BRUNO, Sask. – The carefully laid plans of mice and Saskatchewan Wheat Pool delegates can easily go awry.
A delegation of Chinese grain inspectors traveling through Canada on a two-week Canadian International Grains Institute tour made a stop at this central Saskatchewan town June 21.
After a lengthy explanation by the elevator manager and a local wheat pool delegate of the functions of the local grain elevator, including details of how the overhead scale can handle large grain trucks and how the computerized grain handling equipment can receive the grain quickly and efficiently, a farm truck rolled into the elevator with a load.
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Unfortunate timing
The farmer, unaware of the delegation, kicked over two 45 gallon barrels from his shiny new half-ton truck into the pit. The grain had been scraped from the bottoms of several grain bins, and was not exactly the typical pride of the Prairies. The delegation quickly pressed forward to view what they believed to be the typical delivery of grains.
No other trucks visited the facility while the delegation was on site. The Chinese visitors said they understood after the translator tried to impress upon them that this was not how local farmers typically delivered their grain to market, but all looked suspicious.
In any case, the delegates asked numerous questions about agricultural operations in Canada, appearing most interested in the large size of farms and equipment, and the relatively small size and high efficiency of handling facilities.
The group was from the state administration of import and export commodity inspection of the People’s Republic of China.
