When you give away a million dollars you get people’s attention. That was Pioneer’s plan when it launched its ‘Seed for Life’ promotion in 2015. Earlier this month at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, the company announced that Marc-André Pilon, a farmer from Saint-Polycarpe, Quebec, had won the grand prize of $50,000 worth of Pioneer seed... Read More
Category: Ag Business
There’s a new conservation tillage practice in town. Move over no-till, reduced till and strip till, here comes reservoir tillage. The RT850 reservoir tillage tool from Minnesota-based Willmar Fabrication is designed to run between crop rows and make depressions in the ground using 10-inch teeth to create better water infiltration and reduce runoff. “You’re just... Read More
It wasn't that many years ago that corn and soybean growers were riding the wave of $7 corn, high land rent, and applying all the groceries to every acre. In 2016, that wave of optimism has disappeared as suggested in the DTN / Progressive Farmer Ag Producer Confidence Index (ACI) results. The recent survey produced... Read More
Syngenta's SeedCare Institute is officially setting up shop in Canada. The company’s Canadian facility, located at its Honeywood research facility in Plattsville, Ontario, is now part of a network of 12 centres of excellence around the globe, focusing on advancing seed treatment technology and innovation. At the official launch last week, Anja Pires, Syngenta Global... Read More
It's hard to believe regulators would allow one company to own 95 percent of the canola traits on the market, but executives from Bayer and Monsanto are not offering any hints on whether they expect to be forced to divest canola seed assets as part of their proposed marriage. Both Robb Fraley, chief technology officer... Read More
More than $140,000 over the past three years. That’s the latest tally for SeCan’s ongoing ‘Grow a Leader’ program that sees the seed company contribute $1 for every unit of soybean seed purchased by grower customers during its ‘early order’ week in October. SeCan communications manager Brenda Trask explains that the program is based on... Read More
Richardson International says its building three new crop input retail sites in Saskatchewan and will be announcing more new builds in the coming months. “We are continuing to aggressively invest in our crop inputs business to grow our Richardson Pioneer network and expand our reach to offer our services to more customers across Western Canada,”... Read More
The wave of grain companies investing in new elevators in Western Canada rolls on... Viterra announced Wednesday that construction is beginning this fall on a new high-throughput terminal at Wadena, Saskatchewan. The facility will have 34,000 metric tonnes of storage capacity and a loop track for loading up to 156 railcars. "We've worked closely with... Read More
Bayer and Monsanto announced early Wednesday they have signed a deal that sees Bayer acquire Monsanto for US$66 billion, or US$128 per share. Monsanto’s Board of Directors, Bayer’s Board of Management and Bayer’s Supervisory Board unanimously approved the all-cash agreement. "We are pleased to announce the combination of our two great organizations. This represents a... Read More
Slumping corn prices have enabled an environment for mega agribusiness mergers and acquisitions. In the last twelve months, there's been a steady stream of headlines about the latest and greatest combination of billion dollar companies that will purportedly deliver better products, savings to the farmer, more innovation, synergies, alliances, etc. In this economic environment for... Read More