More Canadian Grain Transported During Autumn Harvest

Canadian grain producers yielded 50 percent more crop than average last growing season. This incredible yield combined with a long and brutal winter, put major pressure on the handling and transportation system, causing the system to slow significantly. This resulted in changes made to the Canada Transportation Act and the Canada Grain Act. These changes created regulations for Canadian railways, obligating them to ship at least 500,000 tonnes of grain per week and issue weekly reports. This legislation is called Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act and was introduced in the early spring.

“CP RAIL TBAY” by Eja2k Licensed under Public domain -Wikimedia Commons

This growing season is shaping up to be as productive and experts are predicting it could be the second largest yield on record. In order to prevent another back log, the Canadian government has announced new regulations that will require the both Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) railways to ship more than their combined 1 million tonnes of grain, extending into the autumn harvest.

Starting in early August and lasting until November 29^th, both railways must each more 536,250 tonnes of crops each week. If they fail to do so they could face a penalty of $100,000 per violation.

The government deems this action necessary in order to preserve the integrity of Canada’s transportation system and its reputation as a global supplier of Canadian grain. These new regulations are hoped to increase efficiencies, strengthen relationships between Canadian grain exporters and their international customers.

Last year, billions of dollars worth of crops was left on farms during the winter. Although CP and CN picked up the pace in the spring and summer, left over grains from last growing season were still estimated 20.9 million tonnes as of last month, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

These regulations will make it easier for Canadian grain producers to deliver crops to buyers. The railway companies are able to conduct interswitching in more parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This means that they will be able to transfer cars from one railway’s line to the line of the other, creating more efficiencies in the handling and transportation process.

Canadian Grain Exporters

Barr-Ag Hay and Grain Exporters are always looking for opportunities to better serve our customers overseas, providing them with the high-quality Canadian grain they require. This new legislation will help move our Canadian crops from the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies to international shipping ports and to our customers in a timely manner.

Sources: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-extends-railway-grain-volume-160010925.html

http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/daily/feds-extend-railway-grain-volume-rules-through-harvest

http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=829579

Exporting Offical Canadian Grains

There are many different kinds of grains grown in Canada that are available for export around the globe. Did you know that Canada has “official grains”? These specific grains are regulated and secured under the Canada Grain Act by the Canadian Grain Commission.

Official Canadian grains include:

Cereals: Cereal grains are staple crops and are grown more around the world than any other kind of crop. Cereal grains include barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat.

Oilseeds: Oilseeds produce oil and have been used globally for thousands of years. They can be used to make cooking oil, soap, and industrial lubricants. Oilseeds grown in Canada include canola, flaxseed, mustard, rapeseed, safflower seed, solin, soybeans and sunflower seed

Pulses: Pulse grains include crops like beans, chick peas, fababeans, lentils and peas. These crops are all members of the legume family and are pod-bearing plants that produce dry edible seeds. Pulse crops are good for feed for animals and food for humans too. They are very nutritious providing protein, fibre, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Mixed grain: Mixed grain on export is graded in accordance with export specifications and consist of any mixtures of wheat, rye, barley, oats triticale, wild oats and domestic of wild oat groats.

Other crops like buckwheat and corn are called pseudocereals and are also official Canadian grains. Pseudocereals are used like cereal but are not part of the grass family.

All of these grains are regulated under the Canada Grain Act by the Canadian Grain Commission. Policies and procedures include the handling of these grains and providing rules under which the entire Canadian grain industry operates. These regulations, policies and procedures guide the grain industry by assessing grain quality and monitoring the weighing of grain that is shipped to Canadian and international markets.

The Canadian Grain Commission provides international buyers of Canadian grain with an unbiased, third party agency. System monitoring is in place and followed closely by hay and grain exporters like Barr-Ag Hay and Grain Exporters to ensure the best quality of grain is produced and the best harvesting, packaging, storing and shipping methods are used when exporting overseas.

Official Canadian grains like oats, barley, wheat, oilseeds and pulse grains are available from Barr-Agg. Barr-Ag either produces the grains at our farm along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, or it is purchased from a network of local Canadian producers who follow strict growing protocols and quality control standards. All are available for international export. Learn more.

Learn more about the Canada Grain Act and the Canadian Grain Commission.

Timothy Hay Overview

History of Timothy Hay

Timothy hay, also referred to as Timothy-grass, is a grass native to Europe. It is also known as meadow cat’s tail and common cat’s tail and can be found in most of Europe, excluding the Mediterranean region.

The grass was introduced to North America by settlers in the early 18^th century. It was first cataloged by a man named John Hurd, who has noticed it growing wild in New Hampshire and started feeding it to his livestock. He called it “Hurd grass”. In around 1720 a farmer named Timothy Hansen began cultivating it and promoting it commercially throughout the other states. It was around that time the grass got the name “Timothy Hay” and the name has stuck to this day.

