Western Canadian farmers grew a record crop in terms of production in 2013, and then faced a transportation system which struggled to get that crop to market.
The situation led to weekly delivery targets being set to push the two rail companies in the country CP and CN move the grain is a more expedient fashion.
While the situation improved, the grains sector still has questions about transportation.
A panel at the Sask Grains Expo as part of Grain Millers Harvest Showdown last week delved into the issue, and what they saw as some things which should be done to improve the situation.
Kevin Gibson with CJ Knoll Transport in Regina said from the trucking perspective standardized regulation would certainly help.
As it stands the gross vehicle weights allowed on various types of highway vary across the three Prairie Provinces, and provincial governments leave it to rural municipalities to establish road bans associated with spring thaw, resulting in even more variance of what a truck may haul.
Gibson said the situation gets no better once grossing into the United States where weight allowances and road speeds for semi-trucks vary from state-to-state.
Cherilyn Jolly Nagel, a farmer from Mossbank, said grain transportation has long been an issue for producers, noting it has been a topic of contention "ever since the first bushel of grain was moved."
Mossbank said one of the issues that have plagued the sector is the near monopoly CP and CN have evolved to have. She said competition is the best way to guarantee service.
Wayne Bateman with Northern Light Rail, a new short line company running from Birch Hills to Melfort, said branch line loss has not helped the situation.
"Once a rail line is gone, it's gone," he said.
And while short lines have helped, once the shortage hit, they had difficulty getting cars moving. Bateman said it was not unheard of through the last crop year to have cars sitting on shortline rail for two to three months as CP and CN seemed uninterested in moving those cars.
"It cost producers a lot of money," he said.
That said Jolly Nagel said she would not want to Order in Council which mandated 500 tonne weekly movements extended. She said while it was "needed to reduce backlog," it did not satisfy all markets very well.
While the rail companies pushed grain to the ports for export because that was the easiest way to meet the mandated target, the result "was some negative consequences" getting grain to other markets in particular movements south to the United States and to mills in Eastern Canada.
Terry Tyson, Grain Procurement Manager with Grain Millers Canada in Yorkton said their company saw the impact of a lack of attention on grain headed south.
While almost of the oats procured for the Yorkton plant, and the product made is moved by truck, Canadian oats for a Grain Millers mill stateside is moved by rail, and cars were nearly impossible to get, said Tyson.
"When the tap shut off, it shut off quickly," he said. " The producer cars just did not come for us."
As a result there was nearly a month long period where their Iowa mill did not receive a rail car of Canadian oats, said Tyson.
"It was only trucks that kept us going," he said, adding a couple of competitor mills ran out of supplies and faced shutdowns.
Also short line rail companies and farmers wanting to load producer cars found it difficult to access cars, said Jolly Nagel.
"We need to get back to customer needs," she said.
One thing which could help grain transportation would be if the oil pipelines being discussed move ahead, said Jolly Nagel.
Such lines would take oil shipments off the rail system, and would free up roiling stock which could serve the grain sector, she said.
