“P&H has been a great equity partner and a strong supporter of seed genetics in Canada, and we thank them for their many contributions to Alliance and the industry,” said Shane Paterson, director of trading and transportation at Paterson in a news release.

Winnipeg-based Alliance Seed began in 2009 as a joint venture between Paterson Grain (a division of Paterson GlobalFoods), Parrish and Heimbecker, Weyburn Inland Terminal of Weyburn, Sask.; North West Terminal (NWT) of Unity, Sask.; Prairie West Terminal of Plenty, Sask.; and Great Sandhills Terminal at Leader, Sask.

With the recent sale, North West Terminal and Paterson are the two remaining shareholders.

“The joint venture, established in 2009, has proven to be mutually beneficial, creating synergies
that have contributed to the success of all shareholders. P&H looks forward to continuing on as a
channel partner with Alliance.” said Anthony Kulbacki, president of P&H’s grain division.

Alliance operations will not change as a result of this transaction, the news release said.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.

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“All of the members of the Western Grain Elevator Association are doing everything in their power to keep the grain supply chain functioning” during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Wade Sobkowich said Tuesday.

“That means we’ll continue to take farmer deliveries, but there will be some differences when the farmer delivers to the country elevators in how he or she interacts with the elevator staff.”

When you arrive at the elevator to deliver grain, you may be asked to stay inside your vehicle if you’re feeling ill or if you’ve been in contact with someone who is sick. Some elevators might ask you to stay inside your vehicle, regardless of how you’re feeling.

Either way, farmers should avoid entering the receiving office, said Sobkowich. Many elevators are operating with a skeleton crew right now and others have put procedures in place to ensure workers maintain the proper distance from each other.

“That keeps employees at safe distances from each other, and it also allows workers to be kept in the wings in case somebody falls ill and they need to be replaced by another worker who is trained and skilled at that particular function,” he said.

Any load receipts, he said, would be brought out to the truck.

“Those types of procedures are being implemented throughout the grain supply chain in order to keep people safe and to keep grain flowing,” said Sobkowich, adding each elevator’s protocols might differ slightly.

“Each company is taking a look at it and trying to implement procedures, but it’s fluid. It’s evolving over time as we learn more and as circumstances change.”

Parrish and Heimbecker, for example, said last week it would be “limiting the amount of customers at our location(s)” and asking farmers making deliveries to remain in their trucks wherever possible. Effective Monday it added a “locked-door policy” for its elevator offices.

The company’s locations are still operating, but grain cheques are now being put in the mail daily and farmers visiting P+H locations are now asked to call ahead to discuss methods to deliver grain, make payments or pick up or drop off seed or inputs.

Cargill’s Prairie grain elevators and ag retail sites are still open, but the offices at those sites are closed to walk-in traffic and farmers are asked to call ahead to co-ordinate deliveries and pickups.

Paterson Grain elevators are also still open but staff are “eliminating all but the most critical face-to-face meetings with customers,” CEO Andrew Paterson said on the company’s website.

Changes in company policy may cause delays when delivering grain, but so far things are going smoothly, Sobkowich said.

“I haven’t heard of any delays yet,” he said. “In the month of March, we’ve been moving a lot of grain trying to recover from the blockades, but that’s not to say there haven’t been delays when it comes to producer deliveries.”

That could change if supply chain workers are forced to stay at home, he added.

“If there is a place where the grain supply chain is going to start to show delays, it’s going to be workers refusing to come to work,” he said.

“The government has been making it known that it wants people to stay at home — but it needs to be clear that the grain supply chain is critical. It’s very important that the language coming out of the provincial governments and the federal government be clear that, if grain is essential, these workers need to work with these new safety protocols that are being implemented.

“We’re operating on the basis that we are essential and that, when the government tells the people to stay at home, they’re not talking about critical people in the supply chain.”

— Jennifer Blair reports for Alberta Farmer from Sylvan Lake. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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Calls to 9-1-1 started coming in at 5:48 a.m. Tuesday, according to Jason Gizen, a local volunteer firefighter and pedigreed seed grower.

Gizen lives in the house closest to the elevator and has a seed cleaning plant beside it — but the fire itself wasn’t what initially woke his family.

“My wife could hear a lot of vehicles” and then realized the phone, which had been switched off for the night, was ringing, Gizen said.

