OmniTrax To Cease Shipping Grain At Port Of Churchill

Manitoba farmers may have difficulties with grain transportation again this year, after it was revealed this week that grain will no longer be shipped out of the Port of Churchill.

 

Reports state that Denver-based OmniTrax, which operates the port, has laid off as many as 40 employees, with more pink slips possibly on the way in the coming days.

 

Elden Boon is the president of the Hudson Bay Route Association, an advocacy group that promotes continued shipments through the Port of Churchill.

 

He says he was "blindsighted" by the news.

 

"OmniTrax had given no indication that this kind of thing was going to take place," explained Boon. "We had met with them in early July. We had concerns with the low tonnage last year and we just wanted to make sure that wasn't a repeat this year and they assured us that the shipments were going to take place. There was actually some new customers that had been in contact with them pertaining to shipments through the port.

 

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.