Laura Reiter, a farmer from Radisson, Sask., northwest of Saskatoon, was elected to the post following the first meeting of the new board following the organization’s 2023 annual general meeting.

Reiter is a producer and trained agrologist who has spent time working in research and in the agriculture retail sector. She’s also a familiar face in Saskatchewan agriculture, having served as a board member, and later as chair, of Sask Wheat.

“WGRF has a long history of funding research that benefits Prairie farmers, and I am honoured to have been elected as the board chair,” Reiter said in a release Tuesday.

She also thanked departing chair Keith Degenhardt for “his leadership, commitment and service to WGRF over many years.”

Kevin Auch of Carmangay, Alta. was re-elected vice-chair.

WGRF is the largest producer-led funder of field crop research in Canada. Since 1981, WGRF has funded more than $229 million of research in field crops of interest to western Canadian farmers.

“WGRF is a unique organization, focused on funding crop research to benefit Prairie farmers,” Reiter added. “Directing investments in field crop research on behalf of farmers is a responsibility that we all take very seriously, and I look forward to helping WGRF continue to invest in projects that will deliver a positive on-farm impact.”

The board also thanked outgoing directors Bill Prybylski and Stewart Wells for their time with the organization.

WGRF’s 2023 board of directors is:

• Mark Akins, Hearne, Sask.
• Mike Ammeter, Sylvan Lake, Alta.
• Kevin Auch, Carmangay, Alta.
• Dave Bishop, Barons, Alta.
• Terry Boehm, Allan, Sask.
• Wade Hainstock, Moose Jaw, Sask.
• Robert Kennedy, Hughenden, Alta.
• Adam Littman, Saltcoats, Sask.
• Doug Martin, East Selkirk, Man.
• Jeff Nielsen, Olds, Alta.
• Malcolm Odermatt, Fort St. John, B.C.
• Kenton Possberg, Humboldt, Sask.
• Laura Reiter, Radisson, Sask.
• Greg Sundquist, Watrous, Sask.
• Jill Verwey, Portage la Prairie, Man.
• Jeremy Welter, Kerrobert, Sask.
• Glenn Wright, Vanscoy, Sask.
• Dick Wymenga, Leslieville, Alta.

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The Flax Council of Canada said Tuesday its search for a new president is underway, after Wayne Thompson announced in August he has left the position to become executive director of the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), effective Dec. 1.

“Over the past two years, it has been a fantastic opportunity to serve the board of directors and be part of the Flax Council of Canada,” Thompson, who previously served a stint as a WGRF program manager, said in a release Tuesday.

Thompson has been president of the national council since 2021, and executive director of the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission (SaskFlax) since 2014. He took the national council through what it described Tuesday as “a transition in membership and direction.”

The Flax Council of Canada, in operation since 1986, shut its Winnipeg head office in 2018. At the time it cited declining flax production and a corresponding decline in levy funding; it also saw the departure of a major funding member, Richardson International, at that time.

On Thompson’s watch, the council said, it has also worked toward “eliminating trade barriers and building strong government relations to benefit the flax industry.”

The national council’s new search for a president also follows SaskFlax’s recent decision to merge its management and office with fellow oilseed development commission SaskCanola in Saskatoon.

After Thompson’s announced departure for the WGRF, SaskFlax and the Flax Council of Canada had jointly put out a call in August for a new chief executive for the two organizations. But that joint position was not filled and the Flax Council is not a party to the new SaskFlax/SaskCanola arrangement.

The national council’s board said Tuesday it will work with Ralph Kikkert of Guelph consultancy Strive on a “thorough search” for its next president “over the next several months.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Canadian Transportation Agency, which sets the maximum revenue entitlements (MREs) each crop year for Prairie grain handled by Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), on Thursday ruled both railways overshot their maximums for the 2021-22 crop year.

The CTA’s determination found CN’s regulated grain revenue came in $3,068,088 above its MRE of $589,140,501 for the crop year, while CP’s came in $2,363,775 above its MRE of $513,144,863.

As per grain handling regulations, those overages must be forfeited in the next 30 days to the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), along with penalties of five per cent ($153,404 for CN, $118,189 for CP) — for a combined payout of $5,703,456.

The CTA’s figures show CN and CP moved a combined 28.4 million tonnes of western grain in 2021-22 crop year — a “notable drop” of 46 per cent from their combined record 52.3 million-tonne handle in 2020-21, “due mainly to the drought conditions experienced in Western Canada during the (2021-22) growing season.”

The CTA’s calculations showed the average lengths of haul for CN and CP in 2021-22 to be 977 miles and 909 miles respectively, for a combined weighted average length of haul of 946 miles, down from 966 in 2020-21.

In 2020-21, by comparison, the CTA had found CN overshot its MRE by almost $2.4 million, while CP came in about $20.25 million below its MRE. Prior to that, both railways overshot their MREs in five of six crop years, except for 2018-19 when grain revenue came in below both railways’ MREs.

The MREs, commonly described as revenue caps, are calculated using a formula factoring in each railway’s annual grain handle and average length of haul along with the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI), an inflation index reflecting the railways’ costs for labour, fuel, materials and capital purchases.

The 2021-22 crop year is the fourth in which CN and CP have separate VRCPIs, following amendments to the Canada Transportation Act in 2018.

CN’s 2021-22 VRCPI was set at 1.4572, up from 1.4441 in 2020-21, while CP’s was set at 1.4826, down from 1.5055.

Those figures were reached after both railways applied for, and received, adjustments to their previously-announced 2021-22 VRCPIs. CP sought an adjustment based on its purchases of 1,400 new hopper cars and CN, for purchasing and leasing 1,075 additional hopper cars — transactions which weren’t accounted for when the VRCPIs were first set.

The WGRF’s research fund, the agreed-upon beneficiary from MRE overages since 2000, is a Saskatoon-based, producer-directed fund that backs crop research to “enhance the profitability and sustainability” of western Canadian grain farmers. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Canadian Transportation Agency on Wednesday released its determination that CN’s 2021-21 Prairie grain revenue of $1,044,909,345 came in $2,399,676 above its maximum revenue entitlement (MRE) for the year.

CN’s rival Canadian Pacific Railway, meanwhile, booked 2020-21 Prairie grain revenue of $1,035.175,212, which put it $20,248,072 below its MRE for the crop year.

The CTA’s decision gives CN 30 days to pay out its overage — plus a five per cent penalty of $119,984 — to the Western Grains Research Foundation, the mandated beneficiary when either railway exceeds its annual revenue cap.

The CTA noted the 2020–21 crop year was a record year for the railways in terms of combined Prairie grain handle at 52,334,795 tonnes of western grain — the “highest volume ever on the record” and nine per cent over the 2019-20 handle.

CN moved 26.36 million tonnes of Prairie grain during the crop year, the CTA said, while CP moved 25.98 million.

CN and CP recorded average weighted haul lengths of 1,018 and 913 miles respectively during the crop year — a combined average of 966 miles, up 0.1 per cent on the year.

Commonly called the “revenue cap,” the MRE for each of the two railways varies with the tonnage of grain moved. A railway company can keep within its MRE, the CTA said, “so long as it does not charge more, overall, than the average rate per tonne as set by the first part of the MRE formula.”

The MRE formula factors in the tonnage each railway hauls, the average length of haul and the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI), an inflation index set each year by April 30 to reflect each railway’s costs for labour, fuel, materials and capital purchases.

The VRCPIs for CN and CP for 2020-21 were first set in April last year at 1.4202 and 1.4205 respectively — both down from 2019-20. However, both were later increased as the two railways sought to get additional costs factored into the VRCPIs. Among those were:

• costs CN incurred obtaining hopper cars, as per 10 car supply agreements and three purchase agreements;
• CP’s cost of capital, after an April 9 ruling from the Federal Court of Appeal that the CTA should determine CP’s cost-of-capital rate for 2020-21 with the same methodology used for 2019-20; and
• CN’s decision to extend its lease by three months to the end of the 2020-21 crop year on a fleet of G3 hopper cars, rather than return them at the end of April 2021 as originally planned, “given notable grain volume increases this crop year.”

The final VRCPIs used to set the MREs for CN and CP for 2020-21 were 1.4441 and 1.5055 respectively. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The Canadian Transportation Agency on Thursday issued its annual determination of how much, if any, revenue Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) made over their maximum grain revenue entitlements (MREs) for the crop year.

CN’s Prairie grain revenue came in $5,773,741 over its $802.44 million cap, while CP’s Prairie grain revenue came in $1,078,947 over its $724.38 million limit, the agency said.

CN and CP each have 30 days to pay their overages, plus five-per-cent penalties of $288,687 and $53,947 respectively, into the Western Grains Research Foundation’s endowment fund, income from which is directed to research work.

The railways’ combined 2016-17 Prairie grain handle rose 6.9 per cent from the year-earlier period, to 43.2 million tonnes, with an average haul length of 953 miles, up 0.2 per cent, the agency said.

Of that combined grain handle, 31.79 million tonnes moved west to ports at Vancouver and Prince Rupert, while 11.4 million tonnes went east to Thunder Bay or other ports in Eastern Canada.

CN’s total Prairie grain handle for the crop year came in at 22.32 million tonnes, with an average haul length of 1,004 miles, while CP handled 20.87 million tonnes with an average haul length of 898 miles.

CN’s overage for 2016-17 is its fourth in a row, after it topped its MREs by 0.15, 0.9 and 0.7 per cent in 2015-16, 2014-15 and 2013-14 respectively.

CP’s grain revenue came in 0.5 per cent over its MRE in 2015-16, 0.3 per cent over in 2014-15, and 0.3 per cent below in 2013-14.

The annual MREs for CN and CP are calculated each year using a formula based on total grain tonnage and average length of haul as well as the Volume-related Composite Price Index (VRCPI).

The VRCPI is an inflation index accounting for forecast changes in the two railways’ costs for labour, fuel, material and capital purchases.

The 2016-17 VRCPI was set in April 2016 at 1.3275, a 4.8 per cent increase from the previous year, citing expected declines in the Canada/U.S. currency exchange rate, as the railways’ materials purchases are often paid for in U.S. dollars.

For 2017-18, the VRCPI was set last April at 1.3817, up 4.1 per cent based mainly on an expected 3.5 per cent increase in forecast price changes for “railway inputs,” particularly fuel costs. –– AGCanada.com Network

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The Alberta Wheat Commission, Sask Wheat and the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association on Tuesday announced the formation of the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) to “facilitate long-term investments aimed at improving profitability and competitiveness for western Canadian wheat farmers.”

The commissions, in a joint release, said their new coalition will “facilitate a collaborative approach to producer funding of regional and national research projects in variety development and agronomy, including the next Canadian National Wheat Cluster and core wheat breeding agreements with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and universities.”

Other “regional” projects that line up with the coalition’s variety development and agronomic priorities will also be considered for funding, they said.

CWRC project funding will be shared on a proportionate basis based on checkoff revenue, the three commissions said.

The new coalition’s structure allows for more producer or private sector groups to join as “organizational members,” providing a platform for the coalition to pursue what it described as “public, private, producer partnerships (4Ps).”

CWRC administration will be handled by a “host” commission, rotating every three years, starting with Sask Wheat.

Eight farmers, including the AWC’s Kevin Auch, Jason Saunders and Terry Young, Sask Wheat’s Ken Rosaasen, Glenn Tait and Laura Reiter, and the MWBGA’s Cale Jeffries and Dylan Wiebe, will sit on the coalition’s first board.

The commissions took on an expanded role in handling checkoff funding after the Western Canadian Deduction (WCD) on wheat and barley sunset on July 31.

All three commissions had single checkoffs in place for Aug. 1, covering both their own work and the WCD’s funding obligations, which include funds for the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre and Cigi, the Canadian International Grains Institute.

The WCD checkoffs had been set up in 2012 by the federal government as a transition move following its deregulation of the CWB’s single marketing desk for Prairie wheat and barley.

