The Andersons Grain Group’s Toledo-area elevator at Maumee, Ohio. (AndersonsGrain.com)

The Andersons to pay debt, invest in core units after rail business sale

Renewable fuels, specialty foods investments considered

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain handler The Andersons plans to use US$550 million from the sale of its rail leasing business to pay down debt and invest in sustainable farming and low carbon initiatives in its core grain and fertilizer units, CEO Pat Bowe told Reuters on Tuesday. Maumee, Ohio-based Andersons sold its rail

(Dave Bedard photo)

CN, CP set third-quarter records for grain movement

MarketsFarm — Canada’s big two railways again reported moving record amounts of Canadian grain during the third quarter of 2020. Canadian National Railway (CN) reported Monday it had shipped 7.76 million tonnes of grain by rail, and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) said Friday it had moved 7.72 million tonnes. For CN that not only marked


(TeamstersRail.ca)

CN conductors on strike

Unionized conductors, trainpersons and yard workers at Canadian National Railway are on strike as of Tuesday morning. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), whose CTY arm represents about 3,000 unionized CN staff, announced late Monday its members would stop work at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we were unable to reach a deal with CN,”


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Alberta to buy rail cars for oil

Ottawa | Reuters — The Alberta government is in talks to buy rail cars to transport 120,000 barrels per day of crude oil and expects a deal to conclude within weeks, Premier Rachel Notley said Wednesday, as the province takes actions to move oil stuck in the region because of a lack of pipeline capacity.


While grain shippers can gain from the auction, CN doesn’t earn any more because of the MRE

Need grain cars? Consider CN’s auction

CN Rail has several programs that allow shippers to lock in their car supply

It was commonly thought Canada’s railways wouldn’t auction rail cars because the maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) prevents them from pocketing the extra revenue. But CN started offering a limited number of cars to the highest bidder in the 2016-17 crop year, David Przednowek, CN Rail’s director of grain marketing, said in an interview Aug. 24.

(Dave Bedard photo)

Farmers seek ‘urgent’ action from Senate on rail service

Groups representing Canadian grain growers touched down in Ottawa Thursday to urge quick passage of legislation to avoid a sequel to the grain handling logjam of 2013-14. Representatives from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Grain Growers of Canada, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Alberta Federation of Agriculture and B.C. Agriculture Council went