Reading Time: 2 minutes Hamburg | Reuters –– Germany’s draft coalition government deal includes a goal of ending use of glyphosate herbicide within the country, but gives no time frame, after Berlin swung a vote in November extending its use across the European Union. The timing of an end to glyphosate use has been highly controversial in Europe amid […] Read more
German coalition deal sets no timetable to end glyphosate use
Bayer offers asset sales for EU approval of Monsanto deal
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brussels/Frankfurt | Reuters — Bayer has offered to sell seeds and pesticides businesses to try to address EU competition concerns over its US$63.5 billion bid for U.S. rival Monsanto. The proposed remedies “are very significant and we are confident they fully address the European Commission’s concerns,” the German company said in a statement on Monday. […] Read more
EU review of Bayer’s Monsanto bid postponed further
Reading Time: 2 minutes Frankfurt/Brussels | Reuters — Bayer’s quest to win regulatory approval for its planned takeover of Monsanto ran into further delays on Monday as European Union antitrust investigators extended their investigation by five working days until March 12. The ongoing proceedings would have given the German drugs and pesticides maker until midnight on Monday to offer […] Read more
EU regulators reported as set to warn Bayer on Monsanto bid
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brussels | Reuters — EU antitrust regulators are set to warn Bayer its planned purchase of U.S. seed maker Monsanto may hurt competition, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday, a move that would force Bayer to offer concessions to address the concerns. The US$66 billion deal would make Bayer the world’s largest […] Read more
Germany’s Merkel scolds ally in glyphosate row
Reading Time: 2 minutes Berlin | Reuters — German Chancellor Angela Merkel scolded a minister on Tuesday in a bid to shield talks on forming a coalition government from a dispute between cabinet colleagues over an EU herbicide licence. Conservative Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt angered the centre-left SPD on Monday by breaking protocol to back a European Union proposal […] Read more
Germany swings EU vote in favour of glyphosate
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels | Reuters — Germany defeated its key EU ally France in a very tight vote on Monday to clear the use of glyphosate herbicide for the next five years after a heated debate over whether it causes cancer. After months of indecisive votes among the 28 member states in Brussels, Germany, whose Chancellor Angela […] Read more
U.S. farm study finds no firm cancer link to glyphosate
Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters – A large long-term study on the use of the big-selling weedkiller glyphosate by agricultural workers in the United States has found no firm link between exposure to the pesticide and cancer, scientists said on Thursday. Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI), the study found there was no […] Read more
Europe’s biggest farm
On an island in the Danube, the Agricost farm is 145,000 acres, which its owners say makes it truly sustainable
Reading Time: 9 minutes Here on the Great Island of Braila in the middle of the Danube River in Romania, the summer day is hot and dry, perfect for the beginning of the barley harvest. On the Agricost farm, 20,000 acres of barley wait for the combine. The crop looks good; conditions have been ideal. Agricost farms 145,000 of […] Read more
Canada untangles pork label rule for EU export
Reading Time: 2 minutes A domestic technical obstacle has been cleared out of Canadian pork’s export path to the European Union, the Canadian Pork Council said Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week made changes to its Manual of Procedures, which will allow pork packers to apply health mark labels after pork has been frozen, the council said. […] Read more
Flax opportunities
Agronomics and yield are the big priorities for flax growers in Western Canada
Reading Time: 9 minutes Flax acres have started to rebound over the past few years, with Saskatchewan still accounting for most of the flax grown on the Prairies. In order to entice more growers to flax, however, yields will need to increase. Average flax yields have hovered around 22 bu./ac. for many years, and although growers in some areas […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
