Fields On Wheels Conference Discusses Congestion And Logistical Challenges

Dec 15, 2021

The Fields on Wheels Conference brings together representatives from all segments of the agricultural and logistics supply chains.

The 26th annual event was held virtually on Tuesday.

Dr. Martin Scanlon, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the University of Manitoba, gave one of the opening statements.

"The focus of today's Fields on Wheels Conference is addressing some of the challenges that were associated with supply chains, particularly driven by some of the events that we've seen as a result of the pandemic but we're also seeing some of these supply chains blockages as a result of some of these extreme weather events. This is a really timely topic. A lot of Canadian consumers and also consumers around the world are very concerned now about food security."

Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development Minister Ralph Eichler also spoke during the event.

"As the processing sector grows, Manitoba's agriculture sector continues to rely on rail and road supply chains to move products to international export markets," he said. "We are truly blessed as a province and as a country to be able to export our goods to other countries and provinces in order to make us whole. There's incredible investment in Canada's grain handling and transportation system by railways and grain handlers, not only today, but looking forward to tomorrow."

The theme this year was 'Congestion and Logistical Challenges in the Late-Pandemic'.

The formal program began with a global view of the events that have choked supply chains and disturbed world markets. Peter Earle, of the American Institute for Economic Research, outlined the congestion sources of the North American transportation networks. The local impacts were updated by Doug Mills, from the Port of Vancouver, and Stephen Paul, of Ray-Mont Logistics.

The CP Rail single-line service via the KCS and the CAXXOR investment at the Port of Mazatlán that forges a rail link to Centreport were discussed. Dr. Gaston Cedillo, Instituto Mexicano del Transporte provided analysis and comment on new rail connections with Canada from the Mexican perspective.

New canola crushing capacity and pea processing were described by Janelle Courcelles of Pulse Canada and Chris Vervaet of the Canadian Oilseed Processor Association. Todd Lewis, of the Agricultural Producers of Saskatchewan, described what this means to farmers.

Joel Carlson of CPCS presented scenario forecasts of the Canadian grain supply chain exports to 2030.

The event is co-hosted by the University of Manitoba Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, the Transport Institute, and the Asper School of Business.

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Video: The FCDC and AgSmart Bring Plant Breeding to a Wider Audience

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