Italy launches durum wheat futures market Jan. 21

milan / reuters / Europe’s first futures market for durum wheat, used mainly to produce pasta in the continent and couscous in North Africa and the Middle East, was launched January 21. Borsa Italiana, controlled by the London Stock Exchange, was due to launch the durum futures in November but the date was put back



What’s new? At Ag Days, plenty

New products are always interesting and there are always plenty to check out at Manitoba Ag Days. Some equipment dealers will have additional signage at their booths that indicate they have opted to include their products in the 2013 New Products feature and will be vying for the annual best new product award presented at

Soybeans hot, flax is not for 2013

Expect to see a lot more soybeans and corn planted in Manitoba next spring and a lot less flax and barley, seed growers said during their annual “what’s hot, what’s not” session last month. Hard red spring and general purpose wheat are expected to be popular too, growers told the Manitoba Seed Grower Association’s annual


UN declared 2013 International Year of the Quinoa

It’s a highly nutritious grain and a cool-climate crop that could have played a more important role feeding a hungry world, had rice, wheat and corn not predominated. But in 2013 quinoa, (pronounced KEEN-wah), dubbed one of the “lost crops of the Incas,” or “poor man’s crop” could begin a comeback after centuries of relative

Keen on quinoa? Growers wanted

From the high Andes to the Canadian Prairies, quinoa could be the next little seed to hit the province

Once a largely obscure Andean seed, quinoa has made in-roads into Canadian pantries, but is having difficulty taking root on Canadian farms. “Right now we don’t really turn down any interested growers, the challenge is still getting enough interested growers,” said Michael Dutcheshen, general manager of Saskatoon-based Northern Quinoa Corporation, a processor and distributer of





Cargill invests in India’s food-processing boom

Reuters — Cargill, the U.S. agribusiness giant, is investing in India’s burgeoning processed food sector with a $73-million corn-milling unit, the head of its India operation said. India’s 1.2 billion population is eating increasing amounts of packaged and processed foods, using the financial benefits of an economy growing at nearly six per cent to try