A tense day followed for residents. The village, about 140 km northwest of Swift Current, was evacuated as a precaution.

“There were some tanker cars on the (Great Sandhills Railway) rail line right beside the elevator,” Gizen said.

By early afternoon, there was nothing left of the elevator, Gizen said. His video footage shows smouldering wreckage on and around a pile of grain.

The elevator, which had a listed storage capacity of 3,320 tonnes, had held organic grain for the last couple of years, he said.

It’s too early yet to know what sparked the fire, he added.

The evacuation order was lifted by Tuesday afternoon, Gizen said as the fire was under control. “There’s nowhere it can really go right now.”

The fire also marks a loss for the community, he said, noting the site employed two people.

Current and former residents were sad to see their last elevator go. Gizen said it was “kind of a heritage site.”

Paterson’s other elevators in the area include a larger inland grain terminal at Swift Current and a small elevator at Fox Valley, about 50 km south of Prelate.

— Lisa Guenther is a field editor for Grainews and Country Guide at Livelong, Sask. Follow her at @LtoG on Twitter. For more photos and video of the Prelate fire, visit @gizen_jason on Twitter.

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China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, told Ottawa last week it would allow no more than one per cent foreign material — called dockage — in Canadian canola shipments as of April 1.

Some say the move is linked to a disagreement between the countries over potential risk for transmitting the blackleg fungus, while others say China wants to slow imports due to its large rapeseed oil stocks.

The higher standard is expected to be difficult and costly for Canadian exporters to meet.

“Companies that are placed in this hardship will think twice about supplying any of these individuals again if some of these obstacles are proven false,” PGF CEO Andrew Paterson said in an interview Wednesday.

Canadian farmers will ultimately pay for heightened risks shipping to China, Paterson said.

Grain handlers will pay them less to cover the risk of shipments potentially being rejected in China, although such discounting has not yet begun, he said.

“That’s why it’s important that the government of Canada and the regulatory bodies fight hard to make sure that these things are not accepted without a very good argument and fight.”

Paterson GlobalFoods is a private, family-owned company based in Winnipeg.

— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the agriculture and mining sectors from Winnipeg.

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Paterson announced Thursday it plans to build a 55,000-tonne capacity handling site at Daysland, about 40 km southeast of Camrose, to start accepting grain sometime next year.

The new unit train loading facility would be the third site in Alberta for privately-held, family-owned Paterson, which operates mainly in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Its other Alberta handling assets include a 57,000-tonne capacity terminal at Dunmore, just east of Medicine Hat, and its 43,000-tonne capacity Long Plain terminal outside Gleichen, about 80 km east of Calgary.

At Daysland, which is on Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) track, Paterson plans to set up a “highly efficient” loop track — a system the company says it was the first in the industry to adopt, starting at the Long Plain facility in 2011.

With the loop track system, Paterson said it “has been able to minimize train loading times, setting a new industry benchmark.”

The Daysland site will also have a dual receiving area for “efficient” truck unloading, which with the rail system is expected to offer “quick turnaround times for off-farm deliveries.”

Other grain handlers already operating in the area include Viterra, at Camrose and Killam; Cargill, at Camrose and Viking; and Providence Grain and Great Northern Grain, with sites at Viking and Killam respectively. — AGCanada.com Network

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Although the ruling overturns the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) decision in favour of the complaint

launched in 2008 by the CWB, North East Terminal Ltd., Parrish &Heimbecker Ltd., Paterson Grain, Providence Grain Group Inc. and North West Terminal Ltd., the CWB isn’t concerned because CN’s grain-shipping service is much improved today.

“The whole process (of going to the CTA) has been very useful because it has really put a focus on (rail) service,” said CWB spokesman John Lyons. “Since then we’ve been able to work with CN to resolve many service issues.CN has changed its system of car allocations and things are just working much better.”

The CWB and grain companies alleged CN failed to fulfil its statutory “level-of-service” obligation for grain shipped in the 2007-08 crop year. The CTA, a quasi-judicial agency, agreed.

“CN seriously failed to meet stated general car allocation needs,” a CTA decision issued in January 2008 stated in part. “The records in this respect point to a chronic service failure…. The agency finds that over this period, CN breached its statutory service obligations.”

