CN And CP Moved Over 18 Percent More Grain This Crop Year

Dec 22, 2014

In the 2013-2014 crop year, 38,461,953 million tonnes of Western grain were moved, which is 18.8 percent higher than the volume moved during the previous crop year. The average length of haul of 945 miles was just one mile, or 0.1 percent higher, than the previous crop year.

CP's grain revenue of $623,620,236 was $1,653,714 below its entitlement of $625,273,950.

CN’s grain revenue of $672,110,852 was $4,981,915 above its entitlement of $667,128,937.

CN now has 30 days to pay the amount by which they exceeded their 2013-2014 revenue entitlement, in addition to a five percent penalty of $249,096. Government regulations stipulate that such payments must be made to the Western Grains Research Foundation, a farmer-financed and directed organization set up to fund research that benefits Prairie farmers.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.