Changes to federal rail transport rules that took effect in 2018 have put Canada’s big two railways well under their new Prairie grain revenue caps for the 2018-19 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency on Monday announced Canadian National Railway (CN) booked 2018-19 Prairie grain revenue of $933,357,710, a figure $371,116 below what the CTA […] Read more
CN, CP come in under 2018-19 grain revenue caps
Railways say they’re ready for large shipping season
CNS Canada — Canadian Pacific Railway managed to slightly increase its grain shipping volumes last year, despite the extreme cold. CP moved 25.8 million tonnes of western Canadian grain, grain products, soybeans and non-regulated principal field crops during the 2017-18 crop year. That’s a one per cent increase from the previous crop year and one […] Read more
Grain elevators brace for high-volume shipping season
CNS Canada — Grain companies in Western Canada are bracing for another high-volume year, as questions about the system’s ability to handle that amount continue to plague the industry. Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association, said despite the heat stress that has hit many crops this year, grain companies expect this […] Read more
Federal rail freight legislation clears Senate
Canada’s Senate has passed federal legislation that grain grower groups have hoped will help improve rail freight service for the sector this year. Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act, passed third reading in the Senate on Tuesday following a 41-31 vote to approve a message that the Senate “does not insist on its amendments” to […] Read more
Grain groups rip lawmakers over derailed transport bill
Several farm groups say partisan haggling has again derailed federal legislation they hoped would help improve rail freight service for the grain sector this year. Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act, passed third reading in the Senate and was returned to the House of Commons with proposed amendments on March 29 — and went back […] Read more
Senate hands back transport bill, with changes
Federal legislation sought by farm groups wanting improvements to rail service for the grain sector is on its way back from the Senate to the House of Commons. Senators on Thursday afternoon passed Bill C-49, the Transportation Modernization Act, on third reading — but with several amendments proposed Wednesday by the standing Senate committee on […] Read more
Get grain moving again, KAP says
Move western grain, ASAP. That’s the blunt and urgent message Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) president Dan Mazier told an emergency meeting of the House of Commons’ agriculture committee Monday in Ottawa. The 2013-14 grain shipping backlog cost Western farmers around $6.5 billion and the current one will cost billions again, Mazier said. The first step […] Read more
CN apologizes as farm groups, Ottawa press on rail service
Canada’s largest railway has taken the unusual step of apologizing for its pace of grain delivery in recent weeks and pledging “immediate steps” to improve its grain handle. After parting ways with its CEO Luc Jobin on Monday, Canadian National Railway (CN), through interim CEO Jean-Jacques Ruest, said Wednesday it “apologize(s) for not meeting the […] Read more
Farmers seek ‘urgent’ action from Senate on rail service
Groups representing Canadian grain growers touched down in Ottawa Thursday to urge quick passage of legislation to avoid a sequel to the grain handling logjam of 2013-14. Representatives from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Grain Growers of Canada, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Alberta Federation of Agriculture and B.C. Agriculture Council went […] Read more
Tepid rail service cripples farmer deliveries on Prairies
CNS Canada — Prairie farmers are struggling to generate cash flow for their operations due to the lack of rail cars that are available to pick up their grain. “Spring is coming up, farmers need cash flow and we don’t get cash flow if your grain is sitting in a bin waiting for a train […] Read more
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