However, the CTA said it wanted more data before making a final ruling. In September 2008 the CTA ruled CN was in breach of its level-of- service obligations to the CWB and the complainant companies with the exception of Providence.

The CTA ordered CN to provide those shippers with a level of service as set out in established service performance benchmarks.

The Federal Appeal Court overturned the CTA’s ruling and the CTA formally dismissed the level-of-service complaint against CN Oct. 29. allan@fbcpublishing.com

———

“Sincethenwe’ve beenabletoworkwith CNtoresolvemany service issues.CN has changeditssystem ofcarallocations andthingsarejust workingmuchbetter.”

– John Lyons

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“Consolidation of the fertilizer industry worldwide is far from over.”

– JOERGEN OLE HASLESTAD

Aprotracted takeover battle in the global fertilizer industry ended this week with a victory for CF Industries Holdings Inc., but the losers are unlikely to wait long before climbing back into the fray.

CF Industries’ agreement to acquire Terra Industries brought to a close a year-long battle in which CF was alternately cast as both predator and prey.

In the end, the $4.7-billion CF-Terra deal scuppered Agrium Inc.’s efforts to snap up CF, while forcing Norway’s Yara to bow out of a bidding war for Terra.

Even so, the forces pushing both of those fertilizer companies to grow through acquisitions won’t fade away. Their strategies, however, may need to be adjusted.

Although Agrium dropped its bid for CF, the Canadian fertilizer maker has already said it will seek fresh growth opportunities across the agricultural value chain – from supplying farmers to producing fertilizers, and other businesses in between.

Agrium’s growth ambitions mirror those of other players in the sector. While mega-deals are unlikely, most analysts see scope for smaller acquisitions, as companies look to replace aging assets, secure strategic supplies and fill gaps in their geographic footprints.

That said, M&A activity and rising fertilizer prices have begun to drive up valuations in the industry. As a consequence, fertilizer makers may have to expand through allied businesses.

Calgary, Alberta-based Agrium is already the largest North American agricultural products retailer and it has repeatedly expressed a desire to further expand its retail footprint.

“Not that long ago, Agrium bought some retail outlets and I think that is what they will continue to do – focus on retail and focus on the potash expansion, which is what the market wants them to do anyway,” said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Edlain Rodriguez.

Agrium chief executive Mike Wilson is a shrewd dealmaker, who has grown the company through a series of takeovers. Many believe he is unlikely to sit on his hands as larger rivals look to consolidate.

Wilson led Agrium’s takeovers of Royster-Clark in 2006, UAP in 2008 and numerous small deals, including its acquisition of 32 retail outlets from Archer Daniels Midland in 2007.

One gap in Agrium’s retail footprint is Western Canada. Although the company does have a presence in the region, the dominant farm-supply retailer there is Viterra, a grain handler that also owns over 250 retail outlets in the region.

“I believe Viterra and Agrium would be a very nice matchup,” said independent analyst Chris Damas, who argues that Viterra’s stock has languished despite the company’s growth prospects.

That said, there are drawbacks as well. Many of Viterra’s retail outlets are integrated with its grain terminals, and Agrium is not familiar with the grain-handling business.

“Viterra is in so many other different businesses that don’t fit Agrium’s sweet spot,” said analyst Robert Winslow of Wellington West Capital Markets. “Not to say it’s impossible, but I think it’s unlikely.”

David MacKay, president of the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers, notes that other possible targets in Canada include privately owned James Richardson, with about 70 to 80 outlets, along with smaller networks owned by Cargill, Paterson Grain, and Parrish & Heimbecker.

Agrium’s growth ambitions are echoed by others in the sector, as a sharp decline in fertilizer demand in 2009 is already giving way to a strong rebound in 2010, pushing up fertilizer pricing even as the price of major grains have fallen in recent weeks.

Norway’s Yara, despite bowing out of the takeover battle for Terra, remains upbeat on consolidation prospects within the fertilizer sector.

“Consolidation of the fertilizer industry worldwide is far from over,” said Yara chief executive Joergen Ole Haslestad.

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transferring all this development to the City of Winnipeg?”

– ANDREW PATERSON, PATERSON GRAIN

The City of Winnipeg may have a fight on its hands as it seeks to annex land from a neighbouring municipality for a planned inland port facility.

