Consumers, farmers squeezed as grain giants tighten grip

Reuters / A global race for grain trading power is putting more of the world’s vital cereals in the hands of fewer companies, with a string of recent acquisitions raising fears that consumers will pay even more for their food, while farmers are squeezed. Archer Daniels Midland last week bid for Australia’s last independent grain

ADM swoops on Australia’s GrainCorp in Asian push

sydney / reuters / Archer Daniels Midland has bought a 10 per cent stake in GrainCorp and is seeking talks on a takeover that would give the U.S. agribusiness a stronger platform to supply Asia. The purchase comes at a time of global consolidation in the agricultural sector amid intense competition to feed fast-developing countries


Canadian farmers cash in on U.S. drought

After spring floods drowned his seeding plans two years straight, Walter Finlay is harvesting what looks to be an average or slightly better crop of wheat and canola. “Average” will do just fine this year. The worst drought in a half-century in the U.S. Midwest has scorched corn and soybean crops, igniting grain and oilseed

ADM worried about soybean supplies

Archer Daniels Midland Co. is “very concerned” about the potential for low U.S. soybean supplies due to a shift toward corn plantings, said Craig Huss, chief risk officer. Farmers are expected to increase corn plantings to a 75-year high this spring to take advantage of high prices, and to plant fewer acres of soybeans than


U.S. lapping up Canadian canola oil

Reuters / Canada’s canola crushers are processing the oilseed at a record-brisk pace, as demand for canola oil heats up among U.S. makers of biodiesel and food products like potato chips. The United States has long been a key export market for canola, Canada’s second-biggest crop after spring wheat, but its appetite has spiked in

Bigger and bigger and …

Two years ago March 12, trumpets blasted in Ankeny, Iowa, as America’s new gladiators for agricultural justice — U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr., his antitrust chief Christine Varney, U.S. Department of Agriculture boss Tom Vilsack and hundreds of farmers — gathered for a day-long discussion on “competitive dynamics of the seed industry; trends in


ADM eyes ways to expand reach

Reuters / After passing on Viterra, Archer Daniels Midland is now eyeing acquisitions of smaller assets in North America. “Other than one-off deals, we can’t really grow too much in North America,” said A. James Shafter, the company’s vice-president of mergers and acquisitions. “We’ll always do one-off deals. Elevator assets, transportation assets, if it’s in

Foreign traders vying for piece of North American grain-handling sector

The urgency to operate in the United States or Canada has grown because of increasing global demand for crops

For decades, the world’s leading grain traders like Cargill and Bunge enjoyed an unparalleled advantage: their smaller North American competitors lacked the flexibility and diversity of a global operation, and their foreign rivals lacked access to the biggest and most stable exporters in the world. That’s about to change. Large U.S. and Canadian grain companies


Farmers fear consolidation, not foreigners, in Viterra bid

Reuters / For most of the past year, western Canadian farmers have braced for the rush of competition that will follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s 69-year-long monopoly on grain marketing in August. Now, they’re preparing for the possibility of seeing less than expected. The fertile region’s biggest grain handler, Viterra, said March

Chinese sign record-large U.S. soy purchase agreement

A Chinese trade delegation signed deals Feb. 17 to buy a record amount of U.S. soybeans during a visit to the United States at a time when a harsh drought has slashed crops in rival soy exporters in South America. The delegation inked agreements for 13.4 million tonnes valued at $6.7 billion, the U.S. Soybean