Livestock breeding patent unites German farmers and environmentalists Tuesday, June 2, 2009 German farmers and environmentalists have something in common for once. Both groups object to a patent being granted on a gene that is linked to rapid growth in pigs. In a rare show of solidarity, 400 of them protested in front of the European Patent Office in Munich in mid-April. Their shared goal – to prevent a patent application for livestock breeding from being granted. The technique, described in Patent EP 1651777, is not a genetic modification, but a screening process to find and mate pigs that naturally grow fast. Farmers believe that eventually they might have to pay a private company a royalty to produce livestock they have raised themselves. Originally filed in the patent office in 2004 by Monsanto, the patent has since been granted to Newsham Choice Genetics. BP Pork campaign targets younger females Solutions to labour shortages may lie offshore
Farmers Balance Costs and Technology Investments - Tractor Sales Down Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Sales of agricultural tractors and combines in the United States and Canada delivered a mixed performance in February, highlighting how farmers are adapting their purchasing decisions amid shifting commodity markets, input costs, and economic conditions. While tractor sales softened... Read this article online
Sask. NDP wants tougher penalties related to foreign farmland ownership Wednesday, March 11, 2026 The Saskatchewan NDP wants foreign farmland owners who don’t obey the law to face stiffer penalties. Trent Wotherspoon, the party’s deputy shadow minister for agriculture and rural affairs, and the shadow minister of finance, introduced The Saskatchewan Farm Security (Foreign Farmland... Read this article online
Middle East conflict pushes fertilizer costs higher, forcing Ontario growers to rethink corn acres Wednesday, March 11, 2026 Ontario farmers are bracing for a turbulent spring as fertilizer and fuel prices surge in response to the escalating conflict involving Iran, a development that analysts say could reshape planting decisions across North America. The spike in nitrogen costs—the most critical and... Read this article online
Group calls on Health Canada to make labels mandatory for gene-edited pork Tuesday, March 10, 2026 An advocacy group of farmers and environmental organizations wants Health Canada to implement mandatory labelling on pork from gene-edited pigs. Earlier this year, the federal agency approved the sale of gene-edited pigs as food. The pigs are resistant to Porcine Reproductive and... Read this article online
Global Conflict Drives Major Surges in Commodity Markets Monday, March 9, 2026 A major international conflict the war in Iran has disrupted trade flows, pushing energy and grain prices sharply higher. On the weekly Ag Commodity Corner+ Podcast with Commodity Strategist Abhinesh Gopal shared the markets made sharp moves in the week of March 2 to 6, after a rapidly... Read this article online