Premier Brad Wall offered the Government of Saskatchewan's support for recent federal initiatives to increase grain movement and urged the railways to improve service to move this year's record crop to port.
"The success and growth of our agriculture industry and province depends on getting our products to port to be shipped throughout the world," Wall said. "We know the sheer volume of this year's record crop is straining the transportation system and we fully support the federal government in any measures they can take to address this situation."
The Government of Saskatchewan supports the federal government's recently announced enhancements to the Grain Monitoring Program. These changes will improve the frequency of reporting information about the grain handling and transportation system. This will improve communication and increase transparency in the supply chain. A new forum will also allow representatives to discuss improvement throughout the supply chain on an ongoing basis.
In addition to supporting these federal enhancements, Wall called on the railways to immediately enact a plan to increase grain shipments.
"We recognize efforts are underway to develop a long-term plan for the future, as we anticipate these larger crops will become the norm," Wall said. "However, further action is necessary to clear up the immediate backlog as soon as possible. We will continue to work to find a solution with stakeholders, including the federal government, grain companies, railways and port authorities."
Saskatchewan is the leading agri-food exporter in the nation and some of the top exporters are gathered in Saskatoon for the agriculture trade summit currently underway. Wall said finding solutions to the transportation challenges will be a critical component in continuing to grow Saskatchewan's agriculture exports.
