Category: Agriculture

CN, CP ship record grain volumes in 2019-2020 despite blockades and COVID-19

CanadianInvestor
CN, CP ship record grain volumes in 2019-2020 despite blockades and COVID-19
Canada’s two major railways shipped record amounts of grain over the past crop year despite a gauntlet of obstacles. Canadian National Railway Co. hauled more than 30 million tonnes of grain in 2019-20, a seven-per-cent increase from the previous year. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. moved 10 per cent more grain at 29.5 million tonnes. The railroads attribute the achievement to... Read More

West Fraser beats expectations as second quarter turns positive despite COVID-19

CanadianInvestor
West Fraser beats expectations as second quarter turns positive despite COVID-19
VANCOUVER — West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. beat expectations as it earned $48 million in its latest quarter despite lower revenues. The Vancouver-based forest products producer says it earned 70 cents per share for the three months ended June 30, compared with a loss of $58 million or 92 cents per share in the second quarter of 2019. Adjusted profits... Read More

Canada’s two largest railways move record grain in June, second quarter

CanadianInvestor
Canada’s two largest railways move record grain in June, second quarter
Canada’s two largest railways moved record quantities of grain in the second quarter after benefiting from another strong month in June. Canadian National Railway says it is on pace for record shipments of grain this year after record movements of Canadian grain last month and the quarter as a whole contributed to its best performance in the first half-year. The Montreal-based railway says it... Read More

Hiring soared in May as mass layoffs eased

CanadianInvestor
Hiring soared in May as mass layoffs eased
WASHINGTON — The job market took a big step toward healing in May, though plenty of damage remains, as a record level of hiring followed record layoffs in March and April. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of available jobs rose sharply as well, but remained far below pre-pandemic levels. The figures, from the government’s Job Openings and... Read More

Bayer to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle Monsanto case

CanadianInvestor
Bayer to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle Monsanto case
BERLIN — German pharmaceutical company Bayer says it’s paying up to $10.9 billion to settle a lawsuit over subsidiary Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup, which has faced numerous lawsuits over claims it causes cancer. In a statement Wednesday, Bayer said it was also paying up $1.22 billion to settle two further cases, one involving PCB in water. The Leverkusen-based company said the... Read More

Winnipeg plant gets $100M in federal financing to pull protein from peas, canola

CanadianInvestor
Winnipeg plant gets $100M in federal financing to pull protein from peas, canola
OTTAWA — The federal government is helping finance an innovative, new agricultural production plant in Winnipeg that turns peas and canola into protein powders for the food industry. Merit Functional Foods Corp. plans to have its new 94,000-square-foot production plant at Winnipeg’s Centreport running by the end of the year. There it will extract protein from peas and canola seeds for... Read More

Labour shortages on some Ontario farms threaten crop harvest groups say

CanadianInvestor
Labour shortages on some Ontario farms threaten crop harvest groups say
TORONTO — Groups that advocate for Ontario’s farmers say a worker shortage could threaten the harvest of some crops across the province. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers, and the Canada Horticultural Council say the shortages exist on many farms across the province because of the pandemic. The groups are urging the federal and provincial governments to provide... Read More

CN Rail feeling slowdown as auto and crude revenue plunges, despite grain gains

CanadianInvestor
CN Rail feeling slowdown as auto and crude revenue plunges, despite grain gains
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway Co. says business has gone downhill since mid-March as the COVID-19 pandemic rips into a sector that serves as a barometer of economic cycles. CEO JJ Ruest, speaking at a conference held online, says revenue ton miles — a key industry metric — fell 15 per cent year over year in April and 21 per cent in May. Ruest says... Read More

CN Rail moves record 2.81 million tonnes of grain for April, slightly ahead of CP

CanadianInvestor
CN Rail moves record 2.81 million tonnes of grain for April, slightly ahead of CP
MONTREAL — Canadian National Railway Co. moved a record 2.81 million tonnes of grain for April, slightly ahead of CP Rail’s record volume for the month. The country’s largest railway says the movement included 2.73 million tonnes from Western Canada, which exceeded the three-year average of 2.55 million tonnes for April. The Montreal-based railway’s all-time monthly record was 2.89 million tonnes of... Read More

Aid package to agriculture aims $252 million at multiple pressures

CanadianInvestor
Aid package to agriculture aims $252 million at multiple pressures
OTTAWA — The federal government moved Tuesday to ease multiple pressures in Canada’s agriculture industry created by the COVID-19 pandemic with the promise of a $252-million aid package. The funds fall far short of the $2.6 billion request for help last month from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the money is a starting point. “We... Read More