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
Should agronomic practices focus more heavily on soybean production?
Growing soybeans more intensively raises crucial new questions
Reading Time: 6 minutes In the mid-2000s, a spirited discussion between a private-sector crop adviser and a public-sector employee working in extension reflected the disparity that existed between corn and soybean production. At the time, corn yields were climbing at a stronger pace than soybeans, despite the arrival of glyphosate-tolerant soybeans. The adviser suggested that more had been done […] Read more
Syngenta reported rejecting ChemChina takeover offer
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Syngenta has rejected ChemChina’s offer to buy the Swiss agricultural chemicals group, citing regulatory concerns, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. China National Chemical Corp., better known as ChemChina, offered about 449 Swiss francs (C$597) per share for Syngenta, valuing the Basel, Switzerland-based company at about 41.7 billion Swiss francs (C$55.4 billion), according to the […] Read more
Syngenta CEO leaves in wake of Monsanto deal rejection
Reading Time: 2 minutes Zurich | Reuters –– Syngenta CEO Mike Mack is stepping down as head of the Swiss agrochemicals group just two months after the company spurned a US$47 billion takeover approach from U.S. rival Monsanto. Mack, 55, will quit at the end of the month and chief financial officer John Ramsay will take charge on an […] Read more
New in soybean varieties
New options will help the crop continue expanding its value and range
Reading Time: 12 minutes Canadian soybean production has grown up in the past 30 years. It seems a distant memory now that in 1985, Ontario was still the only major producer in the country, topping the million-tonne mark that year, well above the average of 690,000 tonnes earlier that decade. One year later, Quebec joined the market, and five […] Read more
Monsanto slashing 2,600 jobs, buying back shares as sales fall
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Monsanto, one of the world’s largest seed and agrichemical companies, said Wednesday that it was slashing 2,600 jobs and restructuring operations to cut costs in a slumping commodity market. The company, which said it expected low prices for agricultural products to squeeze results well into 2016, also reported a much wider quarterly loss […] 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, rivals eye next step after Syngenta deal collapse
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– Monsanto, having ditched an audacious US$46 billion offer for Syngenta, may downshift to a humbler strategy of beefing up its crop protection portfolio through other acquisitions, partnerships and licensing agreements. The deal’s collapse leaves Monsanto, Syngenta and other agrochemical sector companies facing a bleak landscape of plummeting grain prices and farm […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
