Rail response
Inoculation strategy One pulse specialist says failures are a regular occurrence » PG 20
The Bill C-49 debate continues to rage on » PG 13
SERVING MANITOBA FARMERS SINCE 1925 | Vol. 75, No. 38 | $1.75
September 21, 2017
Succession planning at risk
Frustration over Ottawa’s proposed changes to small-business taxation continues to mount BY SHANNON VANRAES Co-operator staff
F
armers are being urged to join the chorus of opposition facing the federal government’s proposed tax changes. Manitoba’s minister of agriculture has already added his voice to the growing calls for Ottawa to reconsider the massive overhaul and Keystone Agricultural Producers is asking its members to participate in government consultations before the October 2 deadline. “This is very concerning for us,” said Minister Ralph Eichler, speaking to the Manitoba Co-operator last week. “We see this as a next step in succession planning, not a way to try and beat the government out of tax dollars. It’s more of a way to ensure that the next generation of farmers will be able to take over and assume that farm.” The proposed changes will make it more difficult to share farm income with spouses and children, discourage farms from renting out land and make it harder for farmers to sell land to their own children. “We should be putting rules in there that make it easier for
Publication Mail Agreement 40069240
See small-business on page 6 »
manitobacooperator.ca
CP Rail closing 17 producer car loading sites across the West KAP is considering joining APAS’s call for a moratorium, at least until new rail legislation becomes law BY ALLAN DAWSON Co-operator staff
C
P Rail is pulling the plug on producer car loading sites throughout the Prairies, including two in Manitoba at Foxwarren and Strathclair. That move has the Keystone Agricultural Producers considering joining a call for a moratorium on closing sidings used to load producer cars that was first proposed by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). “In this age, when the world is so much smaller, taking out railway infrastructure, I can’t see that as being a positive… I don’t think it’s a good move at all right now,” KAP president Dan Mazier said in an interview Sept. 11. However, KAP wants to look into the issue more before formally seeking a moratorium, Mazier added. Canadian National Railway isn’t closing any producer car sites right now, an official said in an email. The sites CP Rail is removing aren’t used and involve switches, which should they fail, can derail a train, CP Rail said in an emailed statement. In addition to the two in Manitoba, CP Rail is closing nine sites in Saskatchewan and six in Alberta. (See the full list on page 6.) The Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan (APAS) issued a news release Aug. 28 advocating a moratorium and also wrote federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau asking for that. The letter also requests legislative changes to ensure closure of urban and rural sid-
Loading a producer car at the Boundary Group Inc. facility at Darlingford, Man., on the short line owned and operated by the Boundary Trail Railway Company. CP Rail is closing 17 producer car loading sites across the West, including two in Manitoba — Foxwarren and Strathclair. PHOTO: ALLAN DAWSON
ings are subject to the same requirements. “Producer car loading is an important source of competition and innovation in Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry,” APAS president Todd Lewis said in the release. “Shipping grain by rail is far more cost effective than hauling grain long distances by truck and results in a much smaller carbon footprint.” Lewis said once a loading site is listed for discontinuance, it is extremely difficult to get it relisted. “Although demand for pro-
ducer cars has declined in recent years, our industry is very dynamic,” Lewis said. “There is the potential that crop diversification and increased production could lead to more demand in the future. This demand will not be met if producers lose access to their local rail sidings.” Mazier agreed, adding proposed legislation under Bill C-49, the Transpor tation Modernization Act, to allow long haul interswitching could, increase interest in producer cars. “If you (as a grain company) had no infrastructure... maybe
these sites all of a sudden become relevant again,” he said. “That’s why I think there should be an outright moratorium. Until we get this transportation bill figured out they should stop all what they are trying to do because once we lose the infrastructure it’s gone.” CP Rail said safety is behind the closings. “Removing a producer car site that is not being used is necessary to keep communities where we operate and our employees safe by removing a track switch, See CP Rail on page 6 »
MIXED UP: TAILOR-MADE SEED MIXES BEST FOR POLLINATORS » PAGE 12