Residents of the Rural Municipality of Rosser voiced strong opposition to the plan at a public meeting Oct. 2.

The city wants to take control of 12,000 acres of land, much of it agricultural, from Rosser for CentrePort Canada, a proposed internat ional delivery and distribution centre.

But many of the 200 residents at the meeting characterized the city’s annexation plan as a land grab.

“Rosser has been a good custodian and if this is the penalty we pay for being a good custodian for this province, I think it’s a shame,” said local farmer Jack Oatway, 86, whose grandparents homesteaded in the area in 1896.

The City of Winnipeg sent a letter to Rosser council in May outlining its annexation plans. This would be the first expansion of the city’s boundaries since 1972, when it amalgamated its suburbs to form Unicity.

The land which the city wants takes in nearly 16 per cent of Rosser’s population of 1,364 people, 10 per cent of the municipality’s 441.43-square-kilometre area, 38 per cent of its $106.8 million in property assessment and 38 per cent of its $1.4 million annual property tax revenue.

Winnipeg would reimburse Rosser for lost tax revenue for 10 years at the current rate. The city would also pay the equivalent of new tax revenue, based on a sliding scale, for 15 years, the meeting was told.

Rosser is suggesting an option which would allow the city to annex a portion of the 12,000 acres it needs from the R. M. for CentrePort.

But the city says it is not interested in anything other than the full package, said Al ice Bourgouin, Rosser’s reeve.

Rosser council has not yet replied to the city’s demand. It has been waiting for a development plan from a private engineering consultant. That report is now in council’s hands and a decision will have to be made within two weeks, Bourgouin said.

“YEAH, RIGHT”

If Winnipeg does not compromi se, Ros ser has two choices. It can either accept the city’s demands or refuse them, in which case the matter would go before the Manitoba Municipal Board for hearings and a ruling.

Some at the meeting urged Rosser to take its chances before the municipal board.

“Why are we transferring all this development to the City of Winnipeg?” asked Andrew Paterson, CEO of Paterson Grain, whose company owns three elevators in the disputed area.

“Do you think the city is going to do this for nothing? Be real.”

Others located within the zone worried their municipal taxes will greatly increase if Winnipeg takes them over. Claims by a provincial official that people will continue to pay the same taxes as always were met with laughter and calls of “Yeah, right.”

Copies of a questionnaire requesting feedback from residents were distributed after the meeting. Bourgouin said council will take comments into consideration in making its decision.

Plans call for CentrePort to occupy 20,000 acres of land within the Perimeter Highway adjacent to Richardson International Airport. Winnipeg already owns 8,000 acres of the parcel.

The city recognizes the municipality must not lose financially through annexation and vows to “keep Rosser whole,” according to a city spokesperson.

Although it has a CEO and a board of directors, CentrePort is still only a concept. “The initial steps are not immediately visible,” admitted Chris Lorenc, a board member.

But Lorenc said CentrePort, because of its strategic location, has great promise as an international shipping point for goods flown into Winnipeg on cargo planes. ron@fbcpublishing.com

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“Keith was the type of guy who would never quit.”

– DAVE MANNING

Keith Mills, a highly respected extension agronomist, is being remembered by farmers and colleagues for his energy and intellect and how much they learned from him.

Mills, who worked for Westco, a division of Viterra, died suddenly at his home in Claresholm, Alta., April 7. He was 47 and leaves his wife Sara and their three children, Isaiah, Laura, and Julia.

“Keith was probably one of the brightest guys in ag that could take pure research and translate it into practical farming methodologies that you could use,” said Miamiarea farmer Donald Orchard, who worked with Mills when he was an ag rep based in Carman and later as a Westco ACES (Agronomic Crop Enhancement Specialist) out of Darlingford. “He was just exceptional – an incredible agronomist. With his early death agriculture has probably lost one of its brightest pragmatists from the research side.”

Retired Pilot Mound-area farmer Dave Manning said he was struck by Mills’ energy and dedication while serving as ag rep in Pilot Mound during the early part of his career.

“Keith was the type of guy who would never quit,” Manning said. “If you had a problem no matter what time of day or night he addressed it.”

