Fire burns Sask. equipment dealer

Jul 24, 2018

Damages to the John Deere dealership in Rosthern is estimated to be millions of dollars

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A blaze at a central Saskatchewan farm equipment retailer caused an estimated $20 million in damages.

Rosthern, Sask. firefighters responded to reports of a fire at Cervus Equipment’s John Deere dealership around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. Crews from five other departments assisted in extinguishing the fire by about 3:00 p.m.

The flames leapt higher than the two-storey building and onlookers heard explosions as the fire intensified, Sean Nichol, an eyewitness to the incident, told The Canadian Press yesterday.

Cervus management are appreciative of the quick response from emergency crews and witnesses. No one sustained any injuries during the incident.

“My sincere appreciation goes out to everyone who reported and responded to this incident,” Graham Drake, CEO of Cervus Equipment, said in a statement Sunday. “Our top priority is safety and right now we’re focused on ensuring the area is safe.”

Rosthern Fire and Rescue photo

The company is developing a plan to keep operations running while the building remains closed. Investigators are determining a cause for the fire.

The dealership employs about 30 people, who will temporarily work out of trailers or be relocated to Saskatoon and Prince Albert locations during this time.

“We’re making sure that our employees are taken care of and then of course our customers, ensuring they’re notified and aware we’re going to continue to service them (and) continue to carry on business as best we can,” Mark Samber, health and safety manager with Cervus, told CBC yesterday.

The outpouring of support for the business and first responders is representative of the small town, residents say.

“So many helping hands! That shows a good community. Thank you all!” Trudy Migneault posted on Rosthern Fire and Rescue’s Facebook page yesterday.

“It’s such a great and powerful thing to see communities pull together in tragic times of need,” Shannon Greene posted yesterday. “Thank you to everyone.”

Rosthern Fire and Rescue photo

Video: Is China Buying US Soybeans + USDA Nov 14th Crop Report could be “Game Changing”

After a week of a U.S./China trade truce, markets/trade is skeptical that we have not seen a signed agreement nor heard much from China or seen any details. There are rumors that China is buying soybean futures & not the physical. Trust in Trump?
12 MMT of U.S. soybean purchases by China by year-end is better than 0 but we all need to give it more time and give it a chance to unfold. China did lower the tariffs on Ag and is buying U.S. wheat and sorghum.
U.S. supreme court could rule against Trumps tariffs, but the Trump administration does have a plan B.
U.S. government shutdown is now the longest in history at 38 days.
But despite a U.S. government shutdown we will be getting a USDA November crop report next Friday and it could be “game changing.” If the USDA provides a bullish surprise with lower U.S. corn and soybean yields and ending stocks that are lower than expected both corn and soybean futures will break out above their ceilings at $4.35/bu and $11.35/bu respectively.
The funds continued their selling in live and feeder cattle futures on continued fears that the Trump administration want to lower U.S. beef prices. The fundamentals have not changed, only market psychology has.
Stocks markets continue to worry about a weak U.S. job market, but you can blame ChatGPT for that. In the future, we will have a more efficient, productive and growing economy with a higher unemployment rate until we have more skilled AI workers.
After 34 new record highs in the S & P 500 and 124 new records in the NASDAQ in 2025 we are back to a correction and investor profit taking as AI valuations may have gotten too stretched near-term ahead of NVDA’s 3rd quarter earnings announcement on Nov. 19th. But this is not an AI bubble.
75% of Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk!
It has rained in South America in the last 7 days, but both the American and European models agree that Central Brazil remains dry in the next 14-days!

USDA unveils three farm assistance programs

New Syngenta products on the horizon