The recent work stoppages at Canada’s national railways yet again underscore a hard truth that Canadian grain farmers have grappled with for years: our transportation network is fragile and disruptions are all too frequent. This latest example isn’t an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern that has severely tested the resilience of our country’s agricultural supply chains.

While there’s no Tinder for business, Bunge and Viterra hope they’ve found the perfect match. The two companies announced their intent to merge in June 2023. Viterra brings more than 80 Canadian grain-handling centres to the blossoming relationship, along with sales to more than 70 nations. For its part, Bunge is the world’s largest processor of oilseeds, with 300 operations in 40 countries. Of course, with a celebrity wedding comes major scrutiny.

Following a five-year gap, the federal government reintroduced extended interswitching to the rail system with its 2023 budget. The action was taken at the recommendation of the government’s National Supply Chain Task Force report released in October 2022. Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) executive director Wade Sobkowich believes interswitching legislation must go further to make rail freight shipment more competitive.

At its Stettler station, as many as 24,000 passengers per year board Alberta Prairie Railway train excursions powered by its vintage diesel and steam locomotives. Winter and summer, trips include a stop at Big Valley or the line’s Country Hideaway, an old-time amusement park and meal facility. Not so long ago, the line transported grain as the Central Western Railway.

The Port of Prince Rupert is a remote but critical link in the Canadian crop export chain. Located in Prince Rupert Harbour just south of the Alaska Panhandle on British Columbia’s rugged Pacific coastline, its facilities are strung along a 20-kilometre stretch of Kaien Island, adjacent to the Prince Rupert townsite.

There are two variables that dictate prices and are out of farmers’ control. First, governments everywhere have long meddled with agriculture and trade policy. The net impact has been to create enormous externalities—barriers that inhibit the laws of supply and demand from dictating prices. Canada, a large net exporter, has often struggled for market access and suffered diminished competitiveness against subsidized farmers. Countries such as China, India and the U.S. as well as the EU continue to restrict market access and some also offer farmer supports that distort the market. There is no indication this will fade.

To think outside the box can be good for business as containerized shipping gains popularity in the Canadian grain industry. Though this mode of transport is not without its challenges, more and more shippers see it as a viable alternative to bulk movement.

Farmers are excited that redesigned High Efficiency Product trains (HEP trains) are now able to carry substantially more grain than standard configurations, said Monty Reich, general manager of South West Terminal near Gull Lake, SK.