Volume 41, Number 1 | JANUARY 6, 2015
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PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER
www.grainews.ca
Farmers still concerned about grain movement By Lisa Guenther
T
he grain industry’s transportation woes have eased somewhat over the last few months, but farmers’ concerns linger. To get a sense of where things are at and what need to be done to resolve the complex issues around transportation, Grainews spoke to farmers from each Prairie province.
Grain bound for ports at the West Coast “moving very well” Recent grain movement pushed the grain handling and transportation system’s total handlings to record or near-record highs in recent months, according to Quorum Corporations’ third quarter report. Road and rail shipments from western Canadian primary elevators rose by 7.6 per cent from the previous year, reaching 29.1 million tonnes. Shipments in the third quarter jumped over 26 per cent, hitting 10.5 million tonnes. That’s a record for Quorum’s grain monitoring program, which began in 2001. Canadian National (CN) Railway’s December 8 order book showed the cars spotted for this crop year were well above the five-year average. In October 2014, CN spotted on average 5,508 cars per week, while the five-year average was 4,738 cars per week. November 2014
saw 4,836 CN cars per week, while CN’s fiveyear average was 4,369 cars per week. On the ground, farmers are seeing some improvements over last year. Allison Ammeter, who farms near Sylvan Lake, in central Alberta, wrote via email that grain bound for export on the West Coast is “moving very well” in her area. But, Ammeter wrote, her farm is close to both the CN and Canadian Pacific (CP) lines, “both of which are about as close to the ports as we can come in Alberta. The railroads cherry-pick us first.” Crops headed for the U.S., such as oats, are stymied in her area, she added. Stuart Person is a business adviser with MNP and farms near Shellbrook, Sask. Asked about rail movement in his area this fall, Person said it was significantly better on the surface. Shellbrook, located in northeast Saskatchewan, is “at the end of the world for grain shipping,” Person said, because of the distance from ports. Grain didn’t move immediately in his area after the order-in-council, but once Alberta was cleaned out, things started moving, he said. “In general, the east-west rail movement has been significantly better this year, or at least steadier. But anything going south is pretty much non-existent,” said Mike Bast, who farms near La Salle, south of Winnipeg. Rail movement started picking up in the spring and remained steady through the summer, he added.
A CN train waits at a (Cargill terminal near North Battleford, Sask., on December 4. While grain movement has picked up in recent months, farmers still have long-term concerns about the transportation system.
In This Issue
Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240
Wheat & Chaff .................. 2 Features . ........................... 5 Crop Advisor’s Casebook . 8 Columns ............................ 15 Machinery & Shop............. 23 Cattleman’s Corner .......... 28
Outstanding young farmers lee hart page 12
May God's richest blessings come to you and your family this Christmas. John M. Smith
Combine speecial
scott garvey page 23
FarmLife ............................ 32
` “Straight Cut”
CARDALE
“More Wheat...Less Shatter” seeddepot.ca
photo: lisa guenther
Grain is moving more freely this winter, but concerns linger