Where the WGRF previously led research initiatives through WCD funding, the commissions said they will now “ensure continuity” in new spring wheat variety development is maintained through the CWRC, and will engage WGRF as “a key player” through the transition.

The WGRF, which will remain a separate entity, steered by its own board of directors, has already charted a four-year transition plan providing about $18 million per year in research funding out to 2020.

That money, coming from WGRF’s wheat and barley reserve funds, is to cover its core wheat and barley variety development commitments; ongoing funding commitments; new projects focused on “sustainability, resiliency and efficiency” of crop production systems; and new projects dealing with “specific research issues” in intermediate Prairie field crops.

The WGRF has said its transition plan has the commissions’ support and will “ensure the stability of core breeding programs” at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan and University of Manitoba out to 2020.

“Most of the best performing wheat varieties available to farmers are the result of producer-funded wheat breeding efforts,” Auch said in the commissions’ release Tuesday.

“I look forward to working with my provincial counterparts to continue this work with the goal of seeing new, high-performing varieties that result in better returns and increased competitiveness for farmers.” — AGCanada.com Network

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The agency said Dec. 22 it has determined Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and Canadian National Railway (CN) went over their maximum revenue entitlements (MREs) for Prairie grain by $3,386,483 and $1,041,913 respectively during the 2015-16 crop year.

The two railways’ respective MREs for 2015-16 had been set at $677,879,839 and $684,749,693.

CP and CN now have 30 days to pay their overages to the WGRF, which has been the mandated beneficiary for such payments under the Canada Transportation Act since 2000. The railways also must pay five per cent penalties of $169,324 and $52,096 respectively, the CTA said.

CN’s overage for 2015-16 is its third in a row, after it topped its MREs by 0.9 and 0.7 per cent in 2014-15 and 2013-14 respectively. CP’s grain revenue came in 0.3 per cent over its MRE in 2014-15, and 0.3 per cent below its MRE in 2013-14.

The two railways together moved 40,393,402 tonnes of Prairie grain in 2015-16, down 2.2 per cent from their total volume in 2014-15, the CTA said. Their combined average length of haul in 2015-16 was 951 miles, up four from the previous crop year.

CN’s Prairie grain handle in 2015-16 came in at 19,784,579 tonnes, with an average haul of 1,015 miles. CP’s handle in the same crop year was 20,608,823 tonnes, with an average haul of 890 miles.

The annual MREs for CN and CP are calculated each year using a formula based on total grain tonnage and average length of haul as well as the Volume-related Composite Price Index (VRCPI).

The VRCPI is an inflation index accounting for forecast changes in the two railways’ costs for labour, fuel, material and capital purchases.

The agency said in April 2015 it would trim the VRCPI for 2015-16 by 5.6 per cent, to 1.2517, based in part on a sharper-than-expected drop in fuel costs.

Specifically, the CTA said at the time, it had “over-forecasted” the expected change in the railways’ fuel costs for 2014-15, based on “third-party” outlooks for crude oil prices and the value of the Canadian dollar.

In April 2016, however, the CTA bumped up the 2015-16 VRCPI by 0.8 per cent, to 1.2668, after CN sought an adjustment.

CN had applied for the change earlier that month, the agency said at the time, based on a company commitment to obtain over 1,700 hopper cars from its U.S. subsidiaries.

Those U.S. cars, CN said at the time, were to be pressed into regulated grain service as replacements for withdrawn federally-owned hopper cars in Canada. — AGCanada.com Network

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Montreal-based CN on Monday filed in the Federal Court of Appeal, seeking leave to appeal the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) Dec. 29 finding that the railway had overshot its federally-mandated maximum grain revenue entitlement for 2014-15 by $6.87 million.

The CTA, in such cases, has required since 2000 that CN and/or Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) pay any such overages to the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), plus a five per cent penalty. In CN’s case, that brings the total owing to just under $7.21 million.

CN said Monday it believes the CTA “did not apply the revenue cap properly, which erroneously caused it to conclude CN had exceeded its revenue entitlement.”

A spokesperson for CP — which is on the hook for $2.24 million in similar overages and penalties for 2014-15 — was not immediately available Monday to say whether it also plans to seek an appeal.

