Elevator question

[malleefarmer]

Thiking about your possible changes over there.
Who owns your local elevators and Terminal Port Facilities.
Can your storage and handling handle possible segregations locally and at terminal?
Can you guys deleiver direct to terminal?

[charliep]

Likely will be a killer of discussion but will have the first crack at your questions. Others can fill in/correct.

Who owns your local elevators and Terminal Port Facilities.

THE MAJOR GRAIN COMPANIES OWN THE TERMINALS AT PORT. VANCOUVER AND THUNDER BAY TERMINALS ARE OWNED BY INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES. PRINCE RUPERT IS A CONSORTIUM OF INVESTORS INCLUDING GOVERNMENT. CHURCHILL?? INLAND TERMINALS ARE MAINLY OWNED BY THE MAJOR GRAIN COMPANIES BUT THERE ARE SOME PRODUCER OWNED ONES - CORPORATE STRUCTURE (NOT COOPERATIVE STRUCTURE) AND LIKELY SOME INVESTMENT BY A MAJOR GRAIN COMPANY WITH ACCESS TO PORT FACILITIES A PART OF THE AGREEMENT.

Can your storage and handling handle possible segregations locally and at terminal?

YES ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT POORLY. OUR 40,000 TERMINALS HAVE MULTIPLE BINS SO IS POSSIBLE TO SEGREGATE SOMEWHAT. TERMINALS AT PORT HAVE MORE LIMITED CAPACITY SO MORE LIKELY DIRECT SHIPMENT BY GRADE FROM ELEVATOR/BLENDING TO SPECIFICATIONS. IN A YEAR OF MOSTLY HIG QUALITY, NOT A ISSUE. IN YEAR LIKE THIS ONE (2010/11), A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM GIVEN ALL THE GRADES, PROTEINS AND DOWN GRADING FACTORS.

Can you guys deleiver direct to terminal?

BY TERMINAL, I ASSUME YOU MEAN PORT TERMINAL. SHORT ANSWER IS NO. TO FAR FROM THE FACILITIES. PRAIRIE GRAIN IS ANYWHERE FROM 800 TO 2,000 MILES (1,200 TO 3,000 KILOMETERS) FROM PORT. EVEN IF YOU COULD DELIVER VIA TRUCK, TERMINALS AT PORT ARE NOT SET UP TO RECIEVE INDIVIDUAL TRUCKS.

WILL LET OTHERS ADD THEIR COMMENTS.

[TOM4CWB]

Mallee,

Farmer Condo storage is owned on the Prairies... not far from the farmers land... at a local primary elevator.

There is the Canadian Grain Commission... that favours relaxed rules for primary elevators... resulting in almost all facilities on the interior prairies operated as blending facilities... instead of keeping specific lots of grain separated as inland and transfer elevators do.

This is also a function of CWB pooling... which is the beneficiary of blending profits as a result of port and transfer elevator management.

It is a very convoluted and complex system that create outcomes that can be different than the request for shipment.

Direct hit shipments to vessels is the goal... to reduce system cost... direct from primary elevators on the prairies.

[BTOfarmall]

OmniTrax bought da Rail Line & Port Facilities of Churchill fer $1.00 Comedian!!!!!!!!! BUT they had to make someting like $10 milliion in improvements da first year. MISSED THAT ONE DIDN'T YOU'S!!!!!!!!!! Farmers cood be Shipping Wheat out & bring UREA & Ammonium Nitrate in from Russia fer example. Da Shortline come rite to Saskatoon I believe. Wood have SAVED farmers alot of Moneys fer Many Moons to come!!!!!!!!! Oh well Couch needs Holdin' down.........

[charliep]

Only put the question in because I had forgotten the ownership structure at Churchill. I guess you are satisfied Churchill is providing good value

[malleefarmer]

im just wondering how and if with your new system is cwb wheat and non cbw wheat going to have to be kept seperate.

[charliep]

Will not be possible to do via segregation unless for specific commercial reasons - if commodity procuct, then will be blended product. Bulk product will be blended and then then ownership maintained via storage tickets/warrants or whatever.

How was this issue resolved in Australia? I seem to remember seeing big horizontal piles of grain in central storage and a system of documents which breakout the ownership.

[charliep]

Old age and forgetfulness sometimes hits me.

I seem to remember a system in Australia where you can store grain in a terminal (backed by a system of warehouse reciepts or some other name) without specifying a buyer. When the price and buyer are decided, you can exchange ownership documents. Seems there were elements of payment protection in this system as well.

[dalek]

Not on the prairies but our closest local elevator is privately owned with a marketing relationship with Parrish & Heinbecker (sp), terminal at Port of Prescott is owned by the Township of Edwardsburgh/Cardinal

[cityguy]

mallee -
Canadian Grain Commission site has all the stats with regard to commercial space and who owns it. In easy numbers western Canada has about 5.25 million tonnes of space and in most years will handle about 35 million tonnes of grain/oilseeds out of a western Canadian crop of 45 to 50 million tonnes. Roughly speaking each province could store 10% of a crop while the balance has to stay on the farm. That contrasts with the US where rougly half the crop in any state can be stored in the commercial elevator system, and in some states, like Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas the commercial elevator system can hold 80% of a crop. In addition, the western Canadian space has to handle many different grains/oilseeds (and without steering the conversation into the ditch) many differnt varieties/grades/proteins on wheat (and let's not even talk about malt barley). The Canadian system is all about a daily pull into or push out of the system. The US system is more about a turn and a fill at harvest and then bleed it out over the rest of the year. Two very different systems.

In Australia how much commercial space is there for a farmer to deliver their crop into at harvest. Whats the primary space versus crop size ratio like?