Grain handlers have been given more freedom to pile grain on the ground if there’s no room in the elevator.
The most significant change allows grain that has been kept on the ground to be transferred to an elevator building, a practice that was previously prohibited.
Regulations in the Canada Grain Act requiring grain companies to store all grain in an elevator will remain in place.
But companies can ask the Canadian Grain Commission for an exemption.
“The exemption is not automatic,” said CGC spokesperson Paul Graham.
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“We will look at them on a case-by-case basis. But we expect in most cases it would be granted.”
However, at least one grain company official doesn’t expect to see any great rush by grain handlers to on-ground storage.
“You take your chances when you do that,” said Gordon Cummings, chief executive officer of Agricore.
“If you get the weather against you, your pile goes down in grade pretty bloody quickly.”
Non-board grains only
Under the new rules, if a primary elevator company stores grain on the ground without first receiving an exemption, its licence will be suspended for up to five days.
The new rules apply only to non-Canadian Wheat Board grain. The board told the commission that it preferred that all wheat, durum and barley sold to its account be stored in elevators.
The new rules were formulated after two months of consultations with 22 producer and industry organizations.
The policy review was prompted by a noticeable increase in on-ground storage last year, a byproduct of intense competition for market share among grain handlers.
“Some companies were trying hard to get volume,” said Graham.
“When they ran out of elevator space they still wanted grain, so in a number of cases they were storing it on the ground.”
Cummings said grain companies are under pressure in the fall to buy grain off the combine and to get a quick jump on market share.
Agricore had no on-ground storage last year, but other companies had piles of feed barley and oats, some involving as much as 15,000 tonnes.
Faster delivery
Graham said the new system should benefit producers by allowing them to deliver even when an elevator is plugged.
But a spokesperson for the National Farmers Union said he hasn’t seen good reasons for the change in storage rules.
“We’d just like to know why this needed to be regulated previously and what has changed now,” said executive secretary Darrin
Qualman.
“There’s no great benefit to farmers.”
He said it’s ironic that companies are being given more flexibility to store grain on the ground at the same time they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on new high volume elevators.
Graham said the commission would not set standards for on-ground storage, adding that the grain companies have a vested interest in keeping grain in good condition.
“Our aim is to maintain quality, and it is possible to store grain outside of an elevator and keep it in good condition,” he said.
The new system should allow the commission to keep closer tabs on grain that is stored on the ground, track it as it moves through the elevator system to export position and deal with any problems that arise.
