By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup for Monday, May 15, 2023

May 15, 2023 | 2:04 PM

Canadian fertilizer giant Nutrien Ltd. is considering slowing down its previously announced plan to ramp up potash production as falling prices and lower sales volumes take a bite out of profits.

CEO Ken Seitz told analysts on a conference the company’s first-quarter results were disappointing.

“Yes, we would consider slowing down. We’re really, as we talked about earlier this year, watching the market,” Seitz said. “If we see that the market’s not there, then we’ll pace our capital accordingly.”

Nutrien, the world’s largest fertilizer producer, lowered its earnings guidance for the year to between $6.4 billion and $8 billion, down from a previously announced range of $8.4 billion to $10 billion.

The company’s net earnings for the third quarter were down 58 per cent from $1.4 billion a year earlier, and its sales for the quarter ended Mar. 31 were $6.1 billion, down 20 per cent.

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It has been a volatile period for Nutrien, which achieved record earnings in 2021 and then saw fertilizer prices spike in March of 2022 as the Russia-Ukraine war shook up global agricultural markets and reduced supplies of fertilizer from Eastern Europe.

To meet increased global demand, Nutrien announced in June of last year a plan to ramp up potash production by 40 per cent compared with 2020 production levels. But by the second half of 2022, Nutrien had suffered what it called a “historic” decline in the pace of its potash shipments. In North America and Brazil in particular, farmers appeared to be postponing fertilizer purchases in the face of high prices.

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Legislation has passed that will see the establishment of Food Day in Canada.

The House of Commons unanimously passed at third reading Senator Rob Black’s bill that seeks to establish the special day ensuring it will become law.

The idea of a Food Day Canada was championed in 2003 by the late food journalist and food advocate Anita Stewart when she organized the first Food Day in response to the BSE crisis.

The first official Food Day in Canada will be celebrated this year on Aug. 5.

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An Alberta entomologist has compiled a comprehensive guide of insects that live in cow dung in Canada.

Kevin Floate said he began studying the insects in cow patties 30 years ago and always wanted to have a single source for any of his questions.

That’s what his dung detective guide ”Cow Patty Critters: A New Guide on Canada’s Faecal Friends” aims to provide.

Floate said he realizes it’s an unusual topic, so he doesn’t mind bad puns when it comes to his job.

There are about 300 different insects and all but about three are beneficial to the environment.

He said the guide is intended to be a resource for ranchers, farmers, students, and naturalists.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW