grain elevator

Report proposes further deregulation of grain freight rates

The CTA review panel has concluded the railways will provide 
better service if the revenue cap is removed

Initial reaction to the Canadian Transportation Act review report is that it falls far short of fixing what’s broke with the grain transportation system. Farmers are worried about recommendations to phase out the Maximum Revenue Entitlement (MRE) over seven years and shorten interswitching access. But they welcome proposals to improve the MRE in the interim,

CN challenges revenue entitlement rules

The railway says some west-bound grain doesn’t go to port and shouldn’t be included

The Canadian Transportation Agency has asked the grain industry for reaction to a proposal by Canadian National to exempt various Vancouver destinations from federal limits on freight rates. The issue flows from a CTA ruling in December that both CN and CP exceeded the maximum revenue they’re entitled to earn annually hauling grain to terminals




Railway rate deregulation arguments don’t add up, skeptics say

Railway rate deregulation arguments don’t add up, skeptics say

Competitive markets work, but the key is competition and that’s lacking in Canada’s rail sector

Consensus is rare in western Canadian grain transportation policy. That’s why when two economists who have spent decades sparring over contentious issues actually agree, people take notice. The sky didn’t fall, as Paul Earl joked it might, after admitting at a recent Winnipeg meeting that he is in agreement with University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist


Reg Dyck, chair of KAP’s transportation committee, says most of the savings gained from a more efficient grain-handling and transportation system have gone to the railways, not farmers.

KAP seeks regulations to spur rail competition

The Manitoba farm organization submits 13 recommendations to the rail review panel

Thirty years of reforms to Western Canada’s grain-handling and transportation system (GHTS) have seen rail profits increase while farmers pay more to ship grain and get poorer service, Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) has told the Canada Transportation Act Review panel. KAP blames a lack of competition between the two main rail firms, Canadian National Railway

Time to talk farm issues this election: let’s start with grain movement

Time to talk farm issues this election: let’s start with grain movement

Efforts to fix the grain transportation situation over the past 30 years haven’t yielded many gains for farmers

Every day I tune into the election news, hoping for some mention of agriculture, the issues we in the industry are facing, and proposed solutions. And every day I’m disappointed. But I remain optimistic because surely the parties and the candidates will realize at some point that agriculture is a major economic driver, creating one

soybeans

Study concludes Manitoba soybean-crushing plant viable

But that’s partly because of market distortions caused by poor rail service and lacking competition

Poor rail service and a lack of competition contribute to the viability of a 2,000-tonne-per-day soybean-crushing plant in Manitoba, a study prepared for the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers (MPSG) and Soy 20/20 says. “Indeed, the numbers tell us that if adequate and regular rail service existed in Manitoba then both a Canadian and/or a



grain being loaded onto a cargo ship

Sask. Wheat says wide basis costing wheat growers billions

Economist Richard Gray says elevator prices are down even though f.o.b. Vancouver prices have remained steady to higher since

The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (SWDC) says export wheat prices are similar to or higher than last October, but farmers are receiving about $20 per tonne less. “Rail transportation and handling capacity have not improved and this is being reflected in even lower returns for producers and a lower share of export values as the