(File photo by Lorraine Stevenson)

Elevators hope mandatory vaccination doesn’t disrupt operations

New regulations will require all federally regulated employees to comply early in 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes Canada’s major companies hope their operations won’t be disrupted when Ottawa requires federally regulated employees be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting early in 2022. “It depends on whether employees that aren’t vaccinated will get vaccinated, or would they leave their jobs,” Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) said in an interview […] Read more

The Canadian Grain Commission building on Main Street in Winnipeg. (File photo)

Virtual town hall on federal Grain Act set for Friday

Time is running out on consultations, but the April 23 event gives farmers a chance to provide input

Reading Time: 2 minutes The deadline for submitting comments to the federal government’s review of the Canada Grain Act and Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) is April 30, but farmers can also offer feedback at a ‘virtual’ town hall meeting this Friday. The Grain Act and its regulations provide the framework for Canada’s grain quality assurance system and it’s the […] Read more


WGEA executive director Wade Sobkowich. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Allan Dawson)

Railways to blame for terminal shortages, WGEA says

Grain handlers take issue with MarketsFarm report

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The association representing the Prairies’ main grain handling companies says recent delays in loading vessels have less to do with the availability of grain and more to do with the railways hauling it to port. The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), which represents major handlers such as Viterra, Richardson, Cargill and others, raised […] Read more

File photo of a Richardson Pioneer concrete elevator. (Dave Bedard photo)

Richardson to boost Peace region grain handle

New elevator in progress west of Grande Prairie

Reading Time: < 1 minute Prairie grain handler Richardson Pioneer has started work on a new elevator to expand its access to the southern reaches of northwestern Alberta’s Peace region. The Winnipeg company said Thursday it expects to complete a new high-throughput grain elevator by fall next year on Canadian National Railway (CN) track at Huallen, about 35 km west […] Read more


(Ceres Global Ag video screengrab via YouTube)

Ceres to buy further into Saskatchewan grain handling

Company taking up Cargill elevator in northeast

Reading Time: 2 minutes Minneapolis grain dealer Ceres Global Ag has made a deal to take its Prairie elevator network a step further northwest. The company announced Thursday it has an agreement in place to buy Cargill’s elevator and “associated assets” at Nicklen Siding, about 30 km north of Tisdale in northeastern Saskatchewan. The elevator, on Canadian National Railway […] Read more

(FIle photo by Dave Bedard)

Viterra to build new elevator near Winnipeg

New Rosser terminal to have five times the capacity

Reading Time: < 1 minute Grain handler Viterra is set to replace a relatively small concrete elevator just northwest of Winnipeg with a new higher-throughput terminal. Glencore Agriculture’s Prairie grain arm said Thursday it will build a new high-throughput in the municipality of Rosser, Man., near the northwest corner of Winnipeg’s Perimeter Highway. The new site, connecting to Canadian Pacific […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Bunge to sell 35 U.S. elevators to Zen-Noh Grain

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Agricultural commodities trader Bunge said on Tuesday it will sell 35 of its interior U.S. grain elevators to Zen-Noh Grain, dramatically reducing its grain origination network in the United States. Financial details of the sale with the subsidiary of Japan’s Zen-Noh Group were not disclosed, and the deal is subject to […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Safety protocols in place for farmers’ grain deliveries

Grain moving as normal, but farmers need to practice social distancing when delivering to elevators

Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain deliveries to country elevators should continue without any disruptions, the executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association says. “All of the members of the Western Grain Elevator Association are doing everything in their power to keep the grain supply chain functioning” during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Wade Sobkowich said Tuesday. “That means we’ll […] Read more


A freighter is loaded with grain from a terminal at Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Handlers focus on keeping grain moving despite COVID-19

Grain companies, Canadian Grain Commission working but unsure of future

Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s grain companies are committed to keeping grain moving to domestic and export customers, but how the spread of COVID-19 might affect business is still an unknown, says Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association. “We are are going to do everything in our power to keep grain moving at this time,” […] Read more

(FITTrials.com)

P+H to challenge regulators’ request for elevator sale

Case to be heard sometime at later end of fall

Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain firm Parrish and Heimbecker aims to keep its now-expanded Prairie elevator network intact against a proposed order from federal antitrust regulators. Winnipeg-based, privately-held P+H in September announced a deal to buy all 10 of the primary Prairie grain elevators built by agrifood giant Louis Dreyfus Co. between 1998 and 2003. The two companies have […] Read more