Western Canadian grain farmers may reap financial losses in the billions in years to come, unless the country’s railroads ramp up their capacity to get crops to market, says a University of Alberta expert.
Western Canadian grain farmers may reap financial losses in the billions in years to come, unless the country’s railroads ramp up their capacity to get crops to market, says a University of Alberta expert.
“A delivery backlog has already cost grain farmers $5 billion to $6.7 billion over the 2013 to 2015 harvest seasons,” said Mohammad Torshizi, an economist in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences. “That’s huge.”
His research anticipates another $10-billion potential loss for producers between 2016 and 2025 if the export capacity issue isn’t resolved, and the transportation crisis will worsen unless the country’s industrial railways—Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP)—plan more effectively, he said.
Producers have raised the alarm about sluggish rail service as grain crops waiting to be transported to overseas markets are sidelined due to a chronic shortage of rail cars and crews.
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Image via Wilson Hui via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
