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

A 30,000-bushel elevator at the railway siding of Birdtail, on the northeast edge of the Waywayseecappo First Nation near Rossburn, was built and operated by the British America Elevator Company. Sold to Manitoba Pool in 1929, the elevator closed in December 1974 and was later used for private grain storage. Its railway line was abandoned in 1996 and the building was destroyed by fire on the evening of October 13, 2008. The cause of the fire was undetermined.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: March 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


Railway in fog

False premises don’t help rail discussion

The real solution will involve commercial partnerships, not central planning by government

Gord Gilmour’s recent editorial (‘Playing with trains,’ February 16, 2017) makes some valid points related to Canada’s grain supply chain. We agree that canola crush has been good for farmers, and the supply chain has been resilient this winter. Unfortunately, Gilmour also perpetuates unhelpful fallacies, and he advocates policies that would hinder the performance of

Editorial: Playing with trains

With spring just around the corner, it’s becoming clear a big wreck in grain shipping is unlikely this winter. Despite a 76-million-tonne crop to move, big blizzards and those infamous periods of frigid winter temperatures, the system has held together. Mark Hemmes of grain monitor firm Quorum said in a recent article in the Co-operator


An Alberta farmer says plenty of grain is moving through Western Canada — but too much of it is U.S. grain.

Is U.S. grain eating up Canadian rail capacity?

Not according to CP Rail, which on average moves two trains of American grain through Western Canada daily

An Alberta farmer alleges Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) isn’t moving Canadian grain in a timely way because it’s preoccupied shipping American grain through Western Canada — an allegation CP denies. The Carstairs-area farmer asked not to be identified fearing it might reveal his source. The farmer said according to his source every day CP brings

Measuring changes in the grain transportation system

Measuring changes in the grain transportation system

Grain monitor proves that better data collection can drive change and improvement

The business adage that you can’t change what you don’t measure seems to fit the Prairie grain transportation system. In a presentation to the annual conference of the Canadian Agriculture Economics Society, Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp., which tracks the performance of the grain transportation and handling system for Transport Canada, used the numbers


The Canadian Transportation Agency has been told to reconsider level-of-service complaints against CN after the original findings were struck down in court.

Appeal Court reverses CTA rulings against CN

The Federal Court of Appeal says the regulatory agency made errors in assessing car shortfalls in 2014

The Federal Court of Appeal has struck down rulings by the Canadian Transportation Agency that CN breached a level-of-service obligation in early 2014. The CTA said the failure was related to supplying two Prairie grain companies with sufficient hopper cars during the frigid early months of 2014. Justice Marc Nadon ruled the CTA “made unreasonable

A grain elevator at the former CPR railway siding of Cameron (named for Melita implements dealer A. E. Cameron, in the RM of Two Borders, was built by the Lake of the Woods Milling Company sometime between 1902 and 1910. It became part of Ogilvie Milling after the two companies merged in 1954 and was purchased by Manitoba Pool in 1959. The 38,000-bushel elevator was closed around 1970 and sold into private hands. It now stands abandoned, surrounded by cropland.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: January 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


Western grain is moving relatively well despite bad weather and a big crop, but shippers complain CP Rail could do better. CP Rail says it’s moving almost as much grain as it did last crop year, which was a record.

Western grain shipping relatively smooth so far

Although concerns have been raised about CP Rail’s performance, a big crop and cold weather haven’t derailed grain exports

Western Canadian grain has been moving fairly well this crop year despite a 76-million-tonne crop and bitterly cold weather, which in 2013-14 was blamed for a huge and expensive grain-shipping backlog. “All things considered things are going pretty good,” Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corporation, the firm hired by the federal government to monitor Western

Railway tracks

Proposed Vancouver grain terminal has great rail connections

The Fraser River Terminal will be served by four railways and there are no bottlenecks, a company official says

A spokesman for one of the companies behind the proposed Fraser Grain Terminal says the facility will be efficient and state of the art. Casey McCawley, Parrish & Heimbecker’s (P&H) director of West Coast operations and a director of the terminal to be co-owned by P&H and Paterson GlobalFoods (PGF), says that’s good news for