A 40,000-bushel grain elevator at Mentmore, southwest of Neepawa in what is now the Municipality of North Cypress-Langford, was built in 1927 on land donated by Thomas Drayson. Operated by the Mentmore Co-operative Elevator Association, the first agent was Ken McDougall of Russell, who later purchased the local store. A crib annex was built beside the elevator between 1957 and 1959. The facility closed in December 1978 as the railway line was abandoned. The tracks were removed in June 1979. In the fall of 1980, the annex was moved to Franklin and, the following spring, the elevator was sold to Drayson descendants who used it as storage for their seed business. It appeared to be unused when this aerial photo was taken earlier this year.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: September 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these images of a grain elevator each week in hopes readers will be able to tell the society more about it, or any other elevator they know of.

Data collection and infrastructure are the next big priorities for the 
grain-handling and transportation system, says Western Grain Elevator Association executive director Wade Sobkowich.

New grain system priorities: data collection, infrastructure

The next two big priorities concerning grain movement are data collection and infrastructure, says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA). “Any time you have a supply chain you have a bottleneck somewhere,” he said in an interview Aug. 23. WGEA members welcome the longer trains CN and CP Rail are


A wooden elevator at Holland was built in 1927 by a local co-operative working with Manitoba Pool Elevators. Its modest 50,000-bushel capacity was enlarged with a squat 75,000-bushel balloon annex in 1952 and a taller 85,000-bushel crib annex in 1958. The elevator was renovated thoroughly in 1982 and the balloon annex was removed around 1994. It survived the transfer to Agricore in 1998 but closed in early 2001 and was demolished in December 2003.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: July 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is

There were four elevators at Elgin when this photo was taken in 1981. The 30,000-bushel elevator in the foreground, built in 1928 by the  Canadian Consolidated Grain Company, had two balloon annexes and  fertilizer shed when it was sold to United Grain Growers in 1959. It  closed in 1985 and was demolished. The 50,000-bushel Manitoba Pool  elevator and annex beside it dates from 1926, while the side-by-side  Paterson elevators in the background consisted of a smaller one built  here in 1923 and a larger one brought from Wakopa in 1966. The Paterson  elevators were sold to Pool in 1981. The following year, the smaller one  was demolished as the larger one was renovated extensively and a modern  crib annex was built beside it. Today, only the former Paterson elevator  and its annex remain at the site, in private ownership.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: June 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator

Roseisle businessman George Payette has no shortage of work as he travels across Manitoba and Saskatchewan doing repairs and maintenance work on some of the last remaining country elevators in the two provinces.

The elevator repairman

Country elevators are a rarer site nowadays. George Payette’s business is keeping those few left in good working order

Country elevators are disappearing, but so long as George Payette can swing a sledgehammer or pound a nail, a few lone survivors stand a chance. Payette’s business is elevator repair and maintenance, making him the guy farmers who now own these sites regularly call when a roof, siding or cribbing needs work, or a foundation


Competition appears to be spurring efficiencies in the grain pipeline, which are finding their way to farmers.

Western farmers benefit from grain-handling efficiency gains

Basis levels are closer to normal, indicating more competition and fewer system constraints, says U of M ag economist Derek Brewin

Western Canadian grain farmers saw the gap between the export price and their price narrow in 2015-16, reaping the benefits of an efficient and competitive grain-handling and transportation system (GHTS). Despite 2015’s near-record 64.7-million-tonne crop, there was no repeat of a grain shipping backlog that followed record production in 2013, Derek Brewin, a University of

In July 1972, a Manitoba Pool elevator at Rounthwaite, on the CNR Wawanesa Subdivision in what is now the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa, was destroyed by fire. It had been purchased from Federal Grain shortly before the fire and was to have been repainted in the new corporate colours a few days later. A new elevator was constructed between 1974 and 1975 and designated as Pool B, joining a Pool elevator dating back to 1928, seen in this photo from October 1978. When the railway line was abandoned in December 1983, the old elevator was demolished and the new one was moved to Nesbitt. It operated there until it was sold into private ownership. The railway line at Nesbitt was removed in mid-2016.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: May 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator

Calls for a review of railway costs

Some farm groups suspect producers are paying more than was originally intended under the maximum revenue entitlement

When the railways start replacing hopper cars as expected if the Transportation Modernization Act becomes law, western farmers will pay more, in total, to ship grain to export. That’s because the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) will be adjusted to pass on the purchase costs to shippers and ultimately farmers. Most farm and shipper groups agree


grain rail cars

Nitty-gritty details in Bill C-49

The revenue cap stays, but railways can include the cost of new hoppers

It took a few days of intense review for the Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA) before giving its blessing to the Transportation Modernization Act. Others were equally meticulous. “Every word does matter, and the order of the words matters,” Greg Cherewyk, Pulse Canada’s chief operating officer, said in an interview. And while Pulse Canada also

Built in 1937, with a crib annex added in 1956, a 125,000-bushel  elevator at Lowe Farm, in the RM of Morris, was operated by Manitoba  Pool and, after 1998, by Agricore. In 2001, it was sold into private  ownership along with several others around the province. It was put up  for sale again in late 2014, along with the former Pool elevator a few  miles away, at Homewood.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: April 2017

The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba

In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator