Even before the COVID-19 pandemic ban began impacting trade flows out — and in — to China and other overseas markets, Canada’s railways were struggling to catch up from a challenging shipping season. An 8-day strike, closed western lines due to slides, and then the blockades in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people of B.C., meant… Read More
Grain elevators in both western and eastern Canada are reporting delays in accessing containers to fill for overseas customers. Regular train traffic is catching up after a series of setbacks this winter — a strike, a rock slide on the western tracks, and then blockades — but container traffic is another beast entirely. Container traffic… Read More
It can be easy to think about Canadian grain, canola, soybeans, or meat as just commodities — a product bought and sold, traded, and shipped. And that’s true, of course, but those commodities are also eventual meals for Canadian customers, even if those customers live in places such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, or the Philippines…. Read More
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture is calling on the federal government to resolve the issues with railway blockades, as agriculture sits on a “tipping point” of lost revenue, lost trade, and potentially an animal welfare issue, as propane, once again, is not making its way east. In Quebec, 85 per cent of poultry barns are… Read More
Protesters standing in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en First Nation’s protest of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project have set up blockades in three provinces — Ontario, B.C., and now Manitoba — significantly impacting rail movement and precipitating CN Rail to cancel hundreds of train movements. Many in the agriculture industry are nervous about what this means for… Read More
Rail blockades near Belleville, Ont. and in northern B.C. in support of a B.C. oil pipeline standoff in Wet’suwet’en territory will soon begin to significantly impact CN Rail’s network if they’re not removed, the company says. CN Rail notes the blockades are unrelated to CN’s activities, however the Belleville line is CN’s only eastern link… Read More
The ongoing labour dispute at the Co-op Refinery Complex at Regina, Sask., has led Federated Co-op Ltd (FCL) to start rationing fuel at some of its cardlock facilities on the Prairies, impacting farmers, emergency services, truckers, and other drivers who normally rely on cardlocks to supply larger quantities of fuel. A message posted by several… Read More
Plans for a farmer-owned grain and commodity handling facility in southeast Saskatchewan have officially been cancelled. At a meeting in Weyburn on Tuesday, shareholders in Comtrax Logistics Solutions voted unanimously to wind down operations, citing “challenging trade conditions and economic uncertainty.” The farmer-led group, formally launched in 2015, was planning to build a 260-plus car… Read More
The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company (CP) will not have overage-related payouts or penalties due to falling below their respective maximum grain revenue entitlements for the 2018-19 crop year. The amount of western grain moved under the MRE program during 2018-19 was 46,060,737 tonnes, 13.4% more than the volume… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has implemented a “transition period” for the feed, water, and rest requirements for all livestock sectors, in addition to the previously announced grace period extended to beef and dairy animals. CFIA says it will use the first two years of the new regulation period, beginning February 2020, to “focus… Read More
Shovels will hit the ground in early 2020, pending final regulatory approvals, to build two new grain elevators for G3. The first, located at Vermilion, Alta., will have a capacity of 34,000 tonnes and will be located on the CN Rail line. The second elevator, located at Swift Current, Sask., will have capacity of 42,000… Read More
For the month of November, Canadian Pacific (CP) moved more grain and grain products than any other month in its history. The company delivered 2.74 million metric tonnes (MMT) during November, beating the October 2019 all-time record of 2.66 MMT. “CP achieved great things last month for the Canadian grain supply chain in close collaboration… Read More
In the week since the CN Railway strike ended, a top executive says they’re on the right track to get grain and other products moving as they once were. CN’s executive vice-president and corporate services and chief legal officer, Sean Finn, says although the strike meant setbacks, they were still able to move close to… Read More
While pulse market challenges haven’t been grabbing headlines as much lately, there are longer standing issues with chickpea, pea, and lentil movement than say, canola’s recent run-in with China. Murad Al-Katib, CEO of AGT Foods, says that there are reasons to be optimistic on pulse markets heading in to 2020, even in the face of… Read More
In just a few days, Ontario’s corn harvest ground to a halt. Not because of Mother Nature’s wrath this time, but because of an abrupt end of the supply of propane that fuels dryers to dry the corn to a safe level. Barry Senft, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario, says that the rail strike… Read More