Prairie farm organizations want a rail costing review in light of a study showing farmers paid $275 million more to ship grain last year than what was considered fair under previous legislation.Allen Oberg, chair of the Canadian Wheat Board, said a Travacon study showing farmers paid $8.81 per tonne more to ship in the 2008-09 crop year than what was deemed fair under the former Western Grain Transportation Act means farmers are paying thousands more than they should.The previous crop year saw rates $4.61 per tonne higher, for a total of $123 million more.The study updates a previous Travacon examination that found farmers paid more than $100 million more than their fair share in 2006-07.“I’m 1,056 kilometres from the Port of Prince Rupert by rail,” Oberg told a news conference. “Over the last two years, I shipped an average of 3,600 tonnes of grain to export position. This means I paid anywhere from $17,000 to $32,000, depending on the year, more than I would have under the WGTA.”The CWB, Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Wild Rose Agricultural Producers and National Farmers Union released the study at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina last week.They urged farmers to visit the organizations’ websites and use a calculator developed to show farmers how much they have individually overpaid.“It’s a real eye-opener,” Oberg said.They also said farmers should use that information to make their case to their local MPs for a costing review.“(Agriculture) ministe (Gerry) Ritz has committed only to start to think about the possibility of a costing review after the rail service review is complete,” Oberg said.The last full costing review was done in 1992. Both farming and railway operations have changed since then, he said.APAS president Greg Marshall said the study looked at wheat and barley but the numbers should be calculated for all major grain exports.In Ottawa, Ritz took the CWB to task for complaining about transportation.“We are not hearing any concerns from canola and pulse growers,” he said in response to a question from Liberal MP Wayne Easter. “We are hearing concerns from wheat board growers because they cannot value add. They are forced to do buybacks, which costs them far more than this supposed increase in freight.”But John Edsforth, who conducted the study, said the numbers tell a tale of increasing costs despite railway claims of greater efficiency.Trains as large as 150 cars are now running on main lines, he said. As well, the number of grain elevators has dropped to 240 from 1,500, which results in less switching.“We’re not opposed to the system becoming more efficient,” said Marshall. “We just want those efficiencies passed on to producers as one of the railways’ largest customers.”
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