Western Canadian farmers and producer groups trying to get rail back on track

Mar 21, 2018

APAS vice-president addresses ag committee at the House of Commons

By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Members of Canada’s ag industry gathered in Ottawa on Monday evening to voice their concerns about the grain transportation backlog.

Ian Boxall, Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) vice-president and grain farmer, spoke to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food about how the transportation shortage is affecting his family operation and other western producers, according to an APAS release on Monday.

“I think the committee got a good cross section on how it’s affecting everyone in western Canada,” Boxall said to Farms.com today.

“I think the main message of everybody there presenting was to pass Bill C-49 with the amendments that the industry has asked for. Let’s get moving forward so we don’t have to continue having this conversation every three to four years,” he said.

Boxall grows grains and oilseeds in northeastern Saskatchewan. On Monday, he spoke to the fact that the poor rail performance has affected the cash flow of his operation, leaving his farm in a tough financial position.

In his area, three-month-old grain contracts remain undelivered. This situation makes it difficult for farmers as they prepare for spring seeding.

“It has been a stressful shipping season for most producers. We are going in to our most expensive season and we are sitting with a backlog of grain in the Prairies. (These delays) are really hindering a farmer’s ability to cash flow his or her operation,” Boxall said.

Producers are experiencing extra financial and personal stress as a result of something that shouldn’t be of concern, he added.

Loaded cars have sat on the tracks for weeks. Producers, however, don’t get paid for the product until it has been delivered to the customer, according to the release.

The rail transportation issue is also influencing fertilizer shipments. Fertilizer companies are being forced to make deliveries on trucks resulting in added labour, equipment costs, road usage and carbon emissions, Boxall said.

Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food minister, has been working with Farm Credit Canada to ensure producers have sufficient funds leading into the growing season.

Grain and oilseed producers affected by the rail backlog also have access to cash advances for a stored or planted crop of up to $400,000, and the first $100,000 is interest-free, according to a release AAFC release on Monday.

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.