly-traded AgJunction, which is registered in Calgary but based at Scottsdale, Ariz., said Thursday its board has unanimously approved Kubota’s 75-cents-per-share proposal and recommended shareholders vote in favour. AgJunction would […] Read more
Cargill, ADM sell GrainBridge to ag software firm Bushel
'Network effect' expected in grains sector
Reading Time: 2 minutes An online service farmers use to manage grain sales with ADM’s elevators and processing plants across Canada — along with Cargill and ADM elevators in the U.S. — is under new ownership. ADM and Cargill, the two major U.S.-based agribusinesses that set up GrainBridge in 2019, announced Tuesday they’ve sold it to Bushel, a Fargo, […] Read more
Trimble dealer shores up cross-Canada coverage
Vantage Canada picks up Ontario rights
Reading Time: 2 minutes The company handling sales and service for Trimble precision ag technology across most of Canada has reached a deal to handle the rest of it. Vantage Canada announced Friday it has bought the Trimble dealership rights and assets for Ontario from Premier Equipment, a John Deere dealership chain with nine locations in the province’s southern […] Read more
GM says chip situation improving
All of automaker's pickup truck plants operating
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Top U.S. automaker General Motors said on Friday the semiconductor chip shortage that has hit production at automakers worldwide was abating, while reporting its first quarterly sales fall in a year. “As we look to the fourth quarter, a steady flow of vehicles held at plants will continue to be released to dealers,” […] Read more
Machines vs. climate
Shrewd machinery purchases have always been essential on the farm, but not like this. Emerging technologies mean huge potential payoffs for getting it right, and even bigger penalties if you don’t. Think precision farming. Think surviving climate change
Reading Time: 8 minutes In the last two or three decades, farmers have been offered a dizzying array of new features on ag equipment. There’s more power, more capacity, auto guidance, the list goes on. Yet now, looking to the future, it will be even more crucial to make the best possible purchase decisions and to integrate your technology […] Read more
Canada’s CPPIB to buy major U.S. port terminal operator
Canada Pension Plan's play furthers its infrastructure push
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Ports America, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the U.S., from investment firm Oaktree Capital Management. While no valuation was given in the announcement, the deal values Ports America at over US$4 billion, according to two sources […] Read more
Minnesota grain handler targeted in ransomware attack
Company instead issuing handwritten tickets for grain deliveries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Minnesota agricultural co-operative Crystal Valley said it had been targeted in a ransomware attack in recent days, making it the second Midwestern farm-services provider in a week to be forced to take systems offline due to cybersecurity incidents. Crystal Valley, which sells supplies like fertilizer to farmers and buys their crops, […] Read more
Federated Co-operatives looks to sell oil-producing business, keep refinery
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters — Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) put its oil production business up for sale this week, according to a marketing document obtained by Reuters, but the co-op said it plans to keep its Saskatchewan refinery. FCL spokesperson Cam Zimmer did not comment on the reason for offering to sell the production business but […] Read more
Baltic Dry Index hits 12-year high
Canadian grain exports slow either way
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Strong demand to move cargo coupled with weather-related shipping constraints in a number of key corridors has helped take ocean freight rates to their highest levels in more than a decade. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), a major indicator of shipping rates, settled Friday at 4,275 points, marking its highest level since November […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
