Hail payouts exceed premiums in 2021

Hail payouts exceed premiums in 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute It was a near-record year for claims in Western Canada “despite a decrease in overall storm activity,” says the Canadian Crop Hail Association. Claim payments to Prairie farmers topped $322 million, and were up 78 per cent compared to the five-year average. It was the highest payout since 2008 and meant insurers, which collected $309 […] Read more

Prince Rupert Grain Terminal. (Rupertport.com)

CN rerouting trains, aims to re-open line to Vancouver on weekend

Reuters — Canadian National Railway (CN) said Wednesday it was aiming to reopen its track in the crucial Kamloops-to-Vancouver corridor in flood-hit British Columbia this weekend. The Pacific province, trying to rebuild after devastating floods in November, received more rain over the weekend and this week. CN operates one of the two critical rail lines […] Read more



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shown maps by Abbottsford, B.C. Mayor Henry Braun during a visit to the city on Nov. 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

B.C. extends fuel restrictions following flooding

Agricultural and farm-use vehicles exempted as 'essential'

Reuters — Government officials in British Columbia on Monday extended restrictions on the use of fuel by residents, saying it was needed for emergency vehicles as the region recovers from devastating floods. The order, first issued on Nov. 19, limits vehicles deemed “non-essential” by the government to 30 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel per […] Read more


The road view at Tank Hill is dramatic enough: A huge section of Highway 1 was washed away. But it is the aerial view that shows the full scope of the washout — and the amount of restoration work needed. (Tank Hill is located in the Thompson Canyon just east of Lytton, where the Thompson River meets the Fraser River.)

B.C. floods put the spotlight on ‘vulnerable’ rail corridor

Transport sector needs to ‘learn our lessons’ after unprecedented number of washouts and slides

Reading Time: 6 minutes It could take months for grain movement to fully recover from the catastrophic flooding in B.C. that buried rail lines in mud and debris or washed away the ground under the tracks. And the unprecedented damage has highlighted the risk that Prairie farmers face in getting their grain to port. “The rail system there has […] Read more

Crews work to shore up a section of railway that hangs in mid-air after the ground below was washed away by flooding.

The threat from ‘rivers in the sky’

Reading Time: 3 minutes An ‘atmospheric river’ on the West Coast caused unprecedented damage and shut down Alberta’s vital link to the sea. So, we thought it important to ask, ‘what is this weather phenomenon and will it happen again?’ A new term: Atmospheric River The unprecedented and catastrophic flooding in B.C. brought yet another climate term into the […] Read more


Keeping the rumen healthy has to be a priority but that doesn’t mean hay or silage has to be 100 per cent of the ration, says feed expert Barry Yaremcio.

Feeding cattle this winter is all about striking the right balance

Determine your priorities, feed test and then take a look at alternate feed sources

Reading Time: 4 minutes Whether feeding in a normal year or through a drought, cattle producers need to look at nutrition from a “40,000-foot vantage point” to make the most of their feed. “No matter what we’re doing, we’re always striving to get that perfect mix and perfect balance so that everything is used to its optimum,” Barry Yaremcio […] Read more

File photo of a CN locomotive in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

CN to reopen to Vancouver Wednesday

Prince Rupert also available, CN reminds shippers

Canadian National Railway (CN) says it’s almost set to resume some service to Vancouver, starting early Wednesday. Montreal-based CN said in an emailed statement Tuesday that repair work on damaged sections of its track from Kamloops to Vancouver “progressed well over the weekend” and the line will reopen to “limited traffic” tomorrow “barring any unforeseen […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CP to reopen rail corridor to Vancouver Tuesday

B.C. storm led to damage in 30 separate spots, railway says

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) plans to have its rainstorm-battered mainline between Kamloops and Vancouver reopened to grain and other traffic around midday Tuesday. The company said Monday that out of 30 storm-damaged spots across its Thompson and Cascade subdivisions in southern British Columbia, 20 had seen “significant loss of infrastructure” in need of repair. CP […] Read more

Floodwaters cover the Trans Canada Highway near Abbotsford, B.C. in an aerial view taken Nov. 16, 2021. (Photo courtesy BC Hydro via Reuters)

Grain flow uncertain as floods halt B.C. rail, road traffic

MarketsFarm — It’s too early yet to determine the effect of massive floods in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland on grain movement, according to the company monitoring Canada’s grain handling and transportation system. Up to 200 millimetres of rain earlier this week have triggered mudslides and cut access to rail lines and highways east of Vancouver. […] Read more