Syngenta’s Interaction Centre at Stein, Switzerland. (Syngenta.com)

China clears ChemChina’s Syngenta deal

Zurich | Reuters — ChemChina’s US$43 billion planned takeover of Swiss pesticides and seeds group Syngenta has received approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), the two companies said Wednesday. “This represents a further step towards the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2017,” they said


The U.S.-Mexico border between San Diego to the left and Tijuana to the right contrasts the differences in development between the two nations.

Trump trade adviser strikes conciliatory tone on Mexico

Canada has worried about being sideswiped during NAFTA uproar

One of U.S. President Don­ald Trump’s most protectionist trade advisers has struck a more conciliatory tone with Mexico, saying he wanted the two countries and Canada to form a regional manufacturing “powerhouse” with stricter rules of origin. White House National Eco­nomic Council director Peter Navarro’s comments Mar. 15 on Bloomberg News helped boost Mexico’s peso

Mexico appears poised to use a similar strategy in U.S. trade disputes as the one that paved the way for its trucking industry gaining access to the U.S.

U.S. farm heartland lobbies to steer Trump away from Mexico trade war

The country is a big agriculture trade partner and the two products likely to be hardest hit are pork and cheese

Farmers in the U.S. agricultural heartland that helped elect Donald Trump are now pushing his administration to avoid a trade dispute with Mexico. They fear retaliatory tariffs that could hit over $3 billion (all figures U.S. funds) in U.S. exports. The value of exports at risk is based on a Reuters analysis of a tariff


Durum wheat. (Gipsa.usda.gov)

Durum lacks momentum ahead of competing harvests

CNS Canada — Canadian durum prices are at a standstill as the market looks to upcoming production, while domestic crops act as a “wild card,” one Winnipeg-based analyst says. “The durum market is certainly quiet right now. We’re kind of in that period where we’re in a lull,” said Jerry Klassen, manager of the Canadian

Manitoba Oat Growers’ Association celebrates success and solvency

Manitoba Oat Growers’ Association celebrates success and solvency

The books are in the black and Mexican oat consumption is growing fast, annual meeting told

The Manitoba Oat Growers’ Association is in good financial shape and the industry is targeting more sales to a growing Mexican market. That was the word from the group’s latest annual general meeting last week, in conjunction with the CropConnect event. For the year ended July 31, 2016, MOGA revenue over expenses hit $19,013, a





Donald J. Trump

Promises made, promises kept

U.S. farmers are reaping the whirlwind of their bargain with Trump

Of all the words used to describe President Donald J. Trump during his first weeks in office — bold, boastful, alternative facts — here are two that almost no person or pundit uttered: promise keeper. Love him or loathe him, Trump took no time in checking off key items from his unconventional campaign’s list of

(Portosdobrasil.gov.br via Flickr)

Mexico eyes Brazil farm products as hedge on Trump threat

Brasilia | Reuters — Amid trade tensions with the U.S., Mexico plans to send a delegation next month to visit Brazilian corn, beef, chicken and soy producers as an alternative to U.S. suppliers, its representative in Brazil said on Friday. Mexican charge d’affaires Eleazar Velasco said Brazil is uniquely positioned to expand agricultural commodity sales