Tag: agriculture business

June 9, 2010 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Monsanto Company Announces $1 Billion Share Repurchase Program, Declares Dividend

Company Continues to Leverage Strong Cash Position to Bring Value to Shareowners

ST. LOUIS, June 9, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Reaffirming its continuing effort to deliver value to shareowners, Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a new three-year share repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend.

Monsanto’s board authorized a new three-year share repurchase program, effective July 1, 2010, for up to $1 billion of the company’s common stock.

The Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of 26.5 cents per share on its common stock. The dividend relates to the company’s third quarter of its 2010 fiscal year and is payable on July 30, 2010 to shareowners of record on July 9, 2010.

Monsanto executives have said the company is positioned for earnings growth in the mid-teen percentages beyond the current fiscal year.  The company also has said it is working on a revitalized product strategy to bring more choices to farmer customers, offering them the premium opportunity the company’s products create.

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August 7, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Commercially-Viable Pili Nut Deserves Attention | Agriculture Business Week

 

“The current status of the pili is equivalent to that-of the macadamia some 30 years ago,” says Richard A. Hamilton, a macadamia breeder at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “It has great potential to develop into a major industry.” (The expensive macadamia nuts are in demand in Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Austria.)

Commercially-Viable Pili Nut Deserves Attention | Agriculture Business Week

July 24, 2009 General Ag News and Notes Post a Comment

Alexander & Baldwin Reports 2Q

by David Manger | 24 Jul 09
MORNINGSTAR®

Last Harvest?
Last Harvest?   Click for larger image.  
On Friday, Alexander & Baldwin ALEX reported results . . .
… Losses in the agriculture business continue to hinder overall profitability, despite multiple cost-reduction efforts. As a result, management plans to make an announcement regarding the future of the segment by year-end. Given its unprofitable nature, we would prefer A&B to exit the business all together and focus resources elsewhere. Nevertheless, we remain encouraged by the firm’s strong financial position and expect it to bolster its land holdings at current prices.

Click to read complete story . . .

Copyright © 2009 Morningstar Research Inc. All rights reserved.

February 25, 2008 General Ag News and Notes

State auditor: Molokai water system mismanaged

By CHRIS HAMILTON, Staff Writer
Maui News

WAILUKU ? The state auditor issued a blistering report last week charging the state Department of Agriculture with mismanaging the Molokai Irrigation System while simultaneously allowing it to deteriorate over a period of decades.

The irrigation system is crucial to the island?s agriculture-based economy but draws only about 4 million gallons a day ? less than 10 percent of its projected capacity when it was first planned.

?We found that while the Department of Agriculture inherited a broken system, little has been done to learn about system problems or to create a plan to address them,? state Auditor Marion Higa wrote in her 57-page report. ?The department?s flawed management endangers agriculture in Molokai.?

However, state Agriculture Chairwoman Sandra Kunimoto called most of the report?s criticisms ?overreaching? in a telephone interview Friday.

She said she felt as though the report?s dramatic statements weren?t backed up by the actual details contained within it.

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