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


Another grain export terminal proposed for Vancouver

Another grain export terminal proposed for Vancouver

The way western Canadian crop production is growing the increased 
capacity is needed, say some industry observers

A second, new grain export terminal proposed for the Port of Vancouver, is welcome news, says University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Richard Gray. Western Canadian grain production is on the upswing and because of rising demand in Asia, Canadian grain companies want to export through the West Coast because that’s where prices are highest. Additional

A wooden grain elevator at the railway siding of Newstead, five miles east of Souris along Highway No. 2, was built in 1936 by the McCabe Grain Company. Bought by United Grain Growers in 1968, the elevator was renovated and an annex was moved beside it from nearby Carroll. The facility was closed in June 1982 and removed from the site.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: November 2016

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 rendering of what G3’s proposed Vancouver grain terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, will look like, if the project goes ahead. While G3 has most of the necessary permits for the project, there are still many details to work out before G3’s board of directors decides to start construction, says G3 official Brett Malkoske.

A look at G3’s proposed new Vancouver grain terminal

A spiral track would allow trains to arrive on site, ease congestion elsewhere, 
and unload intact before returning to the Prairies

G3’s proposed Vancouver grain terminal will be the most efficient in North America and maybe the world, Doug MacDonald told Prairie farm leaders touring the port Nov. 15. CN’s vice-president of bulk commodities made the comment as the group’s boat cruised by the Lynnterm break bulk terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, where

Grain shippers of all types are heralding promised changes to the transportation regulatory environment announced Nov. 3 by Transport Minister Marc Garneau.

Grain sector hails transport reform

But some farm groups worry about the future of the maximum revenue entitlement

Farm groups, grain shippers, crop processors and supply chain organizations are all praising Transport Minister Marc Garneau’s plan to make Canada’s grain transportation system more competitive. But some farm groups are uneasy about the future of the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE). Speaking to the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal Nov. 3 Garneau announced legislation


Scrapping maximum revenue entitlement will double farmers’ freight bill

Scrapping maximum revenue entitlement will double farmers’ freight bill

Agricultural economist Derek Brewin concludes the MRE works for farmers 
and the railways and has resulted in a more efficient system

Western Canadian farmers will pay the railways at least double what they do now to ship grain if the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) is phased out as recommended in the Emerson Report. “The increase is somewhere between 100 and 150 per cent in real rates if we remove the MRE,” University of Manitoba agricultural economist

railcars at grain elevator

Railways say they’re ready to move grain

A late start to the shipping season, big crop and the forecast for a 
harsh winter are combining to challenge the railway

Canada’s railways are still ready to move Western Canada’s grain crop despite forecasts for a harsh winter. Poor weather has delayed harvest in parts of Saskatchewan and Alberta, resulting in a slow start to the 2016-17 shipping season, but grain companies and the railways are still expecting farmers will harvest in the low- to mid-70-million-tonne


In 1994, a new elevator was opened at La Riviere by Manitoba Pool,  joining an annex built in 1980. In November 2004, both of them, along  with three steel bins, were moved 14 miles north to Somerset and set  beside an elevator built there in 1992, doubling its capacity. The  facility is now in use by Delmar Commodities.

PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: October 2016

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

University of Manitoba agricultural economist Derek Brewin suspects grain companies captured $3.5 billion that should’ve gone to western Canadian wheat farmers due to a wider-than-normal export basis.

Wide basis cost farmers billions

The University of Manitoba’s Derek Brewin suspects 
grain companies got the money instead

Who grabbed more than $3.5 billion in revenue from the Prairie grain trade over two recent crop years? Many have asked that question and now a University of Manitoba agriculture economist has weighed into the debate. Derek Brewin says it was likely captured by the various grain companies that pocketed the difference in the 2013-14