High compound feed cost hits pig farmers

amsterdam / reuters Europe’s pig farmers are struggling to maintain production, caught between a slide in pork prices and a rise in the cost of protein-rich soymeal and rapemeal used in compound feed. The price of soymeal has surged nearly 40 per cent this year. Along with rapemeal it is used as the main source

The Brand X elevator and corporate control of the food supply

The potential for contracted acres to be linked to herbicide and fertilizer purchases as well as point of delivery was already there

When Manitoba Pool Elevators and the Alberta Wheat Pool amalgamated in 1998 to become Agricore, I joked at the local watering hole that we really needed to invent an elevator sign that was Velcro backed. Even then, it was apparent that there was a lot of work involved in rebranding trade names on very tall


Shell, Iogen scrap plans for Canada biofuel plant

Reuters / Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Iogen Corp. have scrapped plans for a commercial-scale biofuel plant in Manitoba, spelling the loss of 150 jobs and raising questions about widespread and near-term use of fuel made from agricultural waste in Canada. The Iogen Energy joint venture had been studying building a plant to make ethanol

Global food prices on the rise again

reuters / Global food prices are rising again, pushed higher by costlier oil, strong demand from Asia and bad weather in parts of Europe, South America and the United States, the World Bank said April 25. The latest World Bank food price index showed the cost of food rose eight per cent between December and


ICE set to introduce five new U.S. grain and oilseed contracts

Reuters / ICE Futures US intends to begin offering five new U.S. grain and oilseed contracts, pending review by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The contracts include U.S. corn, wheat, soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) announced. Futures contracts are slated to be available on May 14, with options available May 15. “These contracts

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


Manitoba filmmakers delve into alternative fuels

If you have a pile of mouldering Tim Hortons cups in your car, you might have a fuel source at your fingertips: some work required. It’s one of the alternative fuel sources explored in the Manitoba-made documentary, “Drive For Free: The Alternative Fuel Revolution.” “We like to do stories that kind of question the status

Canada lagging in ag research

Canadian agriculture is being shortchanged by governments when it comes to basic research compared to other countries, according to John Cranfield of the University of Guelph. “We are standing still while other countries are getting ahead of us,” said Cranfield, citing statistics from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The professor, an agricultural economist,


World grain prices to stay strong

Reuters / World grain prices should remain “very firm” over the near term as demand from Asia exceeds forecasts and dry weather cuts into supply, the senior economist of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said March 26. South American corn and soy yields took a beating from drought this season, while China’s rapidly

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