Flooding potential threatens fertilizer movement

Fertilizer makers may be hard pressed this spring to move their yield-boosting products to western Canadian farmers during a shortened planting season, as the potential for major flooding grows. Cold weather has delayed the melt of heavy snowpack in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, raising the risk that floods in late April and

Brazil potash deposit has 18 years of country’s needs

Reuters / A Brazilian fertilizer deposit owned by Canada’s Brazil PotashCorp has potash reserves equal to at least 18 years of Brazil’s potassium-fertilizer needs, a source with direct knowledge of the project told Reuters. The mine project has total potassium reserves of about 500 million tonnes of which at least 125 million, or a quarter,


Got bald patches on eroded knolls? Ammonium sulphate may be the cause

If you’ve always assumed canola emerges poorly on eroded knolls because the soil there is poor, think again. Toxicity from ammonium sulphate fertilizer could be the real reason behind those bald patches, especially on Newdale-type soils with high amounts of calcium carbonate in the subsoil zones, according to University of Manitoba student Laryssa Grenkow. “The

Agrium profit, outlook slump on lower potash sales

Agrium shares slumped seven per cent after it reported a 56 per cent drop in third-quarter profit on lower potash sales and offered a weaker-than-expected outlook for the fourth quarter. Downtime at Agrium’s Saskatchewan potash mine and drawn-out contract talks with China and India hurt third-quarter performance, CEO Mike Wilson said. The company’s stock had


India fertilizer giant eyes Saskatchewan potash

winnipeg / reuters Western Potash Corp., a junior mining company looking to build a potash mine southeast of Regina, says it is talking about a joint venture with India’s Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, among others. It hopes to open the $2.5-billion Milestone mine by 2016 and eventually produce 2.8 million tonnes of potash annually. “We



New products must pass the “smell” test

Jeff Schoenau gets a variation of the same questions several times a year — on the phone, over coffee, via email or somewhere on the winter meeting circuit. “They basically all want to know, ‘What do you think of product XYZ?’” the University of Saskatchewan soil fertility specialist says. That can be a tough question

Mosaic to dial back potash production

Citing “lower near-term demand,” fertilizer giant Mosaic Co. has announced plans to cut back the output from its potash mines in Saskatchewan for the next four months. Mosaic, which in late December said it would also reduce its finished phosphate production until the end of March, said Feb. 3 it will reduce its planned potash


PotashCorp Profit Soars On Strong Demand

PotashCorp, the world s top fertilizer maker, said Oct. 27 its quarterly profit more than doubled, as strong grain prices boosted demand for its crop nutrient products. Despite wides pread economic concerns during the quarter, the push to capitalize on strong crop prices continued to support demand for fertilizer around the globe, the company said.

Devastating Drought Expands In Texas

news reuters A devastating drought continues to have Texas in its grip, but some rain is falling on neighbouring states. Texas so far has suffered more than $5 billion in agricultural losses, and wildfires have scorched millions of acres as the state suffers its longest dry period on record. About 97 per cent of the