Reading Time: 2 minutes Frankfurt | Reuters — Syngenta and other major seeds and crop chemicals companies are intensively discussing tie-ups, the Financial Times quoted the Swiss firm’s chairman as saying Wednesday, adding to a chorus of voices predicting a sector shake-up. Conversations among the leading players in the industry are “extremely active,” the newspaper quoted Michel Demare as […] Read more
Syngenta ready to play role in sector shake-up
Syngenta still among options for Monsanto takeover bids
Reading Time: 3 minutes St. Louis | Reuters — Monsanto executives are discussing whether the world’s largest seed company should acquire agrochemical rivals, including top pesticide maker Syngenta, Monsanto president Brett Begemann said Tuesday. “Everybody’s talking now. There’s multiple ways things can occur,” he said. Monsanto abandoned a $45 billion bid for Syngenta in August (all figures US$). Begemann […] Read more
DuPont in talks with rivals about agribusiness
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — DuPont is talking to rivals about its agriculture business, interim CEO Edward Breen said Tuesday, less than a week after Dow Chemical announced a review of its farm chemicals and seeds unit. Falling crop prices and rising fertilizer output have triggered talk of consolidation among farm-focused companies. DuPont has been touted as a […] Read more
Dow reviews options for farm chemical/seeds unit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Dow Chemical said it would “review all options” for its farm chemicals and seeds unit, which has reported falling sales for nearly a year, and suggested that it might buy Corning’s stake in a silicon joint venture. Dow is also selling its stake in a Kuwaiti JV that produces a chemical used in […] Read more
France bolsters ban on genetically modified crops
Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — France is to use a new European opt-out scheme to ensure a ban on the cultivation of genetically modified crops in the country remains in place, it said on Thursday. The European Union’s largest grain grower and exporter has asked the European Commission for France to be excluded from some GM […] Read more
Your next corn hybrids
Corn is still king in Eastern Canada, and these new hybrids should help guarantee a long reign
Reading Time: 9 minutes Despite the fact that soybeans actually get planted on more acres, corn is still the driver of row-crop production in the East. At 3.3 million acres in 2015, it’s true that Canada’s farmers planted less corn than the 3.6 million acres they put in the ground in 2013, but it would be a mistake to […] Read more
Monsanto’s Syngenta gambit seen hinging on sale of seed businesses
Reading Time: 2 minutes London/Frankfurt | Reuters –– U.S. seeds giant Monsanto is trying to line up buyers for assets worth up to US$8 billion to appease competition authorities before making a fresh takeover approach for Swiss rival Syngenta, possibly within three weeks, industry sources said. Monsanto is expected to tap German chemicals group BASF, an existing joint venture […] Read more
Dow to sell AgroFresh for $860M in asset-sale drive
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Dow Chemical said it would sell its AgroFresh unit, which makes chemicals that keep farm produce fresh, for US$860 million as part of a plan to divest less-lucrative units. The company said it was selling the business to Boulevard Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company formed by investment firm Avenue Capital Group. Philadelphia-based AgroFresh […] Read more
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