Grain revenue helps CN’s Q4:

A 23 per cent increase in fourth-quarter grain and fertilizer revenue helped Canadian National Railway (CN) offset higher operating and tax expenses.CN’soverall Q4 profit was $573 million on $2.2 billion in revenue, down 31 per cent from the year-earlier period. Full-year 2008 profit was down 12 per cent at $1.9 billion on $8.5 billion in

Dual-fuel truck on display at Ag Days

The 2006 Chevrolet Silverado looks like an ordinary pickup truck but appearances can be deceiving. Lorne Grieger lifts the hood to reveal a gizmo which makes a big difference. It’s a special fuel injector which lets the truck run on biodiesel fuel and ethanol at the same time. Biodiesel and hydrated ethanol (95 per cent


U. S. will fail to meet 2022 biofuels mandate

The United States will fall short of its federal mandate to blend 36 billion gallons per year of biofuels like ethanol into gasoline by 2022, the government’s top energy forecasting agency said Dec. 17. The 36-billion-gallon target of blending motor fuel alternatives, such as traditional ethanol made from corn and next-generation cellulosic ethanol made from

U. S. farmers remain hopeful even as profits erode

“With that kind of volatility you just lose track of fundamentals.” –Illinois farmer Garry Niemeyer Iowa farmer Gordon Wassenaar says he is optimistic about 2009, displaying a sometimes puzzling “glass half full” mentality needed in a profession in which Mother Nature can wipe out months of work overnight. He and other U. S. farmers notched


U. S. pipeline firms see ethanol in future

U. S. companies are boosting efforts to see if shipping ethanol through pipelines can be a less expensive, safer alternative to sending it on trucks and trains. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, one of the largest energy pipeline companies in North America, said in early December it has started sending batches of the biofuel through a

Vilsack to face food subsidy issues in top ag job

Tom Vilsack, a former governor of the top corn-and soybean-producing state of Iowa, was set to be named next agriculture secretary by U. S. president-elect Barack Obama, Democratic officials said Dec. 16. Vilsack, a lawyer, will oversee one of the largest federal departments with 100,000 employees and a $95 billion annual budget, the bulk of


Biofuel industry growing internationally

Despite the controversy over crop production for food versus fuel and the shock of the financial credit squeeze, the biofuel industry is recording steady growth in many countr ies, the Canadian Renewable Fuel Summit was told in early December. But it has a long way to go before it reaches the level of global petroleum

Corn market breaks $3, could fall more

Analysis by Sam Nelson U. S. corn prices fell through the key support level of US$3 per bushel on Dec. 5 for the first time in more than two years, signalling a further weakening could be in store as the contracting global economy hurts demand. The ethanol industry is being tested financially, with crude oil


New biofuel sources are in the pipeline

“We’re like the high-tech sector. The research we engage into developing a fuel will likely lead to other new products.” While many are still under development, new sources of raw material for biofuels will take the sting out of any future debates over food-versus-fuel uses for crops, experts say. Earlier this year, environmentalists and poverty

Cheaper feed prices on horizon

A surge in surplus U. S. corn supplies due to sluggish demand from an ailing ethanol sector and the economic turmoil portends weaker prices, but could provide some relief to the food and livestock industry. The U. S. Agriculture Department took traders and analysts by surprise Dec. 11 by reducing the amount of corn to