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“What those asking for this policy want is a cheaper rate. It is not about improving service. Nor will it improve competitiveness. Extended interswitching will do the exact opposite. The only winners with extended regulated interswitching are U.S. railways.” – Marc Brazeau, Railway Association of Canada.
News

Interswitching resurgence puts railways, grain industries on collision course

Both sides say a pilot to test a bigger interswitching radius is a bad move, but for opposite reasons and to opposite effect

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Recent federal legislation has raised the stakes in a decade-long battle between the railways and Canadian grain shippers. The battle is over the interswitching radius. Interswitching is a regulation to ensure that shippers located where only a single railway operates can access points that are not served by that railway. The regulation kicks in when
A decade of interswitching debate
News

A decade of interswitching debate

Rail bottlenecks, federal reports and renewed life for extended interswitching

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Interswitching has been regulated since 1904 in Canada but in 2013 an exceptional harvest led to record-breaking grain production in Western Canada. The increased supply, combined with challenging weather conditions, overwhelmed the railways and led to significant delays in moving grain to export terminals. In 2014, the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act reached Parliament
Trucks wait for crossing into Poland at the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint in Ukraine’s Lviv region on April 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Roman Baluk)
Crops, Markets

EU sets Ukraine grain import restrictions in five countries until June 5

Supports pledged for farmers in those countries

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Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission said on Tuesday it set restrictions until June 5 on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease the excess supply of these grains in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The EU executive arm said that during that period, Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and
(Orchidpoet/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Go bigger on interswitching pilot, grain groups urge Ottawa

Railways say the measure creates inefficiencies; farm groups say the opposite is true

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Farm groups from across the country are asking producers to lobby federal ministers and MPs and urge them to super-size a government proposal for what’s called ‘extended interswitching.’ The measure, part of this spring’s federal budget, essentially gives grain shippers a choice in which railway they deal with (as long as the competitor’s line is
Trucks wait for crossing into Poland at the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint in Ukraine’s Lviv region on April 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Roman Baluk)
Crops, Markets

Deal reached to resume Ukraine grain transit with five EU countries

Agreement includes support package for local farmers

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Brussels | Reuters — The European Commission said Friday it had reached a deal in principle to allow transit of Ukrainian grain to resume through five European Union countries that had imposed restrictions. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia cited concerns that grain from Ukraine meant to be exported to other countries had ended up
(File photo by Dave Bedard)
Crops

Railways push back on feds’ proposed interswitching revival

Railways also oppose ban on replacement workers

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With Easter less than two weeks away, an Easter egg in the federal government’s 2023 budget calls for a new pilot program to again provide Prairie grain shippers with extended interswitching. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s budget, released Tuesday, laid out a list of investments to “further strengthen Canada’s transportation systems and supply chain infrastructure.” A
File photo of Highway 363 near Moose Jaw, Sask. (Mysticenergy/iStock/Getty Images)
Weather

Spring road bans loom across Prairies

Mid-March weight limits pending for heavy trucks

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MarketsFarm — The looming spring melt across Western Canada will likely disrupt some grain and livestock movement over the next few weeks, as seasonal spring road restrictions come into effect across the Prairies. Spring road restrictions set axle weight limits for vehicles moving on certain roads to reduce the damage heavier loads can cause during
The president of Quorum Corporation is concerned about a bottleneck of grain-shipping vessels on the West Coast.
News

Grain is moving, but problems persist

Systemic issues surrounding grain shipments have yet to be addressed

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Grain shipments are moving better than they were this time last year, but that’s not saying much. “Last year was awful,” Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) executive director Wade Sobkowich said. “We had some major deficiencies in rail service between January and March of 2022.” Indeed, things were so bad in the winter of 2022
(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)
Cereals, Crops, Markets

Feed weekly outlook: Prices slip during quiet January

Shortages of trucks, drivers still trouble cattle sector

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MarketsFarm — With January being a quiet time there’s isn’t a whole lot of direction for feed grains, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. Prices for feed barley and wheat have been slowing slipping, he said — especially with feedlots not having to buy and farmers not needing to sell —
(File photo by Dave Bedard)
Crops

Railways over revenue cap in drought year, CTA finds

CN, CP now owe $5.7 million in overages, penalties

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Despite a dramatically lower Prairie grain handle in the last crop year, the Western Grains Research Foundation can expect a $5.7 million gift card from Canada’s big two railways by the end of next month. The Canadian Transportation Agency, which sets the maximum revenue entitlements (MREs) each crop year for Prairie grain handled by Canadian

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