CN’s notice of motion on Monday also seeks a stay on payment to the WGRF, pending the outcome of the appeal. The CTA usually requires the railways, if need be, to pay up within 30 days of its ruling.

CN said Monday it had already put that payment in escrow, pending the appeal. However, CN also said in its notice of motion that the WGRF has “refused” to agree to CN’s request that the payment be kept in escrow, leaving CN “exposed to irreparable harm” if a stay of payment isn’t granted.

CN, in its notice of motion, said the CTA “refused to recognize the actual mileage over which CN moved grain” in 2014-15 and based its mileage calculation for CN on “outdated information.” CN estimated that decision impacted its revenue cap by about $5.4 million.

CN said the CTA’s calculation for 2014-15 also includes rail movements to destinations “expressly excluded” from the revenue cap provisions, including traffic to CN’s Thornton Yard and Vancouver Intermodal Terminal, both at Surrey, B.C.

Not excluding those destinations also impacted the cap, by an estimated $2.1 million, CN said.

CN also said the CTA’s treatment of rail revenue also doesn’t allow the company to be compensated for interswitching, in which one railway picks up a car at a grain elevator or siding and delivers it to another railway for the line haul. In such cases, CN said, the line haul carrier pays the switching carrier for its trip.

“As a direct result of the agency’s punitive approach to accounting for switching revenues alone, CN will have to pay almost $4 million in excess amounts and penalties” for 2014-15, the railway said.

“Procedural fairness”

The CTA said in late December its decision on CN’s revenue took into account four of six adjustments CN sought to make in September and October to the Grain Traffic Database (GTDB) after its previous filings to the database in June.

CN’s other two requested adjustments “were more complex and constitute material changes that require more detailed examination,” the CTA said.

Those two changes involve mileage between Thornton Yard and various spots in the greater Vancouver area, and between its Neebing Yard hub at Thunder Bay, Ont. and various points in the area, the agency said.

The CTA said it “intends to first consult with industry stakeholders, including railway companies, grain shippers, producer groups and associations, provincial governments and municipal associations” starting early this year, given the “potential significance” of the requested changes.

Thus, the CTA said, those two requests wouldn’t be considered in the 2014-15 revenue cap findings, but would be deferred to the agency’s decision on 2015-16.

CN, in Monday’s notice of motion, criticized that move as a “procedural fairness issue.”

CN said it “expressly raised” the issues of mileage calculations and excluded destinations ahead of the CTA’s decision in late December, but added that the CTA’s process calls for issues the agency deems “material” to be raised by April 30, in order for the agency to consider them for that crop year.

“Given that a crop year begins on Aug. 1 and ends on July 31 of each year, it is not possible for CN to predict by April 30 the issues which will arise during that crop year,” CN said. — AGCanada.com Network

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Options in the report, from the newly-formed Wheat and Barley Variety Working Group, range from improving the way information is shared, to creating a new producer group to co-ordinate research — or even starting a new producer-owned cereal breeding company.

“Farmers’ interest is in seeing wheat and barley remain competitive in rotations over the long term,” says Garth Patterson, executive director of the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF), the agency that co-ordinated the new study.

Variety development research is needed, to make sure new cereal varieties with higher yields and disease resistance continue to be available.

The challenge is that wheat and barley are self-pollinating crops, less attractive to private-sector breeders than crops such as canola. Because farmers can save wheat and barley seed from year to year with minimal yield losses, they don’t need to pay for certified seed annually, and private-sector breeders find it difficult to recoup investments.

Neither the report’s authors nor the commissions involved recommend one particular option — just that farmers read the report, think about the issues and discuss the possibilities over the winter at producer meetings and commission AGMs.

Why now?

The commissions involved started discussing the need for this work about a year ago, Patterson says. “The driver here has been the changes to the wheat and barley checkoff.”

With the removal of the Canadian Wheat Board, new wheat and barely commissions and associations have been created across the Prairie provinces, funded through farmer levies on the sale of wheat and barley.

Until July 31, 2017, farmers also pay levies to the WGRF (56 cents per tonne of barley and 48 cents per tonne of wheat — except in Alberta, where farmers pay four cents per tonne of wheat to the WGRF, and $1 per tonne to their provincial wheat commission).

After July 31, 2017, it’s not clear if the WGRF levy will be discontinued or transferred to provincial commissions, or if another option will be found. For now, research will continue using the WGRF’s financial reserves. “We’re just finalizing five-year agreements to the end of 2019,” Patterson says.

Other regulatory changes have also led to the need for this study. There have been changes to the federal Plants Breeders Rights Act, designed to encourage increased investment. There is a possibility that end point royalties (EPR) — a system in which farmers would pay a variety royalty fee when they deliver their production — may be implemented in the future.

The study outlines two strategic choices farmers need to make. This first is “how should farmers be involved in varietal development?” Should farmers own assets? How much research should farmers fund through levies?

The second strategic question is “Should farmers support an EPR system?” Under such a system, farmers would pay royalties for the use of seed when they sold their production. This would increase farmers’ costs, but also provide more funding for cereal breeding.

The study

The study, “Exploring Options for Producer Involvement in Wheat and Barley Variety Development” was prepared by Ontario-based JRG Consulting Group.

The Wheat and Barley Variety Working Group, which commissioned the study, includes representatives from Alberta Barley, Alberta Wheat, the B.C. Grain Producers Association, Manitoba Wheat and Barley Association, SaskBarley Development Commission, SaskWheat Development Commission, Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission, WGRF and Winter Cereals Manitoba.

This leads to the need for a lot of logos on the final report. Patterson says the organizations are “very committed to working together and looking at this with a western Canadian approach.”

Patterson compares investing in variety research to investing for your retirement. It can take years for a new variety to come to the market — but new high-yielding varieties can make a big impact to farm economics.

“The little things you do now can have a big impact,” he says. “We don’t want to be 20 years down the road and say ‘This is how farmers might have positioned themselves in supporting wheat and barley breeding.'”

— Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews based at Griffin, Sask. Follow her at @GrainMuse on Twitter.

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The Canadian Transportation Agency on Thursday ruled CN, during the 2013-14 crop year, exceeded its maximum allowable revenue from Prairie grain handling by $4,981,915, above its previously set “entitlement” of $667,128,937.

CN, the CTA said, now has 30 days in which to pay the overage to the WGRF, plus $249,096 as a five per cent penalty.

Montreal-based CN, in a separate statement Thursday, said it’s now “reviewing the agency’s calculations.”

Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), whose annual Prairie grain revenue is also capped under federal regulation, came in at $623,620,236 in 2013-14. That’s $1,653,714 below its “entitlement” of $625,273,950, the agency said.

In 2013-14, the agency said, Canada’s railways moved 38,461,953 tonnes of western grain, a total grain handle 18.8 per cent higher what they moved in the previous crop year.

The average length of haul in 2013-14 was 945 miles — one mile (0.1 per cent) farther than in 2012-13, the CTA said.

Federal transportation law requires the CTA to determine each railway’s maximum revenue entitlement each year and whether it’s exceeded that entitlement has been exceeded.

The caps on CN and CP apply to the movement of grain from Prairie elevators or from U.S. origins to terminals at Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C. and Thunder Bay, Ont. They also apply to CN’s and CP’s movements of grain bound for Eastern Canada or for export, up to either Thunder Bay or the CN station about 250 km north of the city at Armstrong, Ont.

Entitlements are calculated by way of a CTA formula taking in elements such as the volume‑related composite price index (VRCPI), which the CTA calculates before April 30 each year based on forecasted price changes for railways’ labour, fuel, material and capital purchases.

The index, along with the tonnage of grain hauled and the average length of haul during the crop year, is used to work out the railways’ yearly entitlements.

Government regulations name the WGRF, a checkoff-financed, farmer-directed Prairie grain research foundation, as the recipient of any overages.

CP was $177,961 over its cap at the end of 2012-13, while CN came in $6.35 million under its entitlement. — AGCanada.com Network, with files from Allan Dawson, Manitoba Co-operator

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