Reuters — Canada’s Nutrien, the world’s biggest fertilizer producer by capacity, surprised investors by replacing its chief executive on Tuesday for the second time in eight months, even as the company rakes in strong profits. Nutrien said in a statement it named Ken Seitz, the head of its potash business, as interim chief executive after
Nutrien makes surprise CEO switch again despite strong profits
Abrupt change 'mighty perplexing' to analysts
Fertilizer shortage may lead to spring scramble
'It's next year's prices I'm worried about'
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
Nitrogen shortage threatens yields: CF Industries
Shortages span the globe and could cut crop production next season
Reuters – A shortage of nitrogen fertilizer due to soaring natural gas prices is threatening to reduce global crop yields next year, CF Industries, a major producer of the crop nutrient, said. European gas prices have jumped amid high demand, as economies recover from the pandemic and with below-average gas storage levels at the start
Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores
Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with
Resource-rich Canada grapples with key commodity shortage: workers
From agriculture to the oilpatch, lack of labour is driving up wages
Reuters – Canada’s economic recovery from the pandemic is being hampered by labour shortages across industries ranging from energy to aviation to agriculture, forcing companies to consider multiple salary hikes and offer other perks. Statistics Canada data Nov. 5 showed the national unemployment rate hit a 20-month low in October. The shortage of skilled and unskilled workers
Dollars in the dirt
Big Ag pays farmers for control of their soil-bound carbon
Reuters – The biggest global agriculture companies are competing on a new front: enticing farmers to join programs that keep atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide in the soil. Fertilizer producers Nutrien and Yara, agribusiness giant Cargill, and seed and chemical companies Corteva and Bayer are paying growers for every acre of land dedicated to trapping carbon underground,
Canada’s drought forces canola importers to turn elsewhere
'Importers...are going to be left out in the cold'
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s smallest canola harvest in 13 years, resulting from severe drought, is forcing importers like Japan and Mexico to pay more or scour other countries for the yellow-flowering oilseed. With the scant available Canadian canola fetching high prices, customers of the world’s biggest canola exporter are leaning more heavily on smaller-producing
Federated Co-operatives looks to sell oil-producing business, keep refinery
Winnipeg | Reuters — Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) put its oil production business up for sale this week, according to a marketing document obtained by Reuters, but the co-op said it plans to keep its Saskatchewan refinery. FCL spokesperson Cam Zimmer did not comment on the reason for offering to sell the production business but
Drought forces ranchers to sell off their future
From Manitoba to Mexico, ranchers are forced to make hard choices this season
When rancher Dianne Riding strides across her brown pasture, sidestepping cracks and popping grasshoppers, she has less company than usual. Record-setting heat and sparse rain left Riding with too little grass or hay to feed her cattle near Lake Francis, Manitoba. She sold 51 head at auction in July, about 40 per cent of her
Rocky Mountain dry
Prairies’ waning water supply sows division in Farm Belt
Where fly fisherman Shane Olson once paddled summer tourists around in a boat, he now guides them by foot – carefully navigating shallow waters one step at a time. “Every year, these rivers seem to be getting smaller, faster,” Olson, 48, said, whipping a gleaming fishing line over the Crowsnest River about 45 miles (72