Transportation analysis | $3.2 million will 
fund a study to examine rail capacity
Farmers frustrated by their inability to reliably move grain to market are taking another look at logistical problems affecting Canada’s grain handling and transportation system.
Canola, wheat, pulse and soy growers, as well as industry groups involved in the grain, oilseed, pulse and special crops trade, announced last week that they will spend $3.2 million over the next five years looking for ways to measure and improve the system’s capacity to get products to market on time.
Ottawa is contributing $1.5 million to the effort, which will be led by Pulse Canada and supported by a variety of industry groups, including the Canadian Canola Growers Association, the Alberta Wheat Commission, the soy growers of the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association, members of the Western Grain Elevators Association, the Inland Terminal Association and the Canadian Special Crops Association.
Read Also
Pork council rejoins national farm organization
Canadian Pork Council decides to rejoin Canadian Federation of Agriculture to present a united trade front
The initiative was announced in Winnipeg as Canada’s farmers struggle to market a record crop that was harvested last fall.
Greg Cherewyk, chief operating officer with Pulse Canada, said the initiative will not focus solely on the performance of Canada’s major railway companies. Instead, it will look at all components in the Canadian supply chain.
“I don’t want to make it about the (rail) situation … but there are some interesting facts out there,” Cherewyk said Jan. 22.
“As of yesterday, (we’ve got) 28 grain vessels waiting for product at Port Metro Vancouver. We know that prairie terminals are at or near capacity and we know that year-to-date, we’re about 40,000 cars behind (grain industry expectations). To me, all of this means that we’re not meeting our customers’ needs.
“There’s no question that we’ve got a tarnished reputation, and this is only furthering that (perception).… Right now, we’re telling buyers to go elsewhere for their grain.”
Frustration is growing across the West over the transportation system’s apparent inability to move Canadian grain quickly enough into the global marketplace.
Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevators Association, said the project announced last week is part of a long-term process aimed at identifying problems and implementing solutions.
One of the project’s objectives is to identify key performance indicators in the grain handling and transportation system and develop standardized methods of measurement.
However, the project will not provide short-term relief to the current problems facing the grain industry, he added.
“It’s a five year project to gather data … on how the industry is performing in a number of different areas,” Sobkowich said.
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said Ottawa’s $1.5 contribution to the initiative is part of an ongoing commitment aimed at improving the efficiency of Canada’s grain export pipeline.
“This project will help ensure the industry has the right tools and processes in place to achieve measurable improvements in supply chain performance, leading to greater profitability,” he said in news release.
The announcement prompted a less-than-enthusiastic reaction in other circles.
Lynn Jacobson, president of the Alberta Federation of Agriculture, said the grain industry has been calling on Ottawa for years to take concrete steps aimed at improving rail service. Until it takes concrete steps to improve market access, farmers will continue to ship grain as quickly as rail companies see fit to move it.
“We’ve been down this road before and nothing’s been solved.”
“There’s a reluctance by the federal government to touch the railroads.”
