Insights and Stories of Rod Nickel

Jan. 14, 2013 at 6:19 pm CST

U.S. country-of-origin labeling (COOL) rules have directly cost Canada’s hog and pork industry more than $2 billion, according to a report that could help determine retaliation against U.S. exports if Washington does not change its requirements. The U.S. must bring the labeling rules into compliance with a World Trade Organization […]

By Rod Nickel

Jan. 7, 2013 at 4:20 pm CST

The head of Glencore International’s recently acquired North American agriculture business is leaving his post just a month into the job, creating a potential complication in integrating the unit. Fran Malecha was Viterra’s chief operating officer until Glencore completed its acquisition of the Regina company on Dec. 17 and appointed […]

By Rod Nickel

Dec. 31, 2012 at 12:43 pm CST

Three North American potash producers have struck a six-month agreement to supply the crop nutrient to a subsidiary of China’s Sinofert Holdings — but at a steep discount of US$70 per tonne from the last contract price. Shares of the three potash companies — PotashCorp, Mosaic and Agrium — rose […]

By Rod Nickel

Dec. 28, 2012 at 5:58 pm CST

U.S. wheat rebounded on Friday from a six-month low hit a day earlier, as government data showed the biggest weekly export sales in nearly two years. Soybeans and corn rose more modestly after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly export data revealed sales below trade expectations for those crops. U.S. […]

By Rod Nickel

Dec. 28, 2012 at 3:27 am CST

U.S. grain and soybean futures lost ground on Thursday as worries about the "fiscal cliff" weighed on commodities despite signs of bullish supply and demand fundamentals for some crops. The nearby March wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) slid to a near six-month low, before recovering in […]

By Rod Nickel