Reading Time: < 1 minute Frankfurt | Reuters –– Bayer and Monsanto said Tuesday they would spend at least half of their agriculture research and development budget in the U.S. over the next six years, following a meeting with U.S. president-elect Donald Trump last week. The two companies, which are awaiting approval of their agreed US$66 billion deal from Trump’s […] Read more
Bayer, Monsanto confirm spending plans after meeting Trump
Monsanto swings to profit on South American demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto, in the process of being bought by Germany’s Bayer for US$66 billion, swung to a quarterly profit, helped by higher demand from South America. Sales of soybe2an seeds and traits jumped 37 per cent as more farmers in South America sowed the company’s genetically modified […] Read more
Climate Corp. crop data system in beta for Western Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes A major farm data analysis package, already being offered for sale in Eastern Canada for use this spring, is in beta testing toward a rollout later this year in Western Canada. Management from Monsanto and its farm data systems arm, The Climate Corp., speaking on a conference call Thursday, said they see a launch for […] Read more
Monsanto shareholders back Bayer deal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Shareholders of U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto approved the company’s US$66 billion acquisition by Bayer on Tuesday, a deal that still requires regulatory approval to close as expected in late 2017. Increased research and development spending by the combined companies and plans to develop a global seeds and biotechnology hub […] Read more
First soy seed treatment cleared against SDS
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Bayer CropScience fungicide is being pressed into service against sudden death syndrome (SDS) in Canadian soybeans. Bayer on Monday launched a new soybean seed treatment dubbed ILeVO, a suspension containing its Group 7 fungicide fluopyram at a rate of 600 grams per litre. ILeVO will be the first soybean seed treatment registered for use […] Read more
New soybean varieties in 2017 for Western Canada
Demand for soybeans just keeps rising on the Prairies
Reading Time: 7 minutes Three years ago, something interesting occurred in soybean production in Canada: in 2013, Manitoba became the second-leading producer of soybeans in the country. The province’s 1,068,200 acres of soybeans eclipsed the 847,000 acres produced in Quebec. And the figures continue to rise with each passing year, to the point where nearly 1.4 million acres came […] Read more
Hybrid wheat gets some real vigour
Will hybrid wheat finally live up to its promise, and will that be enough to encourage farmers to pay extra for the seed? Some big players bet they will
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s a typical June day in central Saskatchewan — a little windy, with sun trying to push through the clouds. A busload of people is touring the research plots at Bayer CropScience’s new wheat-breeding centre, near Pike Lake, south of Saskatoon. The bus includes wheat breeders, farmers, and executives — plus a little girl sitting […] Read more
ChemChina reported ready for concessions to clinch Syngenta deal
Reading Time: 3 minutes Beijing/Zurich | Reuters — State-owned Chinese chemicals group ChemChina is ready to offer more concessions to win European Union antitrust approval for its US$43 billion bid for Swiss pesticide and seed group Syngenta, a source with direct knowledge of the process said. Clinching China’s biggest-ever foreign acquisition is taking longer than planned amid a flurry […] Read more
Monsanto surprises with adjusted profit as expenses drop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto, which agreed last month to be bought by Germany’s Bayer for US$66 billion, reported a surprise adjusted profit, helped by a drop in expenses and higher corn seed volumes. Monsanto agreed in September to a sweetened $128-per-share offer from Bayer that, if approved by regulators, would create […] Read more
Agricultural merger mania fuels fears among small seed sellers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Justice Department is looking into concerns that global consolidation among major seed and agricultural chemical companies may squeeze supplies of the building blocks for widely used genetically modified seeds, a farm group told Reuters. The department has asked the American Soybean Association for details about how small and independent […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
