A meeting with federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau will focus on proposed changes to the Canadian Transportation Act
Nearly 20 percent of the crop might still be in the field, but Sask-atchewan agriculture minister Lyle Stewart is taking no chances that this year’s harvest won’t get to market.
He met last week with both major railways and is participating, along with his prairie counterparts, in the Oct. 20 roundtable with the federal transport and agriculture ministers in Saskatoon.
“There seems to be a willingness on their part to discuss this situation now,” Stewart said.
“I think the attitude is pretty co-operative, and we’ll be holding them to providing good service for our industries in Saskatchewan.”
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Industry organizations will also attend the meeting, arranged after complaints from farmer-based groups and provincial ministers that they were left out of roundtables earlier this summer.
This meeting will focus specifically on grain transportation by rail as part of Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s consultations on the Canada Transportation Act review.
No one wants a repeat of the winter of 2013-14, when much of the largest crop on record was backlogged on the Prairies. A severe winter and lack of locomotives and manpower were also factors in the congestion, leading the then-Conservative government to order the railways to move minimum volumes or face fines.
This past summer, Statistics Canada estimated the 2016 crop could be the second largest ever, and the industry warned the railways to be ready.
Since then, the weather has been less than ideal.
A wet late summer was followed by a rain and snow system that moved into the southern Prairies before the Thanksgiving weekend and halted harvest.
However, Stewart said a few weeks of warm, dry weather are still possible.
“It causes anxiety, but there’s still time for some good weather,” Stewart told reporters Oct. 13.
“In ’09 and 2010, we had more crop than this out at this time of the year and had some good weather in later October and early November and most of that crop came off.”
He said there is no way to know if the crop will be as large as expected, but it is definitely a big one.
“There’s a lot that’s not up to our usual standards,” he said of quality.
Lentils in particular were affected by rain and high humidity since early August.
“Canola is expected to be good quality, like canola usually is,” Stewart said.
“Flax is pretty durable, but cereals have taken a bit of a beating with the moisture as well.”
Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. is suggesting payouts will be at least $100 million more than expected this year.
Producers have until Nov. 15 to fill out production reports, ask for an extension and register claims.
“If producers are concerned about not getting their crop harvested, they should contact their local crop insurance office and discuss their options,” said chief executive officer Shawn Jaques.
Extensions insure farmers for additional losses over the winter. Claims are adjusted after spring harvesting.
Farmers are also covered for wildlife damage to crops left over winter.
Stewart remains optimistic, saying he hasn’t given up on getting more harvest done this fall, including on his own farm.