NO QUITTER

For a few years, Mills used his “holidays” to work for SeCan planting demonstration plots across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Dale Alderson, who was with SeCan then and is now manager of seed marketing at Paterson Grain, worked with Mills. Alderson recalls leaving Mills working alone after a 10-day stretch to attend a meeting. When he got back two days later, Mills was just finishing up. “He just never stopped,” Alderson said. “He had amazing stamina.”

Mills, with a degree in agriculture and an honours degree in commerce, was a voracious reader. “There wasn’t a topic he wasn’t well read on,” Alderson said.

Dave Kelner worked with Mills at Manitoba Agriculture and later at Westco. Kelner, now Monsanto’s technology development lead for Western Canada, said there was nobody he liked to debate with more than Mills.

“He always had a different angle,” Kelner said.

Mills was reluctant to accept conventional wisdom and frequently did his own research.

“To him every field was a research project.”

BACKYARD RESEARCH

One year, round leaf mallow was a weed problem in the fall and there was interest in how much glyphosate was needed to control it, Kelner said. Mills had the weed in his garden and turned it into a research plot.

When some people were advocating sequestering carbon from tractor exhaust into fields, thinking the nitrogen captured would benefit farmers, Mills dug into it and determined it wouldn’t be worth the bother.

Mills was a great “myth buster,” said John Heard, Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiative’s soil fertility specialist. Some farmers thought applying aspirin to crops was worthwhile. Mills demonstrated it had no merit, Heard said.

Kelner believes Mills’ stubbornness probably saved his life. Mills went on a solo sea kayaking trip on Canada’s East Coast. He got caught in a storm along a shore that was too rocky to land on, while the storm kept pushing him out to sea. Mills had to paddle for hours just to hold his position. “He thought he was done,” Kelner said.

Eventually, Mills found a spit of beach and got ashore, collapsed on the beach and slept for 10 hours straight, said Kelner. Then he turned around and went home.

Work was Mills’ life until he met and married Sara. “That finally changed him,” Kelner said.

Mills was known for his “need for speed.” He loved fast motorcycles and would often brave gravel roads to do a farm visit on his motorcycle.

NEED FOR SPEED

Mills’ obituary says he’ll be remembered in part for his… “questionable judgment when on a motorcycle.”

Mills not only helped farmers learn about agriculture, he also mentored other agronomists.

Richard Marsh, Syngenta’s technical field manager for the eastern Prairies replaced Mills as ag rep in Pilot Mound.

“Keith had done such a great job at Pilot Mound that life could’ve been hard for me there, but he provided advice,” Marsh said. “It sounds silly but he had a heart of gold. He really wanted to help people succeed. All I can say is what a great man he was, what a great person he was and good friend as well.”

The defunct Pilot Mound marketing club plans to send its leftover funds to Mills’ family and his fellow agronomists are working on setting up an award for extension agronomists in Mills’ name.

Perhaps the most fitting tribute to any extensionist is the conversation this writer overheard when two farmers were remembering Mills.

“Boy, I sure learned a lot from that guy,” the one farmer said.

“So did I ,” the other replied. “So did I.”

allan@fbcpublishing.com

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Construction will be completed soon on a series of four new steel bins adjoining the existing large four-section white silo at Paterson Grain.

“We had more producers than we could handle,” said Larry Shackel, general manager for Paterson Grain, noting the upgraded facility should be loading by mid-Feb. “We just couldn’t handle all the grain before.”

Paterson Grain, which has annually been moving around 140,000 tonnes of mostly wheat and canola through its facility east of town for the past 10 years, is expecting that figure to move up to 200,000 tonnes in 2009.

The elevator previously had the capacity for storing 9,000 tonnes of grain. With the addition of the new bins, which can hold up to 4,500 tonnes each, or an overall increase of 18,000 tonnes, the plant’s capacity will now move up to 27,000 tonnes.

The company is also expanding its rail capacity for loading cars. “We now have the capacity for a 112-car track,” said Shackel.

Another reason for the company’s decision to expand was due to the closure of a number of elevators in the area, he added.

“Over the past three to five years, some of the smaller elevators have closed – in Minto, Cartwright and Ninga,” said Shackel.

Despite the wave of newer, modern facilities, the company plans to keep one of the town’s historical landmarks operating.

The old UGG (United Grain Growers) elevator, located at the corner of Broadway and Railway, will continue to be used for storage, said Shackel.

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