Wheat shipments through Canada’s ports increased dramatically last year and for the first time in years there was good news for Thunder Bay and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Statistics Canada last week reported that 34.2 million tonnes of wheat moved through ports in 1997, a 25 percent increase from 1996.
At Thunder Bay, the 8.1 million tonnes of wheat loaded for shipment to transfer elevators was 53 percent more than year earlier shipments.
“These wheat shipments were a welcome addition to traffic on the seaway, as Canadian wheat has increasingly been exported through west coast ports,” said the Statistics Canada analysis.
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Still, Vancouver and Prince Rupert handled most export wheat – 9.8 tonnes combined.
The federal agency credited strong Asian demand for the increased westward shipments.
Farming costs more
The cost of farming increased on average almost one percent in Western Canada during the first quarter of the year, the federal government reported last week.
While farmers in Eastern Canada actually enjoyed a decline in overall input costs, western farmers saw costs increase, boosted mainly by higher interest and farm labor bills. Farm rent expenses fell 2.4 percent.
According to the Statistics Canada farm input price index, the cost of operating a prairie farm in early 1998 was 27.4 percent higher than comparable costs in 1986.
China gets help
The Canadian government plans to spend $5 million during the next four years to help China develop a better domestic animal feed industry. The project, funded through the Canadian International Development Agency, will help finance a project by Calgary-based Agritearn Canada to develop alternate feed sources for China’s livestock.
It is aimed at making more grain available for human consumption in the nation of 1.2 billion people.
The CIDA contribution will be matched by the Chinese ministry of agriculture and the World Bank, bringing total funding to $15 million.