Timothy Hay for Forage

Timothy Hay is most used as feed for cattle and horses. It is noted for its relatively low protein and high fibre content. It also contains low moisture which makes the dried grass ideal for storage without worrying about rotting.

Mature horses especially benefit from the low protein and high-quality nutritional content of Timothy hay as it allows them to eat without gaining extra calories or weight. These same dietary factors are beneficial for thoroughbred race horses. Timothy hay is easy on animals’ digestive systems and its high fibre content promotes regular bowel movements.

In many cases, horse owners and cattle producers will mix Timothy hay with other forages like alfalfa and red clover, especially if they feel their animals could benefit from the extra protein and calories offered by legume forages. Since Timothy hay has a low calcium content, it is ideal feed for domestic animals like rabbits and guinea pigs, which are may be more prone to developing bladder stones and crystallization of the urine. Many small animal vets recommend Timothy hay to avoid these problems.

Timothy Hay for Export

Timothy hay grows extremely well under Canada’s growing conditions and is in demand in countries along the Pacific Rim, specifically in Japan. It is used to add fibre to the diets of cattle, and as forage for horses in the Asian market. This huge export market has picked up substantially in Western Canada, with producers like Barr-Ag Hay & Grain Exporters working hard to keep up with the pace of the worlds expanding demand for Timothy hay.

According to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, export shipments from Canada’s western provinces have increased from a trial shipment of 17 tonnes in the early 1980s to over 300,000 tonnes in 2003-04. Out of that total, 80% of it is going to Japan making them Canada’s largest customer for Timothy hay.

Barr-Ag Timothy Hay

Grown near the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Barr-Ag’s Timothy hay is argued to be some of the most palatable hay in the world. We are fortunate to have clean air, rich soil and a pristine environment in which to grow our hay. Increased sugar content is the result of higher altitudes and our northern location, which makes for long, warm days and cool nights during the growing season.

Dryland Timothy hay is cut once per season, while irrigated Timothy is harvested 2 times per season. The majority of Barr-Ag’s Timothy hay is produced on our own farms and the rest we purchase from trusted producers who follow our growing protocols and adhere to our quality control standards.

Contact Barr-Ag for further information regarding grades currently available.

Sources: http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_phpr3.pdf; http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis11075; http://www.therockdepotcolorado.com/artman/publish/printer_Timothy_Hay_Good_Hay_for_Horse_Feed.html

Canadian Grain Storage Systems

By Ammodramus (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Record breaking Canadian grain crop yields and last year’s transport delays have sparked a greater interest and concern for grain storage options. Grain storage is a huge investment for Canadian farmers, but in order to keep up with growing farms and increased market demand for Canadian grain, older storage systems need to be updated.

Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development recently put together two fact sheets to help farmers make an informed decision regarding grain storage solutions. These sheets weigh out the pros and cons of each option by looking at cost comparisons including repairs and maintenance, different types of permanent and temporary storage systems as well as the size of each farm’s operation and requirements.

The two new fact sheets are Grain Storage: Cost Comparisons and Grain Storage Considerations.

The length of time a grain can be safely stored depends on the condition it was harvested and the type of storage facility. Low moisture content and low temperature in storage is essential for successful storage of grain and will prevent it from deteriorating, especially over longer periods of time. Other serious issues that can occur by faulty grain temperature or moisture content include a presence or increase of insects, mice, mold and fungi.

Depending on their operation, Canadian grain growers choose between permanent and temporary grain storage options. Permanent storage including affixed structures like corrugated or smooth walled steel bins, steel or fabric sheds, and farmer owned elevators. Temporary storage could include grain bagging systems, grain rings and tarps, bunkers or even open piles if the crop will be moved after a very short period of time.

Jennifer Stoby, a provincial market analyst for agriculture inputs commented on bins versus grain baggers in an article published in the Alberta Farm Express. She shared that operations need to store more than 70,000 bushels of grain per year to make the grain bagger option more competitive than steel bins. These findings can be reviewed in the Grain Storage: Cost Comparisons fact sheet.

Selling Grain in Western Canada

Canadian farmers looking to sell their grain crops can contact Barr-Ag. As wholesale buyers of Canadian farm crops we will buy locally produced oats, barley, wheat, flax, canola and pulse crops as well as Alfalfa and Timothy hays. Barr-Ag specializes in containerizing, loading and shipping Canadian grains to our extensive database of international purchasers.

Deciding on a brand new grain storage system could be made easier if you had a reliable buyer for your quality grain, oilseed and hay crops. Call Barr-Ag today to get a market price for your crop.

Sources:

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/crop1204

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis15018

http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis15016

http://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/2014/09/25/the-bottom-line-on-grain-storage/?module=under-carousel&pgtype=homepage

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