Not only do the shipping delays force producers to store their grains in bins for longer periods of time, they also force some producers to go months without being paid – which is unsustainable even with the best market prices. At a time when most area grain farmers would have already shipped around 50% of their product, many are lucky if they’ve delivered 25%. With the high costs of production and the current market prices, grain farmers across the great plains are struggling to make ends meet due to the basic fact that our national railway is floundering.
But the stalling isn’t just happing on the tracks, it’s happening in the senate as well. Proposed legislation, Bill C-49 would provide the government with adequate tools to help farmers with cash flow and force the railroad operators to transport the grains, or face penalties. These measures, however, are tied to other provisions in the bill, namely a new air passenger bill of rights, that Transportation Minister Marc Garneau refuses to separate out in the bill to pass the rail provisions more quickly.
“We need action,” says Ron Bonnett, head of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture “We’re going to have farmers who are struggling to pay their bills and families that are suffering because of inaction by government and by the railroads.”