The CEO of one of Canada’s largest grain companies is “very optimistic” a timely resolution will be reached to maintain Canadian pulse crop shipments to India. A looming change to India’s phytosanitary policy for pulse imports effective April 1 has left sales to Canada’s largest pulse export market in limbo over the last few weeks. “Canada realizes… Read More
Category: Logistics
If new rail legislation the federal government promised to introduce this spring is to be passed before the end of the session in June, it will have to be tabled soon. “One would imagine with the legislative calendar, it’s going to be have to be in the next several weeks,” says Steve Pratte, rail policy guru… Read More
Both Viterra and GrainsConnect have announced plans over the last two weeks to build new high throughput grain elevators in the Vegreville, Alberta area. Viterra confirmed yesterday that it has received all necessary regulatory approvals, with construction expected to begin this spring. “We have a long and successful history in this area of Alberta, so… Read More
Sitting in the Northern Exposure presentation at the Southwest Agricultural Conference, I watched with fascination as a room full of southern Ontario farmers were captivated by Prairie agriculture. How’s that, you ask? Well, farming in Ontario’s “north” is far more similar to farming in Manitoba than the rest of the growing region of Ontario, and this Prairie… Read More
G3 — the grain company that acquired the former Canadian Wheat Board — has unveiled plans to build the first fully new grain terminal at the Port of Vancouver since the 1960s. Located in North Vancouver, the 180,000-tonne facility will feature a rail loop track that will be capable of holding three 134-car trains (see drawing… Read More
By Matt McIntosh, Farm & Food Care “Feeding the world” is a common slogan in agricultural circles being employed to illustrate everything from growing population challenges to the need for new technology. Unfortunately, it’s also a phrase that doesn’t really work, and not because people don’t care. While it’s true many Canadians are not overly concerned… Read More
CN Rail appears to be making a concerted effort to increase its communication and outreach in the grain industry, from taking farm group leaders on a tour to Vancouver recently to adding weekly internal grain shipping stats to its website. The railway also had a significant presence at the Agribition Grain Expo in Regina last week,… Read More
A group of farmers in southeast Saskatchewan is looking to fellow producers for support in building a $50-to-$75 million farmer-owned grain and commodity handling facility. Comtrax Logistics Solutions is planning a 260-plus car track system with grain handling and storage capacity for around 60,000 tonnes. The facility, which would likely be located in the Weyburn… Read More
This week on RealAg Radio, Shaun and Kelvin debated whether farmers were benefitting from the spat between the railways and the Western Grain Elevators Association, and more specifically executive director Wade Sobokowich. See More: Railways Offering “Pretty Good” Performance, Amid PR Effort and Finger-Pointing What do you think? Is this finger pointing by the railways… Read More
It’s not often we hear grain company spokespeople commend railways, but that’s the case this fall, as the grain supply chain handles one of the largest crops in Western Canadian history. “As a general statement, we think rail performance has been pretty good this fall,” says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator… Read More
Two weeks after meeting with farm and grain industry groups in Saskatoon, federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau shared his government’s vision for the future of transportation in Canada in a speech to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. After describing the environmental, safety and consumer-related aspects of the Liberals’ “Transportation 2030” plan, Garneau said the government… Read More
Viterra held a “grand reopening” of its Pacific Terminal at the Port of Vancouver on Thursday, marking the completion of more than $100 million in upgrades to the facility. The enhancements will triple the terminal’s handling capacity, giving it the ability to handle over 6 million metric tonnes annually, according to the Regina-based grain company… Read More
It’s up to the European Union to get its members on board with the Canada-EU trade agreement. Canada has done its part. That was the message from Canada’s trade and agriculture ministers on Monday. “Canada has done its job. The negotiations between Canada and the EU are finished,” says Lawrence MacAulay, minister of Agriculture and… Read More
The wave of grain companies investing in new elevators in Western Canada rolls on… Viterra announced Wednesday that construction is beginning this fall on a new high-throughput terminal at Wadena, Saskatchewan. The facility will have 34,000 metric tonnes of storage capacity and a loop track for loading up to 156 railcars. “We’ve worked closely with… Read More
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be raising the subject of Canadian canola imports during his trip to China this week, according to the federal agriculture minister. Exports to Canada’s largest canola seed customer are facing an uncertain future, as China plans to implement tighter import restrictions on September 1st. The 1 percent dockage standard would increase costs for… Read More