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BY TREVOR BACQUE
THE
FARMGATE
ALREADY BACKLOGGED AND
bogged down by frigid temperatures and
the biggest grain harvest in history, CN
Rail has avoided a strike by 3,000 of its
workers, averting a full-blown disaster.
The February threat was avoided follow-
ing an agreement with Teamsters Canada,
the union representing the conductors and
yard workers who were prepared to walk
o the job. The deal was reached with no
stoppage in service while a federal govern-
ment back-to-work legislation order was
waiting in the wings.
The strike’s prospect drew sharp and
immediate criticism from western Canadi-
CNSTRIKEAVERTED
JAPANTIRES
OFWAITING,
TURNS
STATESIDE
an agriculture groups and politicians
alike.
Levi Wood, president of the Western
Canadian Wheat Growers Association,
said that even one day of striking would
“slow things down further and compound
the problem.” Meanwhile, Saskatchewan’s
Premier Brad Wall sent federal Trans-
port Minister Lisa Raitt an open letter,
referring to the potential strike as “unac-
ceptable,” and calling the union’s timing
“extremely disappointing.”
Elevators across the Prairies are full,
making on-farm grain storage a necessity
for many farmers unable to move crops.
AMID THE CANADIAN GRAIN
backlog, Japanese buyers recently began
snapping up grain from the United States.
Canada’s last two grain shipments to
Japan have been late and, not wanting to
risk a third, the Japanese Ministry of Ag-
riculture, Forestry and Fisheries snatched
up nearly 50,000 metric tonnes of hard
wheat from the U.S.
With less than an estimated three
months’ worth of wheat for millers and
deliveries in the Asian nation, it’s clear the
Japanese aren’t waiting around.
“Japan will have to depend more on U.S.
wheat as the supply bottlenecks in Canada
won’t be resolved anytime soon,” said
Nobuyuki Chino, president of Continental
Rice Corp. in Tokyo.
Photo: CNRail
IT WASN’T JUST A SIGHTSEEING
trip—Premier Alison Redford was on a
mission. Her January journey to South
Asia included putting pen to paper on a
new Memorandum of Understanding with
India’s state of Meghalaya.
“This region of India has more than
40 million [people]—that’s more than
Canada’s population—and it holds huge
ALBERTA
INKS INDIA
FOODDEAL
opportunities for Alberta agriculture
producers,” said Redford.
The signing will give Alberta farm-
ers more opportunities to sell products
abroad, as well as see the creation of an
agricultural working group to develop
and further trade on machinery, canola
and pulses—the last of which India is the
world’s largest consumer and importer.
Spring
2014
Grains
West
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