More Crops Briefs, Jan. 26

Viterra shares stumble after disappointing Q4 Reuters / Shares of Viterra fell sharply after the grain handler reported disappointing quarterly results. The company reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings of three cents a share, although revenue of $3.1 billion topped expectations. CEO Mayo Schmidt said the results were “definitely disappointing.” However, for the year, Viterra’s profit jumped



Food industry wants say in new legislation

Food safety is a job for the companies that make food, and government should focus on setting nutrition and health standards and policing the industry. That’s the pitch being made by large processors as the federal government prepares to revamp food-safety legislation. “Let’s not lose perspective: We can’t regulate bugs out of our food,” said

“Natural” is their middle name

St. Claude dairy farmers Roger and Rachel Philippe were raising their male calves instead of disposing of them, but they weren’t happy with the prices they received when they sold them for slaughter. The couple, who has 200 milk cows, don’t use antibiotics or growth hormones and use feed regimes that produce quality meat. But


Domestic pulse processing touted

More processing is key to the long-term success of the pulse sector in Western Canada, the head of the country’s largest pulse trading company told attendees at Crop Week in Saskatoon. The pulse sector should be focused on producing food rather than a commodity, said Murad Al-Katib, president and CEO of of Alliance Grain Traders



Judge delays decision on CWB

Suspending a new law that ended the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly would sow confusion in Western Canada’s grain industry, lawyers for the federal government said in court Jan. 18 in a hearing on a plea from eight former directors. The one time CWB directors, Prairie farmers ousted when the bill to revamp the CWB became

More Crops Briefs, Jan. 26

CWB’s winter rail program expects high volumes The Canadian Wheat Board’s winter rail program is expected to be one of the highest-volume years ever. “This is very good to see,” said CWB spokesperson Maureen Fitzhenry. “There was a big crop and a lot of demand.” The 2010-11 program transported 840,000 tonnes of wheat and durum


Farm group decries BASF decision to move German biotech unit to U.S.

Germany’s giant association of farming co-operatives said a decision by BASF to transfer its research into crops with genetically modified organisms from Germany to the U.S. and other countries will be “disastrous for Europe as a location for agricultural industries.” The German chemical company plans to move its biotech unit in Limburgerhof to North Carolina,

New ICE Canada grain contracts off to slow start

Traders took a cautious approach to new IntercontinentalExchange grain futures and options contracts introduced Jan. 23 as the exchange looked to capitalize on the approaching end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly. ICE Futures Canada, based in Winnipeg, launched new milling wheat, durum and barley contracts for delivery in October and later, after the wheat