The Blair’s agro centre at Lipton, Sask. (Blairs.ag)

Buyer found for ag retailer Blair’s contested outlet

ProSoils to buy Blair's location at Lipton, Sask.

Reading Time: 2 minutes Crop input retail chain Blair’s Crop Solutions has a deal in place to sell one of its eastern Saskatchewan sites to meet its obligation to federal regulators. The chain, a joint venture between Federated Co-operatives and the Blair’s Family of Companies, announced Monday it will sell its site at Lipton, Sask., about 80 km west […] Read more

(Alexey Rezvykh/iStock/Getty Images)

Farmers ask U.S. Justice Department to probe fertilizer price spikes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Farmers have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether recent spikes in fertilizer prices are attributable to market manipulation by fertilizer companies, according to a letter sent Wednesday by the Family Farm Action Alliance. The group, which has more than 6,000 farmer and rural members, alleges fertilizer companies are setting prices […] Read more


The highest rate of soil organic carbon buildup may be by improving grassland productivity through intensive rotational grazing and improved pasture management.

Capturing carbon — and the credits

Intercropping has potential, but the bigger bucks may be in cutting nitrogen

Reading Time: 5 minutes Intercropping has potential, but the bigger bucks may be in cutting nitrogen The announcement of the Federal Greenhouse Gas Offset System in early March brings more Canadian farmers closer to being paid for storing carbon, but there is more to be sorted out before this becomes a reality. Progress is expected this year in the […] Read more

CF Industries’ UAN plant at Donaldsonville in Louisiana. The company also makes UAN at plants in Ontario, Iowa and Oklahoma. (Thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com)

Fertilizer shortage may lead to spring scramble

'It's next year's prices I'm worried about'

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A global shortage of nitrogen fertilizer is driving prices to record levels, prompting North America’s farmers to delay purchases and raising the risk of a spring scramble to apply the crop nutrient before planting season. The Texas Arctic Blast in February and Hurricane Ida in August disrupted U.S. fertilizer production. Then, prices of […] Read more


Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer sees farmers pre-buying inputs as supply-chain snarls continue

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago/Berlin | Reuters — U.S. farmers are pre-buying seeds and chemicals they need earlier than normal, in a bid to secure supplies for next spring amid sector-wide supply-chain problems, a top executive at German agricultural and pharmaceuticals firm Bayer said Tuesday. Bayer also estimates its average seed prices will go up about five per cent […] Read more

(Artisteer/iStock/Getty Images)

British milk sours amid labour crisis

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters — Some British dairy farmers have been forced to destroy tens of thousands of litres of milk due to rising costs, labour shortages and an acute deficit of truck drivers which has strained supply chains to breaking point, farmers said. A post-Brexit shortage of workers, exacerbated by the global strains of the […] Read more


(Fertilizer Safety and Security Council)

Mandated cuts in fertilizer use could be costly for Canada, report warns

Fertilizer industry study, based on EU plan, points to yield losses for corn, canola, wheat

Reading Time: 4 minutes Straight-up cuts in fertilizer rates — if imposed to help Canada meet its targets for cuts in emissions by the end of this decade — could translate to significantly reduced income for farmers, an industry group warns. Fertilizer Canada, the group representing manufacturers, wholesale and retail distributors for nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur, on Monday […] Read more

(Alexey Rezvykh/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Perfect storm’ causes fertilizer price spikes

'Most of us are in a "wait-and-see" position'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Fertilizer prices have increased over the past year, but could be headed even higher as a recent confluence of events has caused a shortage — the effects of which may affect producers past the New Year. “Particularly, in the last few weeks, there have been a number of supply events which have really […] Read more


(Viktorcvetkovic/E+/Getty Images)

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

An information label is seen on packaging for a CO2 cylinder for a fizzy drinks machine in Manchester, Britain on Sept. 20, 2021. (Photo: Reuters)/Phil Noble)

Britain tells its food industry to prepare for CO2 price shock

U.K. pays fertilizer maker CF Industries to reopen plants

Reading Time: 3 minutes London | Reuters — Britain warned its food producers on Wednesday to prepare for a 400 per cent rise in carbon dioxide prices after extending emergency state support to avert a shortage of poultry and meat triggered by soaring costs of wholesale natural gas. Natural gas prices have spiked this year as economies reopened from […] Read more