SASKATOON — Farmers in Manitoba will continue to pay higher grain-handling fees than their Alberta and Saskatchewan counterparts in the new crop year, but the gap has been narrowed.
While primary elevator tariffs will remain unchanged in Manitoba, they’re going up by about two percent in Saskatchewan and as much as six percent in Alberta, according to figures released by the Canadian Grain Commission.
The tariffs filed by the grain-handling companies in late July will almost certainly be adjusted in the next few weeks as they respond to their competitors’ charges.
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But as of last week, here’s what the three prairie pools were planning to charge farmers to elevate and clean a tonne of wheat beginning Aug. 1 (the cleaning is actually done at terminal elevators, but the farmer pays for it at the time of delivery):
- Alberta Wheat Pool — Elevation $9.09 a tonne, cleaning $2.61, for a total charge of $11.70. That’s up six percent from last year’s $11.04.
- Saskatchewan Wheat Pool — Elevation $7.78 a tonne, cleaning $3.11, for a total charge of $10.89. That’s up two percent from last year’s $10.67.
- Manitoba Pool Elevators — Elevation $9.46 a tonne, cleaning $3.11, for a total charge of $12.57. That’s unchanged from last year.
The pools traditionally set the trend for handling charges in their respective provinces because of their dominant market position.
As of last week, United Grain Growers Ltd. had filed for a three percent increase in Alberta, two percent in Saskatchewan and no change in Manitoba.
Cargill Ltd. filed for a 2.4 percent increase in Alberta, 1.3 percent in Saskatchewan and no change in Manitoba. Pioneer Grain Co. Ltd. left all of its country tariffs unchanged in the preliminary filing.
Alberta Wheat Pool president Alex Graham said that while his company is concerned about the impact of the fee hike on farmers, producers are in a better financial position than they were in recent years when the company froze primary tariffs.
“Hopefully we’re starting to see grain prices firm up a little bit and be a
little more steady,” he said.
Graham said the new charges more accurately reflect the true cost of handling grain.
In the past year the pool conducted an extensive re-evaluation of all the costs involved in handling and cleaning grain. The result was a decision to raise elevation tariffs, and lower the cleaning charge.
That reflects improvements made in recent years to the cleaning system at the pool’s West Coast terminals and that grain handling at the country elevator has become more costly as farmers try new crops.
Several grain handlers also took advantage of the decision by the federal government to deregulate terminal tariffs.
Last year all companies charged the maximum $5.80 a tonne. This year Alberta Pool and Pacific Elevators will charge $6.15, Prince Rupert Grain and Sask. Pool $5.92 and UGG $5.91 at Vancouver. Other companies had left their tariffs at $5.80 as of last week.
“Our expectation was that the increases would be modest and I would say generally they are modest, with some not changing at all,” said Tom Askin of the Canadian Grain Commission.
Terminal elevation tariffs are paid by the outward shipper when grain is loaded onto a boat. For wheat and barley, farmers pay that charge through the CWB’s